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Here’s a hot fashion take to start your day: Jorts have always been the black sheep of summer fashion, and it’s about time we change that. Yes, I’m coming out as a jorts fan, and no, I’m not ashamed to admit it.
For those unversed in the high-brow echelons of fashion TikTok hauls, let me enlighten you. The long denim cutoff style of the early aughts has been making its rounds across social media tweens and models-off-duty, setting the stage the a debate that has divided the internet. Jorts, once a fan favorite when worn by rappers like Soulja Boy on red carpets, are now the soup of the day in the denim world. For far too long, Daisy Dukes have reigned summertime supreme thanks to Coachella aesthetics and the iron-clad grip American Apparel had on Tumblr, translating into muscle tees and flower crowns to pair with the style. Now, after the spring-summer 2023 menswear season, jorts have the Louis Vuittonz–monogrammed stamp of approval. And, apparently, your dad’s. So what’s stopping you from going all in?
With a style so controversial, the question is whether or not they’re “in” but rather how to pull it off without looking as if you still use Internet Explorer. Personally, I’d go full absurdity mode. Pair your jorts with colorful cowboy boots, a bikini top, and a blazer three sizes too big, and you’ll have something resembling a bonafide ’fit. Wear your jorts to the grocery or to renew your license in a three-hour-long line at the DMV. Or maybe to some quaint Amalfi Coast beach resembling some otherworldy Pinterest fantasy. At this point, jorts have become an “if you know, you know” status symbol.
Notably, we’re regressing to the early 2000s in more ways than one: Paris Hilton’s “Stars Are Blind” is on my gym playlist, candy-colored Coach handbags are all over Depop, and as of recently, Flavor Flav is my Pinterest fashion icon. To anyone else (including my therapist), wearing denim shorts that extend below the kneecap would be cause for concern. For me, it’s the pinnacle of summer street style.
You may be thinking, Why not linen pants? or Denim miniskirts are fine too. To that I would respond, what isn’t there to like about jorts? You get the same airflow as you would with micro-shorts without sacrificing comfort. Itty-bitty jean shorts haven’t always been my thing thanks to extreme chafing, and I would rather eat broccoli for every year than wear full-length jeans in the New York heat. Luckily, I’m painfully, chronically online and susceptible to paparazzi photos of Gigi Hadid frolicking around SoHo wearing jorts. Thanks to Goodwill, I now own not one, but two pairs in different washes. Sue me.
XXL-length shorts aren’t new to this decade’s fashion vocabulary. Bella Hadid wore office-appropriate Bermuda shorts earlier this year, signaling a return to our jorts roots. While it’s easy to distance ourselves from the knee-grazing basketball shorts that were the style of choice for the men on MTV’s Jersey Shore more than 10 years ago, the fact of the matter is that longer hemlines are having a massive fashion moment. With sex workers predicting a looming recession, hemline theory—where the length of skirts rises and falls in conjunction with the stock market—could once again prove to be true.
Jorts are not a prize to be won, but rather a battle to be fought (WWE wrestler John Cena infamously wore jorts while in the ring). Denim cutoff supremacy deniers are everywhere—most notably in the form of angry TikTok comments comparing the style to something their fathers would wear during a family barbecue. While they do have a point, may I present some trendy over-30 men who are Big Jorts Guys: A$AP Rocky; Tyler, the Creator; and Jonah Hill have all worn the style with ease. It would be remiss to not mention the founding father of long shorts, Adam Sandler. Just as in the case with the 2006 film Click, the actor was ahead of his time.
The middle of the Venn diagram of jorts-goers may be small, but it’s mighty. Don’t be surprised if you walk down the street later this month and see both your golf-loving uncle and the internet’s stylish coastal grandmother, Ina Garten, adopting the trend.
