Can men now get their legs out in the office?

[skirtyscot]

In my office a few men turn up in shorts on hot days, and nobody seems to mind. There's also one man who occasionally turns up in a skirt and bare legs!

[Ray]

No tights?

Unprofessional!

[STEVIE]

No tights?

Unprofessional!

I'd love to see you address that statement to a group of women Rae.
Just let me know the hospital and I'll send grapes.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/a3075d ... f9ef19be07
This is what Caitlin Moran had to say on the subject.
Steve.

[6ft3Aussie]

https://www.thetimes.com/article/a3075d ... f9ef19be07

That one is behind a paywall, so I can't see it without subscribing.... And I do get it that journalists need to get paid just like the rest of us in the real world...

[mr seamstress]

That one is behind a paywall, so I can't see it without subscribing.... And I do get it that journalists need to get paid just like the rest of us in the real world...

I was able get behind paywall by clicking reload button when showing X to stop paywall from loading.

[STEVIE]

CAITLIN MORAN
Women prepare for Leg Season like Olympians. Men, you have it easy
Men just have to choose from Sporty Shorts (ending just below the testicles), Rock Shorts (jeans bitten off at the knee) or Boat Shorts (there is no need to like boats)
Caitlin Moran
Saturday April 13 2024, 12.01am, The Times
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Isaw a couple of outliers in early March ― you know, when we had those two sunny days. But it kicked off in earnest over the Easter holiday weekend ― that was the beginning of the official Middle-Aged Men’s Leg Season.

It didn’t matter that it was still, by and large, pretty cold and wet. The Easter weekend was when ageing mankind seemed to consult its almanac and say, “This is the time marked for the sowing of crops and also the beginning of shorts. We will pay no heed to the weather: Middle-Aged Men’s Leg Season must commence ― and now.”

Men’s leg seasons are different from women’s leg seasons in that they can start overnight. For women, “getting your legs out” is like the Olympics: you don’t just rock up in Paris on a whim and take part in a pole vault. You have to train. You have to prepare. There will be a month of “leg days” at the gym followed by a minimum of one week of depilation, exfoliation, fake-tanning and moisturising. If you observe the general populace, women as yet have not got their legs out. We are still prepping them. We’re in lengthy training, like Team GB or a football squad, so that we can start the play-offs some time in early May.

Forty-plus dads on the other hand? They simply… stop wearing trousers. Whatever has been under that moleskin for the past six months is suddenly just boldly and freely exposed both to the elements and to the eye – no humectant marinating necessary beforehand. Almost as if legs were a totally normal body part that needn’t inspire a terror of judgment.

And while every year comes with a different leg-revealing fashion for women ― when the time comes in 2024, will it be denim cut-offs? A ra-ra skirt? A playsuit? Cycling shorts? ― with dads there are only three options, all shorts, never changing and fixed to your essential nature.

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1. Sporty Shorts. Made from some modern technical wicking fabric about which the purchaser is well informed ― and can expound at great length ― Sporty Shorts are worn by Sporty Dads. Usually quite short – merely a risky inch or so lower than the end of the testicles ― the gauzily insubstantial nature of Sporty Shorts means that in a strong wind the silhouette of men’s genitals becomes hauntingly apparent: like Han Solo’s screaming face entombed in carbonite.

Perhaps in acknowledgment of this, Sporty Shorts are often double-bagged: a second, tighter, longer pair of cycling shorts worn underneath, extending halfway down the thigh. As you would expect, Sporty Shorts are sported by men on the way to the gym, on the way back from the gym, while drinking a flat white at an outdoor café as the breeze threatens to reveal their testicles, and while cycling with their three young capable sons up a mountain while shouting, “Smith family peloton ― sprint finish!”

2. Rock Shorts. Worn by those who look like the world’s most capable and fun men ― roadies ― Rock Shorts are the choice of those dads who are bearded, tattooed, chunky and out for a good time. As befits the practical nature of the roadie, Rock Shorts are very rarely purchased. Instead they are made: an old pair of black jeans have the legs sawn ― or possibly bitten ―off just below the knee. These shorts will be accessorised with long key chains, a big pair of boots and a vape the size of a clarinet. Rock Shorts can and will be worn anywhere: festival; beach in Spain; weddings; funerals. When worn with a matching black band T-shirt they are the Alternative Gentleman’s Summer Suit.

3. Boat Shorts. These are more a state of mind than an actual “indicator of boats” in the life of the wearer. The wearer might not like boats or, indeed, may actively hate them. However, when a middle-class man purchases a pair of slightly crumpled pale pink linen shorts and pairs them with a pale blue short-sleeved shirt and a hat, it does make him, in the words of Carly Simon, look as if he’s just walking onto a yacht. The natural shoe accompaniment to this ― primrose-coloured flip-flops ― only adds to the effect.

The best Boat Shorts I have seen were on a dad blocking the entire Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal by attempting a three-point-turn in a holiday barge. When I asked him why, he explained that Google Maps had just shown him there was a Waitrose in Abergavenny and he was out of sancerre. It was February and his legs were very tanned. I presume he’d been sailing since the last Middle-Aged Men’s Leg Season, looking for landfall and high-quality wines. For this is the nature of men and their shorts. They are unstoppable.

I wrote a letter to her at the time re MIS, not published and no reply.
Steve.

[Uncle Al]

Back before I retired (Nov 2007), my office did not allow 'shorts'.
Then our Recreation Committee met with management, and came up with
a plan to raise money for the Rec-Committee. A 'Shorts' badge. Everyone
who wanted to wear shorts, would pay $25.00 for the year, get a badge that
was worn with the employee badge. Huge success and the proceeds went
to the charitable work that our Rec-Committee did. I purchased a badge
for many years, not only for the ability to wear shorts at work but, support
the Rec-Committee's community work or helping employees who fell on
dire circumstances. ( I was one when my house burned in '91. )
That's when I started wearing my kilts to work. too

Uncle Al

[Susie]

Firstly, I think this article is describing a certain, small group of women, not all women and especially since covid do any of that.

Secondly, interesting chat with my 'work son' yesterday when he brought up feeling jealous he couldn't wear a floaty dress to work.
He seemed surprised I didn't laugh at him and we had quite the discussion but doubt he'll be wearing a skirt any time soon or at least not to work.

Baby steps

[Ray]

No tights?

Unprofessional!

I'd love to see you address that statement to a group of women Rae.
Just let me know the hospital and I'll send grapes.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/a3075d ... f9ef19be07
This is what Caitlin Moran had to say on the subject.
Steve.

When suits and professional workwear was de rigeur, I had some conversations with women on the topic - but (a) never a group, and (b) never instigated by me. I was providing input into a discussion where the subject was already being aired.

Times have changed - so while I dislike bare legs with formal workwear, I say nothing - and would never expect someone to wear tights with more casual clothing or a summer dress etc. That choice would be theirs.

As long as the men can wear shorts, or trousers without socks!