As summer heats up, the vicious debate that has held our polarized nation hostage is reaching new levels of vitriol. I’m talking, of course, about the rift between men who wear shorts to the office and those who consider them a workwear abomination.
On the West Coast, particularly in the tech sector, wearing shorts to the office is perhaps unremarkable. But in parts of the Northeast, ask a man if wearing shorts to work is acceptable and he may well scoff, "Only for the UPS guy.”
And so every summer we’re deluged with versions of the "can we wear shorts to the office?” question. "It’s a very bizarre taboo for me,” says Derek Guy, a menswear writer and the comfortingly authoritative voice behind the @die_workwear X account. "It’s totally normal to wear shorts, and whether you can wear them to the office depends on the office.” It may be a complete nonissue for, say, graphic designers. But white-shoe banks and law firms are another matter.