Capri pants for men come up short on having shock value

Tag : athletic sock
When getting ready to leave my apartment on the weekend, I have abasic checklist. Is my fly up? Do my socks match? Have I wiped thebreakfast crumbs from my face? On a recent Saturday I added,“Does this polo shirt match these baby blue capripants?” Such is the price of fashion. This stylistic experiment is not something I entered into lightly.When asked to try this new metrosexual look, I responded withsomething unprintable. But if it was to be, I had to have a fewquestions answered first: Should I wear shoes or sandals? Whatabout socks? Do I go tucked or untucked? European designer Sonja de Lennart created the capri pant in thelate 1940s. It was named for the Italian Isle of Capri and alsomeant for women. In recent runway shows, capri pants have beenshown on men. That brings us to my hairy ankles. My mission: To find out if mencould take to a higher hemline. Will an average-size man runningeveryday errands on a balmy Saturday morning draw any attentionwhile wearing clam diggers? Fortunately, I did not come up short on style advice. I’mtold that the proper footwear is the most likely place to go wrong.Stick to slip-on sneakers or boat shoes, and under no circumstancesshould one wear socks. I avoided that pitfall completely bychoosing to wear my trusty Chaco sandals. I went untucked because sandals and bared ankles just didn’tjive with the relative formality of a tucked-in polo shirt. Myfashion guardians considered this acceptable. Of course, it’s not the first time my hairy ankles have beenexposed to daylight. I frequently wear shorts on hot days. IfI’m doing something athletic, those shorts may even reach thetop of my knee, at the southernmost point. And here’s anotherdisclaimer: I’m not positive I was technically wearing capripants, clam diggers or “shants.” When the nice folks over at Tommy Hilfiger agreed to let us borrowa pair of capri pants, I was skeptical that they would haveanything in my optimistic size 36. After the package arrived, Idiscovered that my version of the short pant would be basicslim-fit chinos rolled up a couple of times. So, it is with this makeshift garb that I puffed out my chest andhit the street. I’m not sure what I expected, but what Ireceived was absolutely nothing. There was no response. Therewasn’t anyone yelling “nice pants,” not evensarcastically. I kept waiting for someone to ask me if I was expecting a floodbecause we all know that God’s wrath for a fashion sin isankle-deep. If anyone noticed, they saved their chuckles untilafter I had passed, but I’m pretty certain no one noticed. The further I went, the bolder I became – even stopping toadjust my pant roll. My ankles were going to be cool even if Iwasn’t. One piece of advice kept repeating itself in my head:“Wearing a trend is all about confidence” – andmaking sure your fly is up.