If you cannot wear a skirt

[STEVIE]

On a memorably hot summer day, they're a rarity here, Mrs. K. and I had a difference of opinion regarding my choice of apparel.
The result was me wearing a pair of "shorts" with an oversized t-shirt, I could just as easily have been wearing a very short dress.
The point, she could take that reasonably happily and the peace reigned while the sun shone.
Pockets, they had none, I reckon that they're overrated anyway. I just do not get the fixation with a need for pockets.
Another thing I really do not understand, how some men can achieve any sort of relationship with a woman when they purport a truly dire attitude toward them.
I guess they may not have lived long enough to realise the error of their ways.
Sinned and Wim, it's damn hard ,I know, but if something's worth having it's worth fighting for, sacrificing for!
Steve.
I reckon some "stirring" may also be occuring.

[Kirbstone]

Re: short shorts:, I've just dug up a pic. of myself when I was half the age I am now and at that time mens' shorts sold in High St. stores WERE that short.

TJK extending W.C. 1979.jpg

I'm extending our then Tudor house in Hampshire and what's in my mouth is a long nail. I've never smoked in my life. The beard didn't last long. I grew very tired of it & off it came, never to return.

Tom.

[crfriend]

Re: short shorts:, I've just dug up a pic. of myself when I was half the age I am now and at that time mens' shorts sold in High St. stores WERE that short.

I adore shots like that, and have vast respect for the blokes who are confident enough to post them in the modern world. "Back in the day", shorts were. well, short; at the same time, men could very honestly go into any High Street shoe store and acquire a pair of men's shoes with a 2" stacked heel; we could buy things in interesting fabrics, colours, and prints. Is what we have now an improvement on that halcyon time?

I'm extending our then Tudor house in Hampshire and what's in my mouth is a long nail. I've never smoked in my life. The beard didn't last long. I grew very tired of it & off it came, never to return.

I was about to ask that question, but then noticed the head on the nail and saw it for what it was (and recall that there was a time when lots of doctors smoked).

I'll politely disagree on beards; I think that they can lend gravitas to an individual's visage that might not otherwise be present. They're not for everyman, mind, but on many they work. The fun part of the above photo is that it is, indeed, recognizable as the good Dr. K at work on his domicile in yesteryear. That said, I think the new photos are "better"; the kid in the picture looks a bit torqued off about something.

[melsav]

Myself and my sister Summer 1973, when shorts were short.

[Kirbstone]

Melsav, Herewith I submit my final short shorts pic....playing music on a hot day with my very young kids' old violin teacher who came to tea. About 1977-8. I note tiles on the barbeque/pool pumphouse aren't yet finished.

TJK the whistleblower in shorts 1978 Rs.jpg

Carl, Indeed a lot of Drs. did smoke. My late Dr. father was rarely photographed without a cigarette in his mouth or hand. He and his clothes reeked of smoke and he was terminally ill from it at age 69 and only just survived long enough to meet my Tim, his first grandchild. I wouldn't touch the blxxdy things.

Tom

[MrNaturalAZ]

WHat a fun 70's flashback this has been with everyone sharing their old photos. Sorry I have none from that era to share. I'm noticing that in every one, the shorts, including denim, have "properly" hemmed legs. My preference back then (and I wore them as short as anyone) was for cutoffs. Not only did I prefer the look, but I could make them the exact length I wanted. It was also a great way to salvage a pair of jeans when the legs had gotten damaged or too short. And of course, the more worn they got, the more comfortable they became - I certainly got my money's worth.

[crfriend]

WHat a fun 70's flashback this has been with everyone sharing their old photos.

Heavens yes!

I'm not sure that many shots of me from back in the '70s exist, much less of me in shorts as I never wore them save for bathing-suits (a pointless idea if there ever was one). I'll see if I can dig up my official mug-shot from my senior year in secondary school, but be warned that if you look at it for more than a few seconds it will drive you mad from laughter.

I quite quickly noted the "difference between the generations" in Kirbstone's most recent picture. He's in minimal attire whereas the elder chap was turned out quite properly including a jacket. Ah, children. What are they coming to? Next thing you know the boys'll be wearing skirts and the girls trousers.

[Couya]

I remember, even longer ago, when shorts were knee-length -- think of the British army.
That's what I wore as a teenager, turning them up as short as I dared, as we all did until the industry finally caught on and started producing short shorts for us.
Alas, they disappeared again from the shops, as you know, but things are changing on the streets, and we can see more younger men wearing sports shorts (short) rather than baggies or bermudas. Living in a seaside town could be the reason I have seen this; it could be different in London or Paris.
Something I have noticed on the beach: men turning up their long shorts, not outwards as we used to, but inwards, resulting in, imho, the most inelegant bundle of cloth recalling babies' nappies(*). I can understand them wanting to get a tan, or avoiding cloth flapping around in the water, but do they realize what they look like? The point is, I think once again the tide is turning and men are getting tired of fashionable thigh covers. Could they not find a decent swimming costume somewhere (aka: bikini, speedo, slip ...)? The shop have them.

* my made-in China, but American, computer reminds me that "nappies" do not exist beyond the ocean -- it suggested replacing that by "nap pies", whatever they may be. Perhaps "diapers" is a more familiar word for the most environment-unfriendly, and ugly objects with which young parents insist on masking their children's sex.

Martin

[Couya]

Confirmation of my feeling that the end of the baggy longs has arrived.
This pic was in a Spanish newspaper today, with an article confirming that the days of hiding male thighs were past.

The words under the pic : "For summer : Better in a speedo or in trunks?
Men's swimming costumes, slips or boxers*, are making a strong come back this summer to replace bermudas and board shorts."

(* don't know what word to use really. We used to say "trunks" for any small swimming costume with less than a cm or two of leg. In the 50s & 60s, I can't remember ever seeing men swimming with their legs covered).

Martin

[Uncle Al]

Back when I was a kid the girls had a Swim Suit
and the guys had Swim Trunks. We used to say,
'get your trunks and let's go swimming'. We all
knew what was meant by that phrase.

Trunks were also used to store things in like quilts,
blankets, wedding dresses, etc. Same word but
with different meaning depending on how the
word was used

Uncle Al

[Milfmog]

And there I was thinking a trunk was what an elephant breathed through...

Have fun,


Ian.

PS If I must wear a swimming costume, then I'm afraid it will be a budgie smuggler, no matter how hard that may be on other folks eyes.

[Kirbstone]

Funny, I thought the trunk was that part of an American car, sorry, automobile at the back end with a lid, which we in this part of the world call the 'boot'.

Tom.

[Uncle Al]

The phrase is a 'Southern Term' found in the states
South of the Mason-Dixon line. In South East Texas,
the "Trunk" on a car is call the "Turtle or Turtle Hull".
Why - I don't know. Must be something to do with the
swamp areas in and around the lakes in the states of
Arkansas and Louisiana.
In Europe, the trunk of a car is called 'The Boot'.
See link for more information: http://www.word-detective.com/2011/08/turtle-hull/

Uncle Al

[Kirbstone]

Here on this benighted Green-Isle, from pre-Durassic days we got from A to B (in our Morrises, Austins & Hillmans) mostly along 'trunk' routes or roads, all of which had a T-no. on the map.
Not long ago our profligate Celtic Pussy-cat Spend-all-like-there's-no-tomorrow unbridled decision-makers bypassed most of these trunk roads with motorways, each with an M-prefix and to add to the mapping confusion all the non M-roads became N-roads (National routes), R-roads (regional) or L-roads (link).
So alas the word 'Trunk' has disappeared off our maps and signposts for ever, it seems and our ruling Junta (Who all get shunted around in black Mercedes Benzes) will not be persuaded otherwise.

Tom

[MrNaturalAZ]

And I always thought a trunk was the circuit connecting between telephone exchanges (back in prehistoric times, when telephones were either bolted to the wall or tethered thereto with a wire).