For many of us, the exposure of our legs in the office is tantamount to a bit of unwanted public shaming, like accidentally sending an email detailing our most intimate medical problem to the whole office. Essentially it is semaphoring to the whole world a message that says: “Whoops! I’m exposing my calves, a faded peace sign tattoo on my ankle and the inconsistent hairline around my left leg. I don’t want Rob from IT to see that.”
But needs must, and when your thighs feel like they are being flambeed under your black skinny jeans, shorts are a no-brainer. If you work in a casual office where shorts are permissible, what type works best?
Going the athleisure route is good in the comfort stakes: Nike does cotton blended shorts. Great, but not so good for more formal situations.
Chino shorts are again quite lightweight and cooling but if you want to avoid looking too much like you’re starring in the deleted beach scene from Dead Poets Society, you might want to swerve away from beige and go for a different colour. (J Crew has a range in watermelon and Paul Smith does a pair in electric blue).
If you want to go off-piste (and by that we mean “Elizabethan”) J.W.Anderson’s bunched-up, pleated shorts are for you.
Our favourite option, though, are these cut-offs from Levi’s. Distressed, with frayed hems, they look both lightweight and comfortable, and mirror the Fear Of God jeans favoured by the likes of Kanye West and Justin Bieber.
