# Can older people rock the short trousers look? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088 "2018-10-17T06:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/1 "2018-10-17T06:53:45Z")
I’m relatively slow with fashion, but I have noticed that it’s become fashionable for men to wear somewhat short trousers (or turn them up), with either ankle socks or no socks at all. I have started trying this look, and it is pretty comfortable, but I am not sure if I may be committing (yet another) faux pas: I’m almost 40, and my ankles already have some wrinkles and noticeable veins. Is it time for me to give up on fashion? (and yeah I do wear shorts sometimes too…I dunno, that feels different. Just showing the ankle seems like you’re drawing attention to it) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/2 "2018-10-17T07:23:00Z")
I find as I get older, I care less about what it looks like, and more about how comfortable I am. Outside of work, I wear shorts for half the year, as an alternative to feeling uncomfortably hot, but I am someone who always feels too hot. It’s mid-October and I am only now just considering the switch back to jeans or long trousers. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/3 "2018-10-17T09:23:06Z")
This is usually the monsoon season here in Oregon, but we’re having a long warm dry stretch with no clouds. Warm enough to wear shorts. So there’s some good from Global Warming. I bicycle a lot so my legs are in good shape. Even though I’m over 60, I have no embarassment from wearing shorts of any length. I just wish that real shorts, not these knee length pants, would come back into style. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/4 "2018-10-17T10:08:34Z")
Khaki shorts, yeah, AFAIK that then standard for older Aussie and Kiwi blokes. High-water pants? A bity nerd for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/5 "2018-10-17T10:25:36Z")
I’m 72, and I wear whatever I like. If you’re offended by my ankles, look somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/6 "2018-10-17T11:03:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I find as I get older, I care less about what it looks like, and more about how comfortable I am. I’m 60. A decade ago I said “fuck it” with regards to fashion. I got rid of my hundreds of ties and my 3 suits. I dress comfortably. Yesterday it was in the 30s at one point and I wore a bathing suit! (OK, I was hauling our pontoon boat out of the water for the season.) ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/7 "2018-10-17T11:18:02Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’m relatively slow with fashion, but I have noticed that it’s become fashionable for men to wear somewhat short trousers (or turn them up), with either ankle socks or no socks at all. > > I have started trying this look, and it is pretty comfortable, but I am not sure if I may be committing (yet another) faux pas: I’m almost 40, and my ankles already have some wrinkles and noticeable veins. Is it time for me to give up on fashion? The look isn’t my style but I’ve seen guys my age (56) and older wear them and it looks fine. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/8 "2018-10-17T12:32:01Z")
Short trousers? Those are capri pants, and this older dude isn’t rocking that style. I wear shorts whenever I want, though, if you don’t like my legs or my ankles, that’s on you. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/9 "2018-10-17T12:41:26Z")
Near as I can tell, the primary requisite for “rocking a style” is that you’re wearing it because it suits you, and you don’t care what other people think of it. This applies at any age. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/10 "2018-10-17T13:13:25Z")
As some men age, they lose height. I know my father is a couple of inches shorter than he was earlier and he’s in his eighties. And old guys are cheapskates, so they’re not going to buy new pants when they have perfectly good ones in the closet. So they continue to wear pants that are too long for them, either hiking them up so they seem to be wearing their pants too high or they have to roll up the cuffs at the bottom. Is that what the OP is seeing? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/11 "2018-10-17T13:41:20Z")
No, it’s not. He’s talking about how high the hem is. Younger people are currently wearing their pants either rolled up, or hemmed, high enough to reveal the ankle. Almost fifties jeans style. And the young and slim are making it look attractive too. Though I confess to being confused by the same look _without_ socks, in the winter, but I digress. It’s fashion, go along if you like it, or don’t if you don’t! This has always been the rule of fashion, but some are just WAY more about the latest thing and can get pretty rigid, as a result. My hubby is over seventy, and I just took him to a wedding where he wore narrow leg black pants, hemmed shorter than he’s used to, but not quite ankle revealing, and a crisp white, Mandarin collar shirt, no tie. And he looked GOOD! And received many compliments. Where what you want. At any age. If you’re not sure, try it and see! Fashion should be fun! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/12 "2018-10-17T13:47:08Z")
I’m a weightlifter, and I have good legs, and, since I live in the Phoenix area, I wear shorts for most of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/13 "2018-10-17T14:15:20Z")
Personally, I don’t think anyone can rock a style that involves ankle socks, unless you’re at the gym or jogging. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/14 "2018-10-17T15:07:53Z")
I just put my summer pants away last week. For the past several summers I have lived in [Outdoor Research Men’s Ferrosi 3/4 Pants](https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-Mens-Ferrosi-Pants/dp/B00Q4BIL78) and/or[prAna Men’s Menace Knickers](https://www.amazon.com/PRANA-prAna-Mens-Menace-Knickers/dp/B00QYUL3EC) . Can’t think of a single reason why I should care what anybody else thinks of them. I initially got them for hiking and cycling but quickly started wearing them all the time. I am 70. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/15 "2018-10-17T15:15:29Z")
I never cared about what I looked like, or what was fashionable. I went with what was comfortable and what I liked. As I get older, I see no reason to change my standards. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/16 "2018-10-17T15:34:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Near as I can tell, the primary requisite for “rocking a style” is that you’re wearing it because it suits you, and you don’t care what other people think of it. This applies at any age. DING DING DING!!! My personal taste aside (aw hell no), if you feel confident and attractive in it, you’re rockin’ it. If you have to ask, you’re probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/17 "2018-10-17T15:42:46Z")
I followed social and fashion rules as best I could for close to 40 years. It didn’t really suit me, and at 40 I realized following “just because” rules didn’t _serve_ me either. I know how to dress and how to behave when it matters, but the other 99% of the time I suit myself and practically dare anyone to snark in my general direction. I’m going to be comfortable, and that means letting my legs go free, and ankle socks just because naked feet ruin shoes in short order (a fact I really wish my cowboy boot-wearing boy would accept), and long socks with shorts sort of defeats the purpose of wearing shorts. Highwater pants and rollups don’t suit me, though. Shorts or properly hemmed trou for this aging dude. As far as being fashionable goes, if someone has a problem with how I dress it’s because _they’re_ behind _my_ cutting edge sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/18 "2018-10-17T16:37:02Z")
My father, now 92, has always been a high water pants guy, and I’ve always been embarrassed to be seen with him. He was a college professor but looked retarded due to the short pants. Michael Jackson could pull it off, but otherwise the quickest way to make a guy look like a dork is to put him in too-short pants. [Pee Wee Herman](https://www.theblot.com/10-favorite-pee-wee-herman-quotes-7738724) [Cosmo Kramer](https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/seinfeld-where-are-they-now/8/) If anyone can show me a picture of an older guy who doesn’t look like a dork in short pants, I will gladly admit I’m wrong and apologize. And can anyone explain why a guy would choose this look? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/19 "2018-10-17T17:16:13Z")
Wait. You have wrinkles on your _ANKLES_??? I didn’t know that was a thing. Anyhow, I think if you like the look you should go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088/20 "2018-10-17T19:34:23Z")
I asked my personal consultant for fashion,(the lil’wrekker) and she said _sure_ wear it, if you like it. I didnt know what you were describing until she explained it. These are regular trousers that are shorter than usual or rolled up to a shorter length. Not shorts or knee pants. The no-sock look is in like flynn. All the best dressed men are doing it. I was at a wedding this summer and all the groomsman and ushers were sockless with brown dress shoes. I found the brown shoes concerning with a black tux. Go figure? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-rock-the-short-trousers-look/823088.md?page=2)