But, before there were jorts, there were jeans. It\u2019s nearly impossible to imagine a world or closet without denim, yet the durable, universally beloved garment only dates back to late 19th century, when Levi Strauss (along with a tailor, Jacob Davis) invented \u201cwaist overalls\u201d in 1873, named for where the style starts on the body, compared to the full-body overalls of the past.<\/p>\n
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From left to right: Students at Los Angeles City College in 1958, Karen Erickson, 19; John Zinda, 20; Annette Schiff, 19; Biggio Pennino, 21; and Al Ponce, 19, look on as Jerry Brooks, 18 (second from left), reads a campus order instructing students not to wear shorts. (Photo by USC Libraries\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Shorts have been around since the early 20th century, remaining taboo through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, for both men and women. There were even dress codes against, and fines for, wearing shorts, in certain cities throughout midcentury America.<\/p>\n
Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Though it\u2019s unclear when in the 20th century, exactly, the denim cutoff was born, denim itself was invented in the 1700s in N\u00eemes, France, and was initially touted as being completely tear-resistant. (The word \u201cdenim\u201d actually refers to the birthplace of the sturdy fabric: it\u2019s derived from serge de N\u00eemes<\/em> in French, which translates as serge (a sturdy fabric) from N\u00eemes.<\/em><\/p>\n Punk rock singer and poet Patti Smith poses for a studio portrait. (Photo by Lynn Goldsmith\/Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Long before jorts was a word \u2014 a dictionary-official one, even, but more on that later \u2014 the shorts style picked up popularity in the 1970s. The edgy twist on a beloved American staple was particularly big during the decade famous for punk and rock musicians. There\u2019s a subtle but powerful symbolism in literally ripping apart a material that, while invented across the pond in France, had become strongly associated with American workmanship.<\/p>\n In the latter part of the decade, Patti Smith, a denim devotee in general, often donned pairs of roughly chopped and cuffed jean shorts, topped with oversized tweed mens\u2019 blazers, loose T-shirts, or baggy button-downs. Smith often sported her cutoffs with black tights underneath, and wore them in a slew of situations, often photographed with her partner Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as onstage while performing.<\/p>\n Debbie Harry of Blondie on the beach at Coney Island (Photo by Roberta Bayley\/Redferns)<\/p>\n Another musical icon to memorably rock the rebellious style was <\/span>Debbie Harry: The Blondie frontwoman donned a very short, very ripped pair of cutoffs while cavorting on the beach in Coney Island, Brooklyn, <\/span>in a series of shots from 1977 by rock photographer Bob Gruen.<\/span><\/p>\n Daisy Duke, played by Catherine Bach in \u201cThe Dukes of Hazzard.\u201d (Photo: Everett Collection)<\/p>\n The garment was most powerfully immortalized by actress Catherine Bach in the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, <\/i>which aired from 1979 to 1985. <\/i>Bach\u2019s character, Daisy Duke, frequently flaunted her gams in extra-short cutoffs to help her get out of perilous situations that she and her two brothers found themselves in. The hot-weather answer to denim wearing become synonymous with a stereotypical, Southern flirtatious sex appeal, thanks to the show, and bequeathed them an enduring nickname: The shorts are (still!) often called \u201cDaisy Dukes.\u201d<\/p>\n However, despite their breezy, bare-legged appearance, the cutoffs featured on The Dukes of Hazzard <\/i>weren\u2019t exactly styled in the most beach-friendly manner. The show\u2019s network, CBS, deemed the minuscule shorts inappropriate for TV, and Bach had to wear flesh-hued tights under her cutoffs in every scene. <\/p>\n Behind the scenes on \u201cStunt Women\u201d: Cindy Crawford in 1992 (Photo: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n Cutoffs got the Vogue <\/i>treatment in the early 1990s. Supermodel Cindy Crawford wore a pair as part of a photoshoot on a Malibu beach in 1992, Herb Ritts shot Cindy Crawford for the November issue of Vogue<\/i>, cavorting on the beach in Malibu with her husband at the time, Richard Gere, her supermodel physique displayed nicely in a pair of frayed Levi shorts. Before cutoffs made a Vogue <\/i>cameo, their full-length predecessors were notably featured on the fashion bible\u2019s cover four years before, when the magazine\u2019s then newly minted editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, featured a pair of blues on her very first cover, in 1988. <\/p>\n A big part of the charm of cutoffs is how democratizing and DIY-friendly they are; crafted for a couple bucks, or free, even, using any old pair of jeans and a sharp pair of scissors. The advent and popularity of the premium denim market in the late \u201890s and early aughts ushered in previously unheard-of triple-digit prices for the wardrobe workhouse, from brands like Frankie B, Seven for All Mankind, Paper Denim & Cloth, and True Religion. Shorts versions of pricy premium denim also took off, whether intentionally sold with abbreviated hemlines or in DIY form.<\/p>\n Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n A model on the runway at the Spring\/Summer 2000 Chlo\u00e9 ready-to-wear collection designed by Stella McCartney, wearing white tube top with smocking at top edge, fringed hot pants, high-heel sandals with white and gold ankle bands, and carrying a straw bag with cat-face design. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n But the humble cutoff has also gotten more upscale runway treatments: In 1999, for one of Stella McCartney\u2019s final collections as creative director of Chloe\u0301, she showed ultrashort white shorts with a low rise (as was the preferred, hipbone-exposing silhouette of the era) and extra-distressed hems.<\/p>\n Then, the shorts reconnected with their musician-vetted roots in a new way, thanks to their growing ubiquity with festival fashion. Specifically, with one increasingly popular festival: Coachella. The annual three-day blowout in the desert of Indio, Calif., which began in 1999, is where many a trend has hit critical mass in the 21st century, particularly in the past five to 10 years, be it jorts, flower crowns, or chokers.<\/p>\n Jessica Simpson in the film version of \u201cThe Dukes of Hazzard.\u201d (Photo: Everett Collection)<\/p>\n In 2005, Jessica Simpson introduced Daisy Duke (both the character and her signature shorts) to a younger generation with the film version of <\/span>The Dukes of Hazzard<\/i>. Unlike the O.G. Daisy Duke, Simpson didn\u2019t wear tights under her cutoffs. Plus, the entire ensemble (both the shorts\u2019 length and fit, and the snugness and cleavage-baring factor of her tops) were sexed up in the modernized, silver-screen take on the campy TV series.<\/span><\/p>\n Kendall Jenner in 2016, wearing a fringe jacket, jean shorts, and velvet boots. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n In 2015, the term \u201cjorts\u201d became a legitimate, official noun: the term, a portmanteau of \u201cjeans\u201d and \u201cshorts,\u201d was added to the Oxford dictionary that year, along with other modern vernacular, like selfie, twerk, and guac.<\/p>\n In the past decade, denim cutoffs have yet again cropped up on runways, in their fanciest, priciest form fathomable. During designer Hedi Slimane\u2019s stint as creative director at Saint Laurent from 2012 to 2016, one of the (many) sweeping tweaks he made to the venerable French fashion house was peppering his collections with supershort hemlines and punky vibes, sometimes translating to cutoff shorts <\/p>\n Alexander Wang Spring-Summer Collection 2016 at New York Fashion Week (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n Alexander Wang trotted out some artfully beat-up, ultrashort pairs in his fall <\/span>2016 collection, too. 2016 also marked the year supermodels Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid added jorts to their model-off-duty street style.<\/span><\/p>\n Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Gigi Hadid in 2016 wearing jean shorts, a T-shirt, and navy coat. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n Beyonc\u00e9 wears the Saint Laurent sparkle boots alongside Jay-Z. (Photo: Instagram)<\/p>\n The most epic jorts moment in recent memory came courtesy of the one and only Beyonc\u00e9, at what\u2019s become the most important modern natural habitat for the garment: Coachella. While headlining the festival in April 2018, <\/span>Queen Bey slayed in her first of five outfit changes throughout her set: a heavily shredded, customized pair of Levi\u2019s High-Rise shorts, paired with a bejeweled yellow satin hoodie, flesh-toned fishnets, and iridescent sequined boots. The superstar had <\/span>another memorable cutoffs getup a couple months earlier, in December 2017, thanks to a pair of black cutoffs paired with glittery Saint Laurent knee-high boots.<\/span><\/p>\n Beyonc\u00e9 at this year\u2019s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April in Indio, Calif. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n These days, denim cutoffs are less associated with their late 20th century connotations of Daisy Duke and punky DGAF rock legend style, and more with celebrity street style (and, of course, festival garb).<\/p>\n A plethora of stars regularly don cutoffs, both off-duty and, occasionally, on the red carpet. To wit: famous fans of jorts include Kate Moss, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham, Gigi Hadid, Rihanna (in another epic Coachella getup, pairing jorts with a Gucci bejeweled bodysuit and matching balaclava), and longtime cutoffs connoisseur, Chlo\u00eb Sevigny.<\/p>\n So, just like the enduring, universal appeal of jeans \u2014 despite changing silhouettes, rises, and inseam lengths that cycle in and out of trendiness over the years \u2014 denim cutoffs are the indispensable warm-weather counterpart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rihanna wears a Gucci sparkle bodysuit and balaclava with her jorts at Coachella. (Photo: Instagram)<\/p>\n The appeal varies widely: For some, there\u2019s a sort of Southern sexpot vibe, thanks to the surprisingly sartorially memorable television character, Daisy Duke, while others might associate with it a punk-rock insouciance, \u00e0 la Patti Smith. Or, perhaps, a carefully curated but \u201ccarefree\u201d quintessential Coachella look.<\/p>\n Expect this wardrobe staple to stick around for many more decades, sure to be championed by a new generation of style icons, across music genres and various creative fields, personal style preferences, and price points. In other words, love them or loathe them, in all likelihood, jorts are here to stay.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n Few clothing items usher in summer quite like a perfectly worn-in, frayed, and ripped pair of denim shorts. Some call them jorts (aka jean shorts), while others might prefer \u201ccutoffs.\u201d They\u2019re a 21st century festival staple and a street-style favorite, with price tags that span the gamut from a couple bucks for some vintage Levi\u2019s dug up …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[173],"tags":[3200],"yoast_head":"\n\r\n \t
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