HAMILTON, Bermuda — With its pink sand, turquoise waters and pastel homes, Bermuda is an oasis of colour in the Atlantic. And so is its wardrobe.
Walk into the English Sports Shop in Hamilton, Bermuda's capital, and shelves of colour greet you. It's the same on racks one block north at TABS (which stands for The Authentic Bermuda Shorts).
On an island restricted to one car per household, there are no limits to your wardrobe.
From Bermuda blue to yellow, pink, coral, red and sea-foam, the island's trademark shorts are hard to miss.
For Bermudians, the shorts are combined with knee socks, shirt, tie and jacket for an elegant yet weather-appropriate business uniform. While the traditional look is navy jacket and socks and brown or black shoes, the sky's the limit these days.
"You could do whatever you wanted though," says Charley Roblin, a marketing executive at TABS. "If you wanted funky-coloured socks, there's no rhyme or reason. It's just if it looks good."
"It's all about personality," she added.
According to lore, the fashion statement started back in the First World War when Bermuda was home to British soldiers. As in India, Burma (now Myanmar) and other toasty countries, they found the heat stifling and looked for ways to keep cool.
Enter Bermudian Nathanial Coxon, who owned a popular tea shop where the hot drinks added to the temperatures. After employees complained about their uniform khaki pants, the thrifty Coxon turned them into shorts.
Rear Admiral Mason Berridge liked the look and adopted it for his fellow naval officers. The look soon caught on. During the Second World War, a clothes shortage prompted Bermudians to adopt the knee socks.
Co-owner Ronnie Maughan says the English Sports Shop dates back to 1918, although the official records only go back to 1922. He has been working there since the mid-'60s, when he was in the shop on weekends while at school. He has worked there full time since 1970 after returning from university in Britain.
"The fabric has not changed," said Maughan. "We've always carried a linen blend. And that is the traditional short."
He's referring to a 50-50 linen-polyester blend "so it has the feel of linen but the resilience of (polyester)," Maughan counsels against dry cleaning the shorts, saying it "knocks the hell out of the fabric, it really does."
The goal is to have the bottom of the shorts two to three inches above the knee. "No more than that," he adds.
The English Sports Shop, which also has satellite stores on the island in St. George and Somerset as well as in the Fairmont Southampton hotel, reeks of time-honoured tradition. TABS offers a more modern look, complete with website and slick marketing.
At Maughan's store, the shorts retail for US$69.95
The shorts are tailored, narrower through the legs. "A little more fitted than trousers would be. They're not just trousers with the legs cut off."
Maughan says while the style has not changed, the times have.
"It is not as popular as it used to be," he said. "We're finding the younger guys are no longer going into the shorts as much."
Some might wear the shorts, but without the trademark knee-length socks.
"The whole dress codes and the requirements of being smart have gone by the wayside largely," he lamented.
"These are only Bermuda shorts when worn with the socks. Otherwise they're just shorts," he added.
TABS is less attached to tradition with sock-less models wearing shorts above casual deck shoes in some promotional shots. Roblin says TABS offers the traditional shorts but with a "more modern" fit coming to an inch or two above the knee.
A cotton pair starts at $98 at TABS with socks costing $20. Women's shorts are also offered.
Roblin says while the colours may change — TABS offers more than 30 — the weather in Bermuda doesn't. "It's hot. It's too hot for a suit."
TABS has been around six years, with owner and designer Rebecca Hanson selling product at a local street market for the first three years before opening the store. Today it retails online and in some 10 stores on the U.S. East Coast, where the appeal is more the shorts rather than the entire Bermuda look.
Maughan who was three when he moved to Bermuda, says his store introduced four new colours the last year and dropped three.
He wears his shorts from May 24 to the end of October. "There are some die-hards who will wear them year-round," he added.
Weather isn't always the determining factor of when to pull the shorts out of the wardrobe, however.
"This year I was later than I've ever been because I had to lose about 20 pounds to get into the shorts that I had," Maughan said with a laugh. "And I refused to go up a size."
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For more information on TABS, visit www.tabsbermuda.com. The English Sports Shop can be reached at mail@tess.bm.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2019.
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
