Written by Rishita Nannapaneni

Photography by Rishita Nannapaneni

Modeled by Hadley Berry, Daniel Castillo, Daisy McDonald, Ashton Dierecks, Madi Brady & YaYa Liké

Suns out, thighs out. This summer brought back the once 90s-owned trend of low inseam bottoms. Particularly, “Aftersun” and “Normal People” star Paul Mescal had a hand in this resurgence coming to play. After continual paparazzi photos were released of the Irish actor wearing low inseam short shorts, the conversation around men wearing shorter bottoms has since populated the internet. 

Not only are low-inseam shorts reminiscent of athletics and playing on team-based sports, they are highly fashionable and can be diverse in appearance. The flow of the nonrestrictive fabric around the upper thigh allows for comfort in warmer temperatures, even during summer heat waves. As showing skin becomes less taboo within younger generations due to evolving views on modesty, short shorts are a perfect indication of the progression of prioritizing comfort over expectations in our society. 

Even for women, bikini-bottom-esque shorts (no, not “Spongebob” inspired) are rising in popularity. Similar to the cuts of the 60s, these types of boy short bottoms bring in the warm feelings of summer, with a style that takes one back to the feelings of a sunny beach day. While this style of short has been popular in women’s clothing for decades, as we saw with Daisy Dukes, this cut resurrection has involved tighter fabric creating a comforting, secure base for any outfit.

While this style of shorts is typically associated with women’s clothing, the increased popularity of low inseam shorts among masculine presenting people reflects a change in societal gender expectations and the close-mindedness around associations with gender roles. A time of freedom of expression through clothing is upon us, and everyone should join in on the fun and let those thighs breathe!