For 80s lovers who did not experience the 80s, let it be known short shorts for men were the norm, as they were in the 70s as well. We did not even call them "short shorts", we simply called them "shorts", since they were so normal they didn't need a designating adjective. Everybody from kids to fat old men wore them. They were the uniform of professional basketball for decades, until Michael Jordan single handedly put an end to it in the early 90s. It seems a fashion style destined to never return. My question is, since you love the 80s, would you wear these, as 70s' and 80s men so un-self consciously did? And why is it that back then we didn't give these a second thought (trust me, we didn't), but people today would be aghast to see men wearing these. What changed?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSiZ6FNrEEKN4-haDYCxFMYDn7CvtkeSlWCnOucn8PTfWtTMlHhoSxf5uRGWk5zTQvrTmk&usqp=CAU

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/ac/93/38/ac93382909924bae7f7013becd1ed2f4.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/94/16/53/9416532b9ab4d5d13b41c64a80a16ee4--andy-gibb-on-the-beach.jpg

I remember grown men wearing them in the 80s. But since I was only a little girl I didn't care or think much of it. Looking back now, those were really short shorts! :o

A few more photos. I mean, these were REALLY common back then.

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mens-shorts-in-the-1970s-116-5924428117907__605.jpg

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/5923f8a4c7a27_CgtlozT__605.jpg


http://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1970s-men-shorts-fashion-41-5923e35578203__605.jpg

They look comfy

And a few more famous people...

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mens-shorts-in-the-1970s-110-59243159b479a__605.jpg

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mens-shorts-in-the-1970s-101-59242a2fec4fc__605.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c8/f3/67/c8f367cf2699a3f6331d05974c81597c--john-travolta-vintage-men.jpg

Maybe they felt a bit to effeminate to wear walking down the street.

Maybe they felt a bit to effeminate to wear walking down the street.


What you must understand, is that in the 70s and 80s, men did NOT feel "effeminate" while wearing these. They didn't feel anything. It was just "normal". Professional basketball players wore them as a regulation uniform for decades. Were they "effeminate"? So, the question is, what changed culturally, so that these now seem "effeminate" to some?

What you must understand, is that in the 70s and 80s, men did NOT feel "effeminate" while wearing these. They didn't feel anything. It was just "normal". Professional basketball players wore them as a regulation uniform for decades. Were they "effeminate"? So, the question is, what changed culturally, so that these now seem "effeminate" to some?


I could be wrong but I remember watching family guy make fun of gay men in some of the earlier episodes when they got away with it and remember them always wearing super short shorts like these. I think at some point in time, probably the 90s, they became associated with gay men and straight men just stopped wearing it lol

I also think, most people in these forum fail to comprehend that “Weird Clothes” don’t just become a thing, things become weird when nobody in the present is dressed like that anymore like old pictures. The baggy clothes of the 2000s instantly became weird when teenagers used to dress up as they’re favorite rappers from that era like Cam’Ron and 50 Cent when there was a school theme based around the 2000s.

Edit: nowadays non-binary-ness has become a sort of trend, ironically by RnB and Rap stars. Men are wearing freely colors considered effeminate. Gay men are being ridiculed less for they’re fashion choices and being appropriated by straight men in an effort to look more hygienic.

What you must understand, is that in the 70s and 80s, men did NOT feel "effeminate" while wearing these. They didn't feel anything. It was just "normal". Professional basketball players wore them as a regulation uniform for decades. Were they "effeminate"? So, the question is, what changed culturally, so that these now seem "effeminate" to some?

That's a good question.  It was normal, just like people wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap today.
Even "fashion unconscious" me wore them and don't recall when or what reason I stopped wearing them.

What you must understand, is that in the 70s and 80s, men did NOT feel "effeminate" while wearing these. They didn't feel anything. It was just "normal". Professional basketball players wore them as a regulation uniform for decades. Were they "effeminate"? So, the question is, what changed culturally, so that these now seem "effeminate" to some?

I don't know, that's just me, I always thought that short shorts were a bit girly on guys till I saw that a lot of guys were wearing shorts and it became normal to wear them.

I wonder if they fell out of favour with the popularity of looser fit boxer shorts for underwear. I remember a boyfriend in the 80s realising his underwear was slightly longer than the shorts he was wearing. He was concerned not only about people seeing his underwear, but that he might accidentally flash someone

I wonder if they fell out of favour with the popularity of looser fit boxer shorts for underwear. I remember a boyfriend in the 80s realising his underwear was slightly longer than the shorts he was wearing. He was concerned not only about people seeing his underwear, but that he might accidentally flash someone


An interesting point. I'm trying to think which came first, the longer shorts or the mass migration to boxer shorts and boxer briefs. It may have been concurrent. Another thing the younger people here may not know is that in the 60s, 70s and most of the 80s  males wore pretty much EXCLUSIVELY underwear that now carries the derogatory name "tightly whities". Although it wasn't as self-conscious as it is now, with massive underwear ad campaigns and such, anybody NOT wearing them was considered hopelessly uncool. Exactly the opposite of today. And, by the way, this underwear is what kept everything "controlled", shall we say, under the short shorts, so there was no real fear of any exposure of body parts that you might not want to expose.

An interesting point. I'm trying to think which came first, the longer shorts or the mass migration to boxer shorts and boxer briefs. It may have been concurrent. Another thing the younger people here may not know is that in the 60s, 70s and most of the 80s  males wore pretty much EXCLUSIVELY underwear that now carries the derogatory name "tightly whities". Although it wasn't as self-conscious as it is now, with massive underwear ad campaigns and such, anybody NOT wearing them was considered hopelessly uncool. Exactly the opposite of today. And, by the way, this underwear is what kept everything "controlled", shall we say, under the short shorts, so there was no real fear of any exposure of body parts that you might not want to expose.


60s, 70s and 80s ? That’s a lot of decades and a lot of time something as uncool today as tighty whiteys were popular for. Some fashion set pieces take decades for it too go out of fashion, I think people on here don’t realize that change just doesn’t happen over time or even in a year.

60s, 70s and 80s ? That’s a lot of decades and a lot of time something as uncool today as tighty whiteys were popular for. Some fashion set pieces take decades for it too go out of fashion, I think people on here don’t realize that change just doesn’t happen over time or even in a year.


Turns out not just 60s, 70s and 80s. "Tighty whities" (a term that didn't exist in the 70s, by the way) were the MAIN style of men's underwear from their very introduction in the US in 1935. I can tell you from my youth that if anybody was wearing anything else and somebody caught a glimpse (in a locker room or whatever) they were snickered at by people who are inclined to snicker at things. Complete opposite of today. So what caused such an abrupt turnaround circa 1990, the same time shorts were getting longer?

Here's some factual history from the Smithsonian:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tighty-whities-first-hit-market-80-years-ago-today-180953930/

"Jockeys debuted in Chicago’s Marshall Fields department store on January 19, 1935, with a brief-wearing mannequin displaying the goods from one of the front windows. The day was blustery and cold, though, and store managers weren't sure that such a summery design would sell in winter conditions.

But all of Marshall Fields’ 600 pairs of briefs sold on that first day. Within three months, over 30,000 would fly off the shelves of stores all over the country. The product remained so successful that, by 1971, Coopers would change its name to Jockey.

The next big breakthrough in men’s underwear wouldn’t come until the 1990s, when the boxer-brief was invented."

Back in the 80s, the shorts of British footballers were very short and loose, and there were some wardrobe malfunctions, which I hope will not discuss here.

Starting in 1989...

Baywatch?

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/14/article-0-1AD0A645000005DC-157_634x936.jpg