StyleFoul: Formal shorts
If you've been trolling through the after-Christmas sales at your favorite mall, you've probably noticed a veritable bounty of what folks in the fashion world call "formal shorts." (Shorts they are; formal they are not.) Because the formal shorts are the only things that remain on the otherwise pick-over sale racks, I think we can assume that this 5-inch-inseam trend hasn't been a big seller this year.
And thank heavens for that!
Let it be said: formal shorts are not only logically fallacious, they just plain don't make any sense!
Isn't the whole point of winter to have a five-month break from the unflattering monstrosity known as the short? Shouldn't it be enough that we put up with them in the summertime when the weather justifies our willingness to see our otherwise normal-looking legs reduced to inelegant rectangles?
I know that celebrities think they're fabulous (Gwen Stefani, Posh, Kate Moss, et al.). For the rest of us mere mortals with real woman bodies and practical lives, the formal short is quite possibly the worst turn of the fashion wheel we've seen in years. (Yes, formal shorts are worse than skinny jeans AND leggings, my friends. In fact, not since big shoulder pads has the female body been so assaulted by one single style!)
So, as the Oprah show theme song tells us, "Get with the program!" Formal shorts are for the birds! If my pleading alone doesn't convince you, hopefully your measly retail profits will.
Tags: evening wear, EveningWear, formal shorts, FormalShorts, shorts, StyleFoul






karen, 1-13-2007, 12:51PM
Women should not wear shorts, period, unless they're actively engaged in heavy-duty exercise. Once they're done, they should change out of them ASAP, as shorts are the single most unflattering garment - ever - on the female body (they're not that great on a lot of men, either). Only in the U.S. do you see lots of women wearing them - not in Europe or other parts of the world - perhaps because there is no shorts-wearing tradition elsewhere? When it's hot, European women wear skirts. When they exercise, they wear pants or leggings (if they "exercise" at all, that is). So enough already with shorts, at least on over 18 year olds!
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