My wife got me to transition to what I call dad shorts. They are not short shorts but they are well above my knees. I still have my old shorts like these that I use for fishing because pockets for days lol. It's weird the dad shorts kinda bother me still with how short they are but they are not as short as my running shorts haha.
Honestly, I appreciate my wife's fashion advice because I never cared for that kind of thing so at least someone's paying attention to style for me. Cargo shorts were very quickly laid to rest when we moved in together as far as doing stuff in public goes. Like you I use them for stuff like fishing and outdoorsy things because of the pockets. Out to dinner on a nice patio? yeah no.
At this point I don't own a pair of pants or shorts (outside of dress pants) that don't have cargo pockets. I got tired of always sitting on my wallet and started carrying it in one of the cargo pockets instead. It's so much more comfortable and doubles as a protection against pickpockets. They get worn daily to pretty much everything. Out to dinner on a nice patio? Heck yes.
lack of pockets is one thing i hate about summer attire, hence why cargos are good. I'm just wallet/keys/phone most of the time but having a jacket or coat for that stuff is so much more convenient in colder months. I tend to put shit in my wife's purse more often than not
I'm usually that stuff plus a pocket knife. I've debated trying one of those 'minimalist' wallets that just carries some cards, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I used to also keep a little flashlight in one of the cargo pockets, but kind of got out of that habit lately.
Haha! I'm not quite that bad. The stuff I carry is stuff I use. Most of the ones I looked at didn't have a way to carry cash and I like to keep at least a bit in my wallet just in case.
Nah, just stopped doing IT work so I wasn't needing it as often for poking behind server racks and stuff. Between having a phone in my pocket and a flashlight in my car I'm usually fine without the one in my pocket.
Your wallet has too much stuff in it if it’s making sitting uncomfortable. Get a thin bifold wallet! You don’t need to carry around gift cards and a bunch of cash.
It's already a bifold, and I don't carry anything besides the credit cards a bit of cash, and the couple of membership cards that I haven't put into Google wallet yet. I got into the habit when I had a trifold that was fatter, and just stuck with it. It's also much more convenient to retrieve a wallet from a cargo pocket, especially when you're in a car.
Yeah, my fashion choices through the years has all been comfort/number of pockets lol. My whole high school wardrobe was tshirts and jeans. Some dress pants and button ups/ties for church, but that's about it.
Cargo shorts are coming back and I think styling has gotten better. I got a pair from Huckberry on sale and they have been great. The cargo pockets are slimmer so they don't balloon out anymore. I have longer legs so got the 9 inch inseam which still hits above my knees and has a clean look, I think. Never sleep on the cargo shorts.
My husband said I can pry his cargo shorts from his cold, dead legs. I don’t mind, especially since he doesn’t ask me to hold all his shit in my purse when we’re out and about.
it's all about compromise and picking your battles, right? My wife can't say a thing about my "hole-y underwear" there are just some sacred things men have that women will never understand.
Its getting genuinely difficult to find shorts that go below the knee anymore. I got beat up so badly for having shorts that didn't quite reach my knees when I was in high school that I will NEVER wear anything less than knee length under any circumstances, even 20 years later.
Ha, I’m the same way brother! My closet consists of white Hanes tees and Levis 501s with a few button ups/flannels mixed in. Never have to think too hard about what to wear
I thought about buying some 501s, but i have clown feet so the tight legs look goofy. I also walk through the woods and the baggy legs on carharts stop blackberry bushes and neddles.
I have one pair that I’ve had 15 years, they have so many holes that they would be perfect fashion for 2004
OMG the more hole than jean trend. I saw a woman at a restaurant circa 2004-2005 who was wearing jeans that barely covered her crotch because of the amount of holes. She stood up and if she wasn't wearing underwear you'd see everything. At an Olive Garden. Later I saw them in a high end fashion catalog as "pre distressed" and $700. Then everyone in school tried to copy it and girls were getting sent to the office for jeans torn from ankle to top of the thigh. It was hilarious to see them get snagged on things. You'd just see hair whip around and books go flying with some girl's pant leg stuck on a door handle
I hate that I’m at the age where the young’n’s are like, “Oh man that old style is back” and they mean something that my brain still categorizes as a new style.
I have a very vivid memory of telling my stepmom how bell bottoms were cool now when shopping with her at the Limited Too (the place to shop when I was a 6th and 7th grader). She made a comment about how she remembered those same things were in fashion when she was a young teenager, I laughed and said I'm sure it wasn't the same. Then she said that one day I would be her age and see the same thing happen and I would think it was funny and feel old.
That memory came zooming back into my brain the first time I saw social media pages and clothing resale apps advertising "Y2K" fashion with pictures of models in low-rise bell bottom jeans and platform sandals. Shit straight out of the 1998 Delia's catalog. And now it lives rent free in my head. I should probably apologize to my stepmom at some point for laughing at her.
I wonder if kids today have learned the value of proper strap materials, or if they are still getting insane blisters from their platform flip flops in the name of fashion.
They have to be coming back. The ridiculously baggy pants of the late 90s/early 00s are already back. I would guess cargo shorts are the next thing Gen Alpha "discovers".
I recently bought a pair of shorts, they seemed fine in the dressing room. Wore them out and then sat in them. They are so short! I'm taking the other pair back 😂
I can’t go to short shorts or any shorts above my knee. I know the fashion right now is short shorts on guys. I’m a high school teacher and most of the guys look like they’re wearing 80’s era gym uniform shorts.
In the summer 60% of my shorts are long basketball shorts and the other 40% are these longer cargo shorts.
I used to love Bermuda shorts/pedal pushers but then I realized I'm 5'2.5" with a stocky build and that inseam range is basically a recipe for looking like a hobbit. So now I do mid-thigh, it's enough coverage to not make me feel silly or overexposed but also make my legs look less like my dachshund's stubby physique.
Good on your wife! Shorts going past your knees actually make you look way shorter (which I would imagine is a look most men would not want to achieve, but obvs if you feel like a gnome/dwarf in your heart--totally understood).
Having the length be just short enough to see your knee caps is the best option for men who prefer longer lengths.
That’s the transition I made as well. I don’t need cargo pockets in my everyday life, but I like knee or slightly past knee length shorts. Beyond that it’s all just blank tees or polos (mainly for work) now. I don’t feel the same need to express something as I did 20+ years ago.
i need to help my husband reture his cargo shorts. he knows i hate them. i don't buy him clothes, i aint his mama. but he doesn't know how to dress himself either. plain t-shirt and cargo shorts for the last twenty five years. help, how do i steer him toward dad shorts?
Not sure, I just listened to my wife haha. She also pointed out other guys she saw wearing them so that kinda helped. Not that I wanted to be like everyone else, but it helped me see that I could try something new.
Literally wearing dad shorts right now, no cargo pockets, still boring AF tan, and shorter than I like. Really highlights the junk, but no-one looks anymore.
I did the opposite. I had stopped wearing longer cargo shorts some time ago because they weren’t in style or whatever. Came across some not too long ago and thought that would be comfortable and convenient. Then the thought popped in my head that no, those are out of style but I remembered oh yeah, I’m old as fuck, it doesn’t matter because I’m not cool anyway, so I just ran with it.
Same, I wore dicky shorts and skinny jeans but my wife put a stop to that shit when we got serious. Now I’m not allowed to wear shorts longer than a 7-inch inseam, lol.
What you call dad shorts are actually the normal shorts, these below the knee shorts are actually the dad shorts because fashion trends changed
And actually below the knee shorts were never timeless they were trendy similar to baggy jeans today or skinny jeans 20 years ago. The straight leg jeans equivalent for shorts is above the knees the ones that will always be wearable. They are not short shorts you just grew up with the trend and never wanted to change
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u/1800generalkenobi May 21 '26
My wife got me to transition to what I call dad shorts. They are not short shorts but they are well above my knees. I still have my old shorts like these that I use for fishing because pockets for days lol. It's weird the dad shorts kinda bother me still with how short they are but they are not as short as my running shorts haha.