Coworkers beware.  Your male colleagues may be showing a bit more skin this summer.  According to the New York Times, it’s just a matter of time before your male colleagues start showing up to work in a suit jacket, shirt and tie, and . . . shorts.  Yes, that’s correct.  Shorts.  

Interestingly enough, the paper said the same thing this time last year about the line of suits that had been produced for women and that featured knee-length shorts.  I recall there being an actual debate about whether the author of the article lived on the same planet as the rest of us.  There was also a mild interest in the idea based on the heat factor.  Indeed, there was a little flurry of excitement over what seemed to be a new line in the sand when it came to business attire.

In our office of roughly 200 people, one woman was nervy enough to give it a try.  And she looked great.  She’s also a size 0 and stands 5′ 10″.  She looks great in a parka with mittens and snow boots.  It’s virtually impossible for her to not look great.

So, pardon me NYT, I mean no disrespect, but I have my doubts about the level of interest most men will have in the shorts-suit concept.  If for no other reason but cost.  Gen Y are the potential consumers for this latest fashion development.  And I’d be willing to bet that if they have to drop a chunk of change on a suit for a new job, it’ll be for a suit they’ll actually be able to wear.  It’s difficult to imagine the young man who would forgo the navy blue standard in lieu of a khaki-colored pair of shorts and matching jacket.  Let’s face it–he’d rather spend his money on something else, anything else, other than a suit in the first place.

Of course, if a male colleague showed up to work wearing the shorts-suit styled like the gentleman’s in the picture, above, he may be laughed out of the office, black dress shoes, white ankle socks, and all, before he had a chance to explain that the NYT had given his outfit the official thumbs up.