Is it OK to wear shorts in the office? We asked designer Thom Browne for advice
Since 2020, many of us have gotten used to wearing whatever we want while working from our homes.
And even those of us who returned to the office have probably adopted a more lax dress code.
But given how hot it is around the country these days, maybe – just maybe – you’ve thought about wearing shorts to the office.
Or perhaps the idea is so mortifying that you’re shocked someone would even float the idea.
We asked Fashion designer Thom Browne, known for dressing various celebrities for events like the Met Gala and his own collection, to settle the question: Is it OK to wear shorts to the office?
“If it's appropriate in your line of work, then I think you should,” Browne told Morning Edition’s A Martinez. “But I think there might be situations or certain offices that it is not. So I think you have to kind of be respectful to where you are.”
Browne is known for rocking his signature gray suits – often with shorts.
He even wore a pair to court last year while fighting off a lawsuit from Adidas.
“I just love them because I just like the comfort of them,” Browne said. “ But I do also like the idea of almost driving people crazy because they don't really understand what they're seeing,” he said.
But shorts in the office are just “a little off,” Browne said.
“Back in the day when I started my collection, it was the dress down era and all the banks were dressing down.” He said, “And the reason why I wanted to reintroduce tailoring was because I was against the whole dressing down era.”
If you’re going to do it, here’s how, according to Browne.
If you have an office job and you want to wear shorts to work, Browne recommends a tailored pair of shorts with a jacket, more in line with a shorts suit.
Browne says you can’t just wear the same pair of shorts you would wear to the gym.
A jacket elevates a nice pair of shorts, he added.
“I always feel like if you pair a pair of shorts with a tailored sport coat, it makes it a lot easier to make the shorts more appropriate for work,” he said. “So that would be my advice, to wear it almost like you're wearing a suit, but the trousers are actually shorts.”
And if you are nervous or apprehensive about wearing shorts to work, Browne said, just don’t do it.
“You have to be able to know yourself and be true to your own sense of style,” he said. “And the one thing about personal style is just the confidence in being true to yourself. And so if you are nervous and you're going to look nervous, then I would advise not doing it.” Browne said, “But I don't think you should be nervous.”
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Shorts - is it ever OK to wear them at the office? Not the home office - we all do that - the office office. As dress codes ease and temperatures rise, some people might find themselves thinking, oh, maybe I could, so I called up fashion designer Thom Browne. He's redefined tailoring with his playful takes on suits. He's also chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and I started by asking him why some people find shorts in the workplace so controversial.
MARTÍNEZ: Shorts - is it ever OK to wear them at the office? Not the home office - we all do that - the office office. As dress codes ease and temperatures rise, some people might find themselves thinking, oh, maybe I could, so I called up fashion designer Thom Browne. He's redefined tailoring with his playful takes on suits. He's also chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and I started by asking him why some people find shorts in the workplace so controversial.
THOM BROWNE: I think they understand the idea of shorts, and they understand the idea of tailoring, but they sometimes don't understand them together - and I think, simple as that, you know, it's kind of what my last 20 years has been.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you are known for your signature gray suits, but also for shorts, so what is it about shorts that you love so much?
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you are known for your signature gray suits, but also for shorts, so what is it about shorts that you love so much?
BROWNE: I mean, I just love them because I just like the comfort of them, but I also like the idea of almost driving people crazy because...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
BROWNE: ...They don't really understand what they're seeing, and so there's a little bit of that in it, as well.
MARTÍNEZ: So I'm going to ask you a big, broad question, Thom. Are shorts OK to wear in the office?
MARTÍNEZ: So I'm going to ask you a big, broad question, Thom. Are shorts OK to wear in the office?
BROWNE: If it's appropriate in your line of work, then I think you should, but I think, you know - I think there might be situations or certain offices that it is not, so I think you have to kind of be respectful to where you are.
MARTÍNEZ: I'll tell you something that happened to me a long time ago. So this is 1999, a long time ago. I'm the host of a baseball program, and we would do the show live from the dugout. Now, it was a 100-degree day, and I decided to show up in shorts. Now, the shorts were very nice khaki shorts. I wore a polo shirt on top, very nice shoes. I thought I looked pretty good, but I got so much grief for the rest of the baseball season because I was wearing shorts to work, technically.
MARTÍNEZ: I'll tell you something that happened to me a long time ago. So this is 1999, a long time ago. I'm the host of a baseball program, and we would do the show live from the dugout. Now, it was a 100-degree day, and I decided to show up in shorts. Now, the shorts were very nice khaki shorts. I wore a polo shirt on top, very nice shoes. I thought I looked pretty good, but I got so much grief for the rest of the baseball season because I was wearing shorts to work, technically.
BROWNE: So that situation, I would say 100% you should be able to wear shorts.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWNE: I'm talking more, you know, the traditional law offices, banks. You know, I think there would be situations that - you know, I don't work in one of those offices, but I know my brothers do, and I can't imagine them wearing shorts.
MARTÍNEZ: So if someone wants to, someone wants to wear shorts at work - say it's an office - what makes for a great pair of work-appropriate shorts? I mean, what should people be looking out for, and what should they be thinking about wearing?
MARTÍNEZ: So if someone wants to, someone wants to wear shorts at work - say it's an office - what makes for a great pair of work-appropriate shorts? I mean, what should people be looking out for, and what should they be thinking about wearing?
BROWNE: Well, I think, to work, I mean, I do feel like it should almost be a tailored suit, a short suit - but that's how I design them, and it does transcend the shorts into a more, I guess, quote, "suit world," as opposed to a more casual fabrication in the shorts.
MARTÍNEZ: So if the pair of shorts that you want to wear to work are the same shorts you can wear to the gym (laughter), you should not wear those shorts.
MARTÍNEZ: So if the pair of shorts that you want to wear to work are the same shorts you can wear to the gym (laughter), you should not wear those shorts.
BROWNE: Yeah, no, those wouldn't be the shorts I would advise wearing to work.
MARTÍNEZ: So if someone wants to do this, but they're apprehensive, they're worried, they're concerned, they just have a little bit of fear because of society's rules - what would you tell them? What would you tell someone that wants to try shorts at work but is really, really worried about it?
MARTÍNEZ: So if someone wants to do this, but they're apprehensive, they're worried, they're concerned, they just have a little bit of fear because of society's rules - what would you tell them? What would you tell someone that wants to try shorts at work but is really, really worried about it?
BROWNE: I have to say, if you're worried about it and you're going to look self-conscious, don't do it. You know, you have to be able to, you know, know yourself and almost be true to your own sense of style, and the one thing about, I think, personal style is just in the confidence in being true to yourself. And so if you are nervous and you're going to look nervous, then I would advise not doing it. But I don't think you should be nervous.
MARTÍNEZ: That's American fashion designer Thom Browne. Thank you very much.
MARTÍNEZ: That's American fashion designer Thom Browne. Thank you very much.
BROWNE: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MENAHAN STREET BAND'S "THE TRAITOR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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