Yikes! Manhattan Men Bare Hairy Knees, Plump Calves
By Joe Pompeo
On a sweltering afternoon early last month, Adam Newman, a 25-year-old Park Slope comedian who works for CollegeHumor.com, made a life-changing decision: He took scissors to a pair of brown corduroy pants and fashioned them into shorts.
“It’s getting hot and I’ve made up my mind. This summer, I’m wearing shorts!” Mr. Newman blogged recently. “I’ve always been an exclusively-pants guy, but I’m ready for change. No more sweating under the jeans at the park, I’m letting it breathe this year!”
Mr. Newman is not alone. A growing number of style-conscious men are becoming more comfortable with the idea of showing some leg during the hot summer months. No longer does it seem remarkable to see men—straight men—dressed in slim-fitting shorts that hang well above the knee, from conservatively dressed 9-to-5 Manhattan types, to Williamsburg hipsters who wear their cutoffs so high, it evokes the lyrics to the 1993 R&B hit “Dazzey Duks” (or The Dukes of Hazzard, depending on one’s age).
Famous fellas are flashing their thighs. Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick was photographed recently in a dark blue nautical pair of short-shorts; indie rock sensation Devendra Banhart has been spotted in bright, retro-’70s athletic shorts; and professional hockey player turned Vogue intern Sean Avery has donned a plaid gray shorts-suit by Astor & Black for the office.
Mr. Avery’s building mate, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (who famously hates the word “donned”), was on the forefront of the shorts revolution. “I used to wear them on hot days atSpy, where our air conditioning was primitive,” he wrote in an e-mail, though he noted that he rarely wears shorts to his current job. “Condé Nast is quite generous with its air conditioning,” he said.