It is now widely accepted that you can show up at the office with blue hair, yoga pants or a Black Sabbath T-shirt without raising an eyebrow, yet there remains a final stylistic taboo: shorts. In truth, it all depends on where you work. “Where I work, it’s really, really frowned upon. Except maybe for afterwork pétanque games. The one time someone showed up in shorts, he almost got fired,” confided a finance executive.
Yet there is no law banning shorts; they are only prohibited in certain sectors for safety or hygiene reasons (garbage collectors in western Niort have been protesting since June 12 for the right to wear them during heat waves). If your company’s internal rules do not specify any restrictions, you are free to dress as you wish, as long as your attire is appropriate and decent. If I am a coder in Barcelona, Spain, wearing shorts will likely be seen as more “appropriate” than if I worked at the reception desk of a funeral home in Niort.
To dig my pen into this sartorial wound, I decided to try the experiment myself. Somewhat irrationally, I felt as if I was about to do something extremely transgressive, like deciding to go to work completely naked. Displaying my hairy calves in a setting where they have historically had no place can feel awkward, both for the person exposing them and for those who unexpectedly find them in their line of sight.
A Pandora’s box
Gender norms, which usually work in men’s favor, appear to have the opposite effect here. As soon as the heat arrives, women can bare their legs without a second thought, while a man showing up dressed like a summer vacationer still comes across as a rebellious figure subtly broadcasting a “slacker” message. In a July 2024 article in the Washington Post, Sharron J. Lennon, co-author of the book Social Psychology of Dress, pointed out that clothing deemed overly casual projects an image of “incompetence” and “disrespect” in a professional setting.
That was quickly confirmed: “The beach is down the hall, to the left!” joked a colleague. “Oh no! Why not just wear Birkenstocks while you’re at it?” added another. Yet I chose a pair of shorts that seemed appropriate for the situation – a cargo model you might see a field reporter wearing. Even among its supporters, shorts are seen as a kind of Pandora’s box, one best kept firmly closed: “Shorts, yes; flip-flops, no!” summed up an artistic director (wearing shorts), as if to say there are still limits.
In the face of such cultural resistance, the few who dare to wear Bermuda shorts (often less unsightly than some shapeless jeans) are rightly seen as pioneers, sometimes inspiring others – “If he did it, why not me?” For these trailblazers, both derided and admired by their peers, wearing shorts becomes almost an identity. Their courage deserves recognition: They are the first to incorporate the reality of climate change into their corporate wardrobes, preferring to adapt their dress rather than rely solely on air conditioning. While the planet may thank them, they nevertheless leave the office feeling a little sheepish after being the butt of many jokes.
