Jamie Murnane

I pray for summer in Chicago year-round. But when it finally hit with the 90-degree weather, I suddenly missed winter. Am I crazy? No. I just hate shorts--at least, I did.

Women's shorts are just too short. Daisy Dukes are not okay anymore (as if they ever were) and only the likes of Jessica Simpson could ever get away with wearing them.

I've tried capris, but I'm just 5'3" and they always end up looking like pants that are just a tad too short. I've tried cutting my jeans to the perfect short length--but some things from the eighties will never be back in style. I've even tried men's board shorts, but they're slightly too long and completely unflattering to the female figure. I finally decided to give up on ever being comfortable in the humid lakeside weather and resigned myself to a life of sweaty thighs and chaffing.

But this season, a whole new breed of shorts--women's shorts--has been born. They're not capris, they're not board shorts, they're somewhere in between--and I like them.

No, I love them. And they're everywhere.

My search for the perfect not-too-short shorts took me from Michigan Avenue department stores to chains like Urban Outfitters and Old Navy, whose Bermudas were probably the most affordable. If I had an extra $148, I would have left Nordstrom with a pair of Chip & Pepper's What about Marineland Bermudas.

Now that I've found shorts I'd actually wear (I ended up with two pairs from this search), maybe I should look into trading in some of my jeans--I won't be needing them until fall.

(2005-06-15)

Also by Jamie Murnane

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Do dogs say "cheese"?
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Tip of the Week
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Beaning Christopher Walken
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Feeling Ernest
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Indisposable cameras
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Still curious
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'Do it
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The Naked City
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