5 Style Sins Men Commit With Shorts

In warmer climes and during hotter seasons, shorts become part of every man's regular daily wardrobe. Depending on the circumstances and the pieces it's worn with, a single pair of shorts can go from outright casual to dressed down formal. But it's that same ambiguity that also opens the door to fashion faux pas galore. Here are five of the biggest missteps that any guy could commit.

Shorts and Long Socks
The short was designed to give your legs some exposure and thus keep you cool. Extra long socks, the kind that stretch mid-calf or, worse yet, knee-high, defeat that particular purpose. Besides, shorts paired with long socks is reminiscent of either lederhosen or the typical Harajuku school girl uniform. Neither are appropriate or stylish for the modern male urbanite.

When wearing shorts, keep your socks as small and discrete as possible. You want to create as continuous a line as you can using your legs, from the hem of your shorts to the top of your shoes. This has the effect of making you look taller and lankier than you are, keeping your proportions within the bounds of style.

Slippers
Unless you're going home or heading out to the beach, stay far away from the shorts and slippers look. It's about as casual as you can get while remaining fully clothed, and it's rarely given a lot of compliments should you decide to go out in that kind of outfit. Sandals aren't much better off, as there's little difference in the amount of skin they cover.

Countless options exist if you want to find footwear that can go with a shorts-based look. From sneakers to loafers and even formal shoes, there's no dearth of choices for footwear, so there's no reason for you to go all-out casual with slippers.

Too Short!
Yes, they're named shorts, but that's not license for you to wear extremely short shorts that leave nothing to the imagination. Only well-formed ladies and professional athletes have the right to don such skin-baring bottoms.

Just think: you wouldn't want to see random guys' legs when you're walking out on the street, especially if they're far from the perfect pair of legs. The rest of the world likely feels the same way, so don't get any ideas about doing some serious leg-baring.

Too Long!
Going the other direction of the length spectrum isn't as safe as you might think either. The worst cases are capri shorts, more popularly derided as 'manpris', that are a cross between pants and shorts. The men's fashion jury is in on that issue: there's no way a guy could pull off manpris, even if you're the epitome of an Abercrombie model.

How long is long enough? Use your knees as a standard: the best measuring stick is to have your shorts end there. You can go as much as three inches either way, shorter for fashion or longer for propriety, but all your shorts should be hovering around that physical landmark.

Too Many Pockets!
As they are, there's nothing wrong with cargo shorts. In fact, they can be pretty stylish depending on the guy wearing them. But there are cargo shorts that are stylish, and there are those that only a fisherman or manual laborer should be seen wearing.

Set yourself a limit: there should only be at most three big pockets per leg for any pair of cargo shorts. That's your maximum threshold, so feel free to err on the side of caution with less pockets. Also, be sure to pay attention to size; the size of the pockets should vary inversely to your age. Once you hit your thirties, you should be sporting much less pocket than someone half your age.

There are numerous ways to err when it comes to choosing and wearing shorts. Unlike with pants or jeans, the smallest mistakes and experiments can have disastrous effects when you're doing them with shorts. You may as well always err on the side of caution, as you'll be cool and comfortable either way.