Some cynics suggested the shorts regularly worn to the office by our hairy-legged (male) second assistant banner designer are in poor taste. Little did we know he's on the cutting edge of fashion as men in a variety of professions are starting to wear short trousers in the summer.

Here's part of the story from the International Herald Tribune

First came Casual Fridays, that dread episode in the history of fashion, with their invitation for men to trade in suits for Dockers and to swap a proper shirt and tie for an open neck and a daring flash of masculine décolletage.

Then the bare ankle migrated from country-club Saturdays to meeting-room Mondays and suddenly men, whether shod in wingtips or loafers, were widely seen without socks. Now it appears that, after some stops and starts in recent seasons, the men of the white-collar work force are marching into the office in shorts.

It was no more than a moment ago, in the sartorial long view, that a guy who came to work wearing short pants would have been shown the door - or, anyway, given the address for human resources at UPS. All that appears to be changing.