Men in shorts

August 7, 2008 - 10:07 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, History and Culture 

It seems that men wearing shorts to work has now been deemed acceptable in New York City, and we’re not just talking about Fedex delivery people. Honest to god, yes, in addition to male fashion editors, they’ve tracked down one 90-year-old real estate agent, a Mr. Hyman Gross, who wears his shorts to the opera and ballet and a couple of people in Salt Lake City who have introduced a no-long-trousers policy at their offices.


But what about Israel? If they think it’s hot in New York, or Salt Lake City for that matter, what about Tel Aviv or Jerusalem? We’ve got heat, but the men are not showing any skin. What gives?

According to Roni Cnaani in an Haaretz column last summer, shorts have become an object of derision, the kind of thing that only a moshavnik would wear. As he comments, “Sometimes I wonder what distortions have dictated local taste, what primal urges and prejudices have led to such an inferior aesthetic outlook and why, of all places, in a Mediterranean country like ours, and particularly among the fashion elite did short pants get such a bad rep around here? Is it a counter-reaction to the ethos of the sabra, with his trademark short pants and sandals?”

Designer Ronen Chen, who hasn’t branched out into design for men just yet, smsed me that shorts may feel “less formal” for men, perhaps making them “feel too much like kids.” But this is the land where almost anything goes, including jeans and a tee-shirt for a wedding.

So I asked some local ‘masters of the universe,’ including some guys who work from home — clearly they’re wearing shorts — but a few lawyers and venture capitalists as well. Amir Kadari, a lawyer who works between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, said “definitely not” to shorts, “unless you’re a basketball player or a tour guide.” Jack Levy, a venture capitalist and founder of Israel Cleantech Ventures, whose office is in Herzliya, said, “Imagine the positive CO2 emissions impact from reduced AC if this became a standard. Start with summer Fridays – AC is set up a few degrees and shorts are acceptable… then like the business casual trend it will become all summer.” But he wouldn’t commit as to whether he would start the trend. Another venture capitalist, Jacob Ner-David, who rides his bike all over town, said he just wore shorts the other day and is all for it in the summer. And Ira Skop, who works from home in Jerusalem, and is in the risk management business, commented that Bermuda shorts have long been acceptable in business in Bermuda. That said, he wears shorts in his home office, “but never with black socks and dress shoes.”

So what to do? Will Israeli men ever wear shorts suits? Do we want them to?

Tags: , , , , , ,

 

© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap