14 DAY TRIAL // As early as fall last year, designers introduced this year’s biggest hit item, the short shorts or the daisy dukes shorts, as they’re also called. While they can vary in size, design, fabric and whatnot, there is only one thing that all women, no matter the age, should bear in mind before purchasing one such pair of teensy pants: just how toned and tanned the leg is, as Kate Mulvey of the Daily Mail also points out.
Some of you may remember that what designers proposed in their catwalk shows was more (or less, depending on where you look) than a pair of short pants, since it was rather more in the realm of high-waist briefs worn as pants. For whichever you go, the same rule applies, stylists have said since then – and still do: you have to be in the best shape to pull off this look. Daisy dukes are the most unforgiving, potentially embarrassing clothing item to have come out in recent years, so it’s no wonder it takes so much work to wear them, not to mention confidence.
“It is stating the obvious to say only the honed and toned can get away with a fashion item that exposes so much flesh – you can see every ripple of cellulite, and pity the woman whose thigh has even the slightest bit of wobble. Yet this summer, women of all ages are getting out their inner Daisy Duke – the hot-pant wearing character in the Seventies TV series, ‘The Dukes Of Hazzard’ – and investing in a pair of shorts the size of a hanky. I have seen some women wearing them rolled up so high they expose their knickers. And others who wear them so tight that when they sit down their thighs squelch over the top.” Mulvey says, somewhat shocked that so many are eager to jump on the hotpants bandwagon.
It’s not so much that women have started suddenly feeling less self-aware when donning a pair of these pants that they’re beginning to gain in popularity, but rather the fact that, as tiny as they might be, they come in such a wide range, that virtually any woman can find one that will hide the flaws she wants hidden. This is also why all women, no matter their age, should own a pair of daisy dukes this year, Mulvey adds, if they don’t want to be classified as passé or, heaven forbid, anti-trends.
The idea is, of course, to make sure you hide the imperfections that could potentially embarrass you. First of all, stylists say, get a tan: an even, bronze (spray-on) tan makes cellulite seem less and creates the impression of a longer leg. Then, choose your dukes according to your age: for instance, Mulvey explains, don’t pair them with stilettos and tight tops if you’re in your 40s, and don’t go for baggy ones with flats if you’re a 20-something with a banging body that would be best showed off with heels and tight, short shorts.