MovieChat Forums > Meatballs (1979) Discussion > Best Part: The Shorts!!!

Best Part: The Shorts!!!

posted 15 years ago by edspace
21 replies | jump to latest

Saw this movie again a year ago and realized it was a sea of bare leg! All the shorts were short and all the girls had increadibly gorgeous legs. Wendy {I think} was wearing those long leg-warmers above the knee, but they made her thighs look nice. What is ironic is that to make Spaz look super-nerdy, he wore long shorts, which are standard today, yet the rest of the boys/men wore shorter shorts which was 'normal' and now they'd appear fruity or geeky by today's standards. Everyone looked relaxed and comfortable for a hot summer, yet fashion changed. The moral of the story... follow society's lead... even when it can't make up its mind!!!

[–] Woodyanders 15 years ago

Those foxy female counsolers looked positively smokin' in their shorts.

"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"

[–] Indie_Mod 15 years ago

A few years ago, I was a camp counselor for a summer and started a trend with the other counselors/CITs/staff/etc. I bought a few pairs of shorts from American Apparel that are cut much like the athletic shorts of the 70s. By the end of the summer, we resembled the original staff of counselors from 1980. It was so cool.

[–] dunbar7 15 years ago

For an extreme example of those same sort of shorts, check out Sleepaway Camp!

"She's, like, a biscuit older than me..."

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kdk7 14 years ago

yeah, it's not just the shorts, but the matching tube socks!

and if a girl wants to look really foxy, she should also wear a tube top!

[–] virgiltx 13 years ago

It's true that back then a guy was a spaz if he wore long baggy shorts. Short-shorts were considered more athletic, like boxers would wear, or basketball and tennis players.
Then Michael Jordan started wearing long shorts, and Elton John and George Michael became kind of famously associated with short-shorts.
So it flipped over.

[–] speedy1383 8 years ago

The people who really made long shorts popular was the Fab 5 at Michigan. That was the turning point IMO.

[–] benilana 12 years ago

As a kid of the 70s, I loved this movie. I just watched again today & found myself almost frightened by the tiny shorts on the boys (esp the ref in the wrestling shot!). I asked my husband how guys in the 70s dealt w/ such dilemmas and his response was "very tight underwear." I always liked boxers but I also remember being traumatized as a kid a few times by boys who wore boxers w/ short-shorts: TMI!

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

Just as a visual aid to the topic:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3623519488/tt0079540

____________________

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

In fact, here are a few visual aids to the topic:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3623519488/tt0079540
http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/image/10189

The females' abbreviated attire was notable also:
http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/image/10185
http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/image/10192

Females still do that today, but fewer of them because so many females today don't have the physique for it. Anyway, you can see there was a freer mentality about displaying one's legs in particular. It was a leg-man's,...excuse me, leg-person's era.
____________________

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

The famous red shorts (and Hawaiin shirt) that Bill Murray wore were his own that he wore to the set on the first day of shooting. So they're a genuine time-capsule item of the times.

____________________

[–] ccr1633 12 years ago

You see fewer and fewer short shorts among Americans these days for the same reason that most people wear baggy ill-fitting shirts. Americans are fatter than ever and getting fatter, and are too embarrassed to wear revealing clothing. Back in the 70s being skinny was the norm. Big fat pigs waddling the streets were far less common. Here's another irony - Fink would barely be considered fat these days.

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

That may be true about the plus-size population increase, but I'm not so sure about its effect on the general style, although I have suspected that could be the cause of the apparent modesty mandate. I wonder what the clothing marketers have actually said about it.

____________________

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

Some further discussions of that topic:
http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/Can_anyone_wear_short_shorts
http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html?t=9980290#page:showTh read,9980290
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120221164313AAl1UQZ
http://jivebay.com/2010/05/08/mens-shorts-are-too-long-and-too-baggy/

____________________

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MsGAPeach 12 years ago

I miss seeing guys in these shorter shorts. Cutoff bluejean shorts were the best. Got to see some legs! Hate these longer shorts on guys. Nothing to drool over.

[–] virgiltx 12 years ago

MsGAPeach: "I miss seeing guys in these shorter shorts. Cutoff bluejean shorts were the best. Got to see some legs! Hate these longer shorts on guys. Nothing to drool over."

These may interest you:
http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-mens-swim-20120527,0,17326 70.story
http://www.chubbiesshorts.com/
____________________

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]