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Postmen etc (and postwomen, non gender specifics too)
I work with a guy who wears combat style shorts all year regardless of the weather. It can be minus whatever, blowing a gale, freezing fog etc. When asked the obvious are you not cold? The reply is “I always wear shorts”. To be fair he’s always bundled up on a cold day. Loads of layers, coats, scarves, hats etc, but always these 2 skinny legs poking out underneath.
How, why? Shortists, can you shed any light?
I only wear long trousers from mid December to mid February unless we get a mild spell in that time and I keep shorts in my locker for that eventuality. I don't work outside though. However one part of the laboratory is so draughty I might as well be
As to why, well I absolutely feel claustrophobic in trousers. That feeling of construction and over heating, no thanks. Of course the more pertinent reason is that it would be a crime to hide my legs away!
It seems to cause more of a stir at work if I turn up in long trousers, even to the point of being called into the managers office to be asked if I've got an interview for another job 😆
I almost get folk wandering about etc in shorts in the cold.
But I see cyclists in them in 0-5°C, and I live on the edge of the city, they look like the are going further.
I don't see many tho so maybe they change their ways.
If you keep your core warm your extemities stay warm (hence body warmers). If it rains your legs dry off quicker than trousers, therefore you stay warmer. Plus shorts are more comfortable when moving, especially when wet. I have worn shorts at below -5°C but I was lovely and warm because I had a base layer, t-shirt, hoodie, jacket and snood.
My wife will wear shorts while working without a problem and she feels the cold way more so it's not a "tough man" thing it is just genuinely the right clothing for the job.
I do (also an ex postie). As long as your core is warm you’re fine.
You wouldn't bat an eyelid at someone wearing a skirt, dress or a kilt in winter, why are shorts different?
I wear shorts for probably one month of the year when it is really hot. Other than that I find no need for them and they pretty much always look shit on anybody who is wearing them.
I used to wear shorts for most of the year when working on site. You move, you stay warm.
When I went to Germany I would still wear shorts. The Germans thought I was mad.
I have to wear leg prisons at work but the rest of the time, it's shorts, especially for dog walking.
Wet or muddy legs are a lot less bother than wet or muddy trousers. Nothing worse than wer material flapping around your legs. I think that feels more uncomfortable than just getting wet.
Yeah as above, casually I wear shorts most of the time. Way less constraining, not all hot and sweaty, easier to regulate temperature, don't get all muddy. I only really wear trousers at work or if the weather is really bad.
I am however a riding trousers convert in the winter! Never thought I would be. Reason for that is the ease of stripping them off at the end of a muddy ride, leaving me clean underneath
I like to wear shorts, but not usually from November to now.
But I like the protection or trousers from nettles, brambles, bites and stings etc if I'm in the woods/close country. So if I'm going exploring or somewhere I suspect with be stingy scratchy bitey ticky I'll wear trousers.
On the bike in winter it just gets too nippy for shorts with the wind chill. Even with Roubaix tights on I've had cold rash/burn on my thighs on breezy winter days.
I'm told my legs look good in shorts, but also that shorts make my size 13 feet look even more like canoes 🤣
Ex postie here , I used to hang on as long as possible, I'd get an indication it was time to cover up when my knees started complaining.
Now I'm getting old and creaky my annual shorts window has reduced by about a month at each end to preserve my knees but I'm still mostly shorts from roughly now until September unless I need to look respectable for something.
You wouldn’t bat an eyelid at someone wearing a skirt, dress or a kilt in winter, why are shorts different?
I batted an eye at a young lady wearing a very short skirt last night, it looked bloody cold.
I wear shorts 99% of the year. It's easier for my job, unless I'm on site, and it kind of just stuck the rest of the time. Jeans/work trousers feel weird now. I've got lanky sparrow legs, so there isn't really any meat to feel the cold anway!
The pe teachers at work did this for years. I am assured they it’s utterly miserable and purely matcho brevado, although I hasten to add both genders were involved.
Seems to have stopped now after a few key promotions
It was never a problem for schoolboys in the 1950s.
And it was proper cold winters back then.
It was never a problem for schoolboys in the 1950s.
survivorship bias.
Since we've had a dog I tend to wear shorts most of the time. Reason being that when I take him out for a walk in this sodden quagmire we have at the moment, only my legs get muddy when I wear my wellies. Quick and easy to give them a wash/dry when I get home.
If I wore trousers or jeans then the mud walks up them and I'd be having to wash them every day.
Also I WFH so not particularly cold, but even when out and about I don't tend to get cold legs in my shorts, as long as my core is warm. Generally I find my hands get colder quicker than my legs.
I think it also helps that I WFH, as the office used to have a "smart casual" dress code, whatever the flip that was. But usually involved me wearing jeans, shirt and smart trainers.
It was never a problem for schoolboys in the 1950s
It still isn’t - my youngest wears shorts to school all year round rather than trousers.
It's funny when we were kids we couldn't wait to be grown up in long trousers now .....
I used to be able to, I did it in P6 & 7 and never really felt the cold, that was in winters with 50cm of snow in places. Nowadays I get cold but often wonder how much of that is due to living in the coast, getting older and generally moving around less.
I’ve worn shorts year-round in the past. I don’t see what the big deal is: if they go past the knee you don’t really get any colder compared to trousers, and not getting so sweaty often means being warmer. Wearing jeans or trousers more nowadays I’ll go slower to keep cool.
After lockdown, wearing trousers felt horrible, so can see why people prefer the free feeling that shorts provide. Plus posties are active so they're keeping warm.
You wouldn’t bat an eyelid at someone wearing a skirt, dress or a kilt in winter, why are shorts different?
Shorts with "nylons" ? 🙁
I know @scotroutes wears nylons with his kilts, but don’t tar all Scottish men with the same sporran
😋
I fear my shorts days are over. Don't wear them in the winter for the obvious. Don't wear them here in the summer because of the ticks.
Bit like singlespeeds. Top on style points but not great for the knees. They don’t like being cold (structurally).
There has got to be a market for knee warmers....
nothing worse than wet trouser/jeans legs, shorts is the answer, legs dry quickly.
my mum actually asked me if I own trousers today when I went up
Love the comments from people reckoning that shorts are no colder in winter but also keep them from sweating 🤔
For me my knees protest way too much to wear shorts in cold weather.
How can
Wet or muddy legs are a lot less bother than wet or muddy trousers.
And
I am however a riding trousers convert in the winter! Never thought I would be. Reason for that is the ease of stripping them off at the end of a muddy ride, leaving me clean underneath
Both be true?!
@peekay the bit I missed out is that it depends what I am doing.
When I am riding through slop:
Then it doesn't matter whether it's shorts or trousers, either is going to get filthy and are going to need to be washed
The difference with riding in trousers is that my legs stay clean, which is v useful particularly if in the car and having to clean up before driving anywhere.
When I am walking through slop:
If I wear trousers then the bottom will get muddy, and need to go in the wash (or dry out and brush off)f
If I wear shorts, my legs might get a bit muddy, no worries I will probably have a shower after a walk anyway. Shorts stay clean - probably don't need a wash.
If I wear trousers then the bottom will get muddy, and need to go in the wash (or dry out and brush off)
Gaiters is what you need, keep you warm & mud free 🙂
I really started wearing shorts when I bought my first mountain bike in 1988, and gradually upped the short wearing period to most of the year, from the end of March to the end of October.
I started from the beginning of March last year, and only stopped for a couple of weeks around Christmas-ish because it was cold and wet, but I’m wearing shorts now, and will be for the foreseeable future.
I wear shorts for probably one month of the year when it is really hot. Other than that I find no need for them and they pretty much always look shit on anybody who is wearing them.
Maybe if you wore shorts more often, you’d have some colour to your skin, and wouldn’t look like the sort of Englishman abroad that people take the piss out of. I was riding mountain bikes for well over twenty years, I don’t have skinny, pale anemic legs, and tbh, I’ve reached a point in my life where I genuinely don’t give a shit about what you, or anyone else for that matter, thinks about what I wear. 😎
Oh, and I have arthritis in my left knee as a result of being dumped on the ground by my bike riding into town one afternoon, still doesn’t stop me wearing shorts.
Peak ‘pick a side and be a dick about it’
shorts are nice sometimes, trousers are nice sometimes. dresses are apparently nice sometimes.
You are not your choice of leg covering.
What style of shorts are we talking about?Old school, might have a knacker pop out, PE shorts? Above the knee? Just below the knee? More or less trousers with a bit of ankle material missing?
I don’t feel comfortable riding in trousers as I get very hot and sweaty. Wear knee length shorts with knee pads, so only have a bit of shin exposed to the cold. I wear trousers, jeans etc most of the year and shorts or baggy linen pants when it is warm. I reckon the baggy pants are better at keeping me cool.
Since we’ve had a dog I tend to wear shorts most of the time. Reason being that when I take him out for a walk in this sodden quagmire we have at the moment, only my legs get muddy when I wear my wellies. Quick and easy to give them a wash/dry when I get home.
There was the Wimpey gang workers leg rash wearing wellies with bare legs way before PPE on building sites. Do you turn the top of your wellies over at the top ?