Shorts

Shorts are typically worn in warm weather or in an environment where comfort and airflow are more important than the protection of the legs.

For example: tailored shorts, often lined, as typically worn as part of a school uniform for boys up to their early teens,[1][2][3] and by servicemen and policemen in tropical climates.

In much of Europe and the Americas during the 19th and early 20th centuries, shorts were worn as outerwear only by young boys until they reached a certain height or maturity.

They were first treated as taboo in countries like China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam because they conflicted with old traditions that women have to cover their body private parts and worries about sexual harassment.

Notable exceptions in which men may wear short trousers to the office or at formal gatherings are South Africa, Bermuda, Australia and New Zealand [citation needed].

Since the 1990s, casual office dress has grown to include formal shorts in some British and American businesses but by no means universally.

[12][13] Short trousers, terminating three to four inches above the knee, commonly worn by men in Bermuda (with knee-socks and a blazer and tie) for business attire and even at cocktail parties.

[15] From the 1920s onwards these military uniform shorts began to be copied by Bermudian tailors and civilians, and were subsequently taken up by tourists who spread the style around the world.

[16][17] In America, despite widespread criticism, Bermuda shorts were taken up by male and female students on college campuses from the 1920s and 1930s onwards, and by the 1950s, were widely worn.

[15] In 1970 the company Quiksilver offered a highly successful boardshort design that rapidly gained a reputation among surfers as the best to be had.

[18] In the early 21st century, polyester is increasingly used, often blended with other fibres such as Lycra, elastane, or spandex, creating an ultrasuede effect.

[20] Elastic-waisted soft fabric shorts usually worn as underwear, but originally designed for wear by boxing participants.

[25] Since the 1980s, 'bike shorts' have also been worn as fashion garments, although these versions often lack the internal padding and construction required by cyclists.

[55] Trail running shorts are typically made longer and in harder-wearing fabric that is less likely to catch and tear on protruding branches.