Who Wears Short Shorts?
 

DISCLAIMER: Everybody is entitled to wear whatever they want.

That being said...What is up with all the short shorts in wakeboarding these days? Are we really headed back to the 80's? Basketball shorts haven't changed. Don't see guys suddenly wearing short shorts to the gym. Why in wakeboarding are we seeing so much thigh?!

Unnamed Pro:

I can see a pair of cordaroy or jean board shorts with the bottoms rolled coming down the pipe.lol.

Haha...tight rolled. And maybe some overalls.

Hey no joke. Back in the day if you wore a shirt with a kitty on it or leppard print, be-dazzelled anything as a guy you would have your ass handed to you......I wish we could go back to those times.

You know the world has changed with CIRE started offering shorter shorts...

Don't get caught with "old guy" tan lines. Work your way slowly into the new short board shorts.

It's come over from surfing. side note - When i started wakeboarding back in 2003 everyone was wearing "shorts" so long that the hem was just above the top of the binding. I think I still have a pair somewhere :) Whatever works for you IMO.

I wear above the knee shorts typically. I surf and sloppy shorts when short boarding get in the way IMO and you feel slower paddling. I'm not going to own wakeboard shorts and surf shorts.

The long short thing can get cartoony. Early mid 2000s were just silly. It is okay to show your knees as long as you keep your sac tucked in.

We need to get back to wake pants.

http://www.wakeboardingmag.com/files...ts-300x199.jpg

Neon is back. Why not shorter shorts. Not 70's short though. I loved the 80's. I never want to look like the 80's version of the guy stuck in the 70's who still wears jean short cut-offs, t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, pure white Reebocks, and long pants on hot summer days (not at work). Those guys are still ubiquitous today. On the other hand, if parts of the 80's that I enjoyed become popular again .... I'm all in!! I've got tickets to see Motley Crue this summer and I've got a certain finger for all of those who participated in the shaming of 80's music and style (excluding automobiles of course).

It's just fashion. Fashion is always changing and always repeating old styles. We're moving back to shorter shorts.

Here are styles from the 50s.

This is where we are headed. See the progression? :banghead:

Just below, right at, or just above the knee is all good. I agree about the "skirt" shorts. Some of my Cire's have stretched out so much that they are below the calf which looks a little ridiculous. But mid-thigh is going way too far the other way!

When I heard last year that the future was going shorter I bought an extra. Like their long shorts.

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/39505899" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/39505899">Mike Dowdy</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/wakeworld">WakeWorld</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Glad to see this. I'm tired of only being able to find board shorts that hang down to my knees and feel like wet sheets wrapped around my legs. Style should come into play only after you first get the right function, and uber long board shorts go completely against all issues of function.

You can thank me for the new, shorter offering from CIRE. :D That came from a conversation over a year ago where he and I talked about the direction of the style of board shorts. It's true.....long baggy shorts are dying just like baggy, sagging jeans. Good luck finding one mainstream company that makes them long. I forgot my shorts on a trip and ended up having to buy a pair or Quicksilvers which were short, and that was it for me. I was converted.

Length was one of the features that I loved about CIRE. Now I just feel silly in shorts that hang far below the knee, especially when they're wet. As mentioned above, above the knee shorts are just way more comfortable. It's nice not to have my shorts get caught up on my knees while I'm riding. And hanging out in wet shorts post ride is a lot less uncomfortable.

I do have a limit. It's about an inch above the knee.

top of the knee is good for me. I can't do that mid-thigh thing, but I'm also on the heavier side and have kind of a large butt and thighs.

This trend is not good for the tall guys. I'm 6'4" and long legged, so regular Cires hit me just mid kneecap as is. Most of the 18" outseam shorts just look ridiculous on me. I could probably go just over the knee, but that is the limit. I feel like dowdy' sticking pretty short in that vid. Would feel weird to me.

Its kinda like the whole shorts over wetsuit argument (re: this style coming over from surfing). In wake you strap a lot of gear to yourself, you need to either be streamlined (wetsuit and no vest, or wake skaters with their tight jorts, lo-pro shoes, and t-shirts) or just commit to going bulky (vest, board, etc). I think the short shorts look funny with a vest and board on, as do the kids at the cable with fullsuit, vest and t-shirt but no shorts (bulky top, skinny bottom), but imagine they look fine on a surfer with either no top or a rashguard (and no bindings no shoes)

Time to hit the squat rack!

I don't think it's a matter of balance between top and bottom, it's whether it hits the style you've adopted as "correct". Wakeboarders have somehow created an idea of what how think they should look. Show a picture of a wakeboarder with shorts over his wetsuit and nearly every single surfer will look at it and think "dork". Show that same picture to wakeboarders and many think it's normal or preferable.

Styles change. Look back at a photo of yourself from 10 years ago and chances are you wouldn't be caught dead wearing whatever you thought looked super cool then. Personally I'd love to see wakeboarding drop all the pretense and adapt their sense of style to be purely performance based. That means shorts built for freedom of movement when wet. That means no shirts over the top of vests (unless you have to wear something showing your sponsors brand). That means no more shorts over the top of wetsuits.

It reminds me: one or two winter olympics ago I recall some of the snowboarders throwing an absolute fit because one of the teams showed up wearing tighter fitting clothes designed to not get in their way while performing tricks. They tried to petition the Officials to penalize the team for not following "the spirit of snowboarding" and wearing baggy clothes. An Olympic athlete basically being accused of cheating because they cared more about performance than how they looked. Hilarious.

THIS. I'm tall and I squat and deadlift so my legs need long and roomy shorts. Unfortunately this skinny jean trend has influenced board shorts so they are getting skinny too. And it isn't just about riding. If there are no other boats around and I need to take a leak without getting in the river, I like to hang junior out the legs of my shorts instead of undoing the drawstrings. Just makes it easier. Can't do that with these skinny board shorts. So I've resorted to wearing CrossFit boardshorts.

For me it's all about comfort and use. And you can't tell me that those nut-hugging short shorts are comfortable.

I agree that shorts had gotten out of control. The hybrids I own are the below the calf now and I feel ridiculous and don't where them anymore. That being said, it is the tight factor too. Tight and upper thigh length is just so bad. Maybe I'm old but count me out on the nut-huggers!

Hahahaha, Cire is Making Shorter shorts for shorter dudes! I have a buddy who I ride with a lot he's 5' 6" in traditional Cire shorts he looked like a 6 year old in his big brothers shorts. Love my traditional length Cire's the only shorts you dont have to pull down after every time you hit the wake.

^^^^ Exactly the reason we introduced our line of 20" boardshorts this year. J-Rod started the conversation with us and others gave us similar feedback. They wanted our boardshorts but our traditional length was too long for them. So we gave them a shorter length they wanted.

We will always make our longer boardshorts that we are known for, we just expanded the line for others who wanted them a little shorter

We don't care if you prefer them long or short, everyone has their own style. Just don't buy them 2 sizes too big in the waist and then sag them so they are longer.

Is this too long to be a company slogan? Because it needs to be.

I don't know about the go short swimwear trend, but I do know this: these Airisms are the best boxer briefs on the planet!

http://www.uniqlo.com/us/men/innerwe...underwear.html

Other than for gas, it's the best 12 bucks a guy can spend.

When are we going back to PhatCrack Board Shorts?

Who Wears Short Shorts?
 

I wear short shorts.

Hate shorts going over my knee, in fact I hate anything touching my knee. Therefore they are more comfortable to me.

Plus girls love a little VMO poking out at the bottom of your short shorts. That's a fact.

I don't like short that are so long that it looks like a skirt but I can't do the short shorts and my wife hates them too. Right around the knee is good with me.



Nothing is worse than riding in a boat. Look over and catch a glimpse of a wet hairy man thigh!!!!!!!

^^ the manscaping fad should take care of that...or with all these beards is that out? I cannot keep track so I will never change - shorts comfortably above the knee, clean shave, short hair with the body hair god gave me, shorts under the wetsuit and no t-shirt over the vest. At the risk of sounding like an old guy but its all about comfort, ease of use and performance.

You wear shorts under a wetsuit?

Shorts under your wetsuit are comfortable?

T shirt under your vest to prevent sunburn is more comfortable than over??

The only reason for shorts UNDER a wetsuit is modesty when taking the wetsuit off. From a pure comfort standpoint, wetsuits are best while nekkid. If I'm in a group I am concerned about giving an accidental show if my towel slips while peeling off my wetsuit, I often wear jammers (thigh length swimsuit I use for lap swimming). I have worn board shorts under a wetsuit a couple times in a pinch and they SUCK. There is absolutely no functional reason for wearing shorts OVER a wetsuit - purely a style thing (which I do not subscribe to at all).

A t-shirt OVER a vest is a horrible idea. One, if it is for sun protection you either have to leave the vest on all day or take off and put back on a wet t-shirt multiple times. Two, if by t-shirt you mean a typical cotton short sleeve, that's horrible for sun protection in the water. It doesn't cover your arms, soaks up a ton of water, and UV rays penetrate cotton (especially when wet) more than you think. If I had to wear a t-shirt for sun protection, I'd prefer wearing a tight fitting t-shirt under my vest so I at least could leave it on between sets.

A better solution is a sun shirt - form fitting spandex / lycra shirts made for sun protection. They are long sleeved so protect most of your arm, soak up very little water, don't wrap you like a wet blanket when wet, and are comfortable. I'm pretty sure all the major surf companies (O'Neill, Billabong, etc.) make them for surfers. They go under the vest, by the way.

I vouch for spandex under the wetsuit if you have a crowd and don't wanna show your junk. Much much more comfy too, btw.

In terms of a cotton T-shirt:
It's absolutely fine for riding with over a vest and preventing sunburn. My pale mid-winter New England skin has been saved numerous times from a good scorching when at the cable park in FL.

Solution for a wet T-shirt? Bring a second t-shirt to the cable.


It's not as bad as you think. Plus you look way better when riding, if you care about that sort of thing.


But then again I love 18 inch outseam shorts, so what do I know