Figure 1.-.

I myself never had "proper" shop bought jean shorts. I discussed these a little bit when I described my play clothes (at the end). As you can see at that age - 11/12 (and as I discussed regarding jeans (long) themselves) I was starting to be more influenced by what other boys were wearing and what was acceptable to them (youth "fashion") rather than what I actually liked myself as I had done a lot up until then.When younger my first priority was comfort - both in wearing and in being able to dress/undress quickly without any bother. The "look" only came second - but it was the "look" as I wanted it ideally - e.g. green in colour and not "baggy" (bagginess also meant less comfortable to me). Things shifted at around this age - the "look" - as determined by other boys being more important than comfort.

My Changing Attitudes

As you can see at that age - 11/12 (and as I discussed regarding jeans (long) themselves) I was starting to be more influenced by what other boys were wearing and what was acceptable to them (youth "fashion") rather than what I actually liked myself as I had done a lot up until then.When younger my first priority was comfort - both in wearing and in being able to dress/undress quickly without any bother. The "look" only came second - but it was the "look" as I wanted it ideally - e.g. green in colour and not "baggy" (bagginess also meant less comfortable to me). Things shifted at around this age - the "look" - as determined by other boys being more important than comfort. When it came to school uniform - even at primary school - we tried to get the look and comfort whilst still keeping the school regulations. My hated check shorts had none of these things - they were harsh material,had clasps AND a belt and a back pocket which gave them zero points for comfort and they looked DISGUSTING - which was a real negative. In retrospect they were like old men's long trousers - but cut down and tailored into boy's shorts. No wonder I hated them so much!

Corduroy Shorts

I liked my cord shorts very much and would have worn them all of the time (even to school if allowed). But as I say, I was being influenced by what was styling. My cords would not have been acceptable among the boys in my new neigborhood. Don't forget I was new to that area of London and had to fit in quickly. I'm sure someone would have said something. And I had no Michael there who would stick with me no matter what I was wearing.

Cut-Downs

The jean shorts that my Mum made (cut-downs) were, if anything, worse than not having them at all. They had to be just the right type and length - shop bought. My little brother did have some of these shop bought jean shorts - and he wore them to school. But Mum didn't have to buy him uniform then and it does show that "fashion" items were being sold for a younger and younger age group - my little brother would have been 8 years old then. Later on I did see older boys wearing jean shorts swimming in the river - but I didn't fancy them at all - I always had proper swimming trunks since my swimming club days. Home made jean shorts did not seem all that common at all at that time as far as I remember. Michael had his brothers old jeans which often frayed at the knees - but his Mum had iron-on patches for them and by the time they wore out the seat had gone too so they were useless. I don't think Mums thought of just ripping off the legs as I did see much later - but I think that was boys themselves who did it.

Demim

To be honest I didn't like denim at all. When I did wear my jeans and they got wet I found them cold and clammy - although our jeans that Mum bought were cheap.When my brother's wore out at the knee Mum just threw them out I think - she wouldn't have liked patches for us. My grey ones never wore out as I didn't wear them that often - my little brother may have had them. My Mum didn't have a lot of time so that is why she was so upset when I rejected the jean shorts that she made me after we moved. I would have preferred the "brushed denim" shorts that the gang wore if Mum had have bought me some because they came in various colours not just blue - and there was a green (my favourite colour) pair that one of the gang had which I would have loved.They almost looked like my old favourite green cord shorts froma year or two earlier.

Changing Fashion

By the time that I was earning from my paper round these type of shorts had gone out of fashion for older boys - in fact shorts had until cut down jeans came in. For younger boys,like my little brother and those at his school, new simpler types of shorts came in - pull ups with an elastic back and no fly or whatever and of a shiny material. My Mum didn't like them as she had bought us all pull up shorts years before just once on the market and she was not pleased as the elastic gave out with us pulling them on and off and my little brother didn't have them. He still had traditional type shorts (including school shorts for best even though his school didn't require them - but most still did). You could still buy cotton khaki or green shorts or even cords of various colours for boys like the ones me and my elder brother had had and up in Yorshire they still had shorts that Gran thought suitable and now that I was buying my own clothes her attention shifted to my little brother - except that he liked what she bought for him on the whole.

Odd Look

I don't know why my Mum bought my little brother jean shorts given that she didn't really like jeans. Maybe she was just moving with the times or maybe she was just more indulgent with him and wanted him to fit in at his new school. I thought that they looked odd because he wore them with a white school type shirt sometimes - he looked partially in uniform to me but Mum must have liked the look or else it wouldn't have been allowed - even for her youngest son!

Bill