As Vogue’s resident jorts historian, I’ve noticed that the good ol’ denim cutoffs are undergoing a metamorphosis. Over the last couple of years, people have traded in their Daisy Dukes for baggier, longer capital-J Jorts.
Leave it to the usual suspects to test-drive longer hemlines and looser legs: Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Bieber, and Bella Hadid. Last summer proved to be fertile ground for the jorts revival, and this summer, they’re in full bloom in street style and on celebrities like Charli xcx, Gigi Hadid, and even Justin Bieber—who rocked a pair of Bottega Veneta jorts in New York.
I’ve been an avowed hater of long jorts since I showed up to my first day of sixth grade at a new school in knee-length denim shorts, only to realize everyone else eschewed the dress code in favor of thigh-skimming cutoffs. Villain origin story aside, I didn’t think that the longer silhouette was doing me any favors, since I have a longer torso and shorter legs. Lately, however, my tune has changed. Maybe it’s my fully cooked pre-frontal cortex, but these days, I’m way less willing to deal with the discomfort of tiny denim shorts squeezing my thighs and riding up every which way. Why bother, when I can enjoy the breeze from my loose-legged shorts?
In the throes of summer, I’m liable to be found wearing my jorts every weekend. My go-tos are the Agolde Parker long distressed denim shorts—not quite the knee-skimming pairs that some people prefer—but still a marked difference than what I was wearing a year ago. Free yourself from your tight denim prison, friends, and join the ranks of long, loose jorts-lovers.