He Wears Short Shorts

Remember your first time?

I do.

It was a sweltering day in South Texas and I had to get out of my jeans. And then, in my full monty state, it happened: I slipped them on. I zipped them up. Dude, I was in walking-short nirvana.

Twenty-five years later, my Op corduroy shorts--you know those very short shorts, the equivalent of Daisy Dukes for dudes--and I are still kicking back, still “representing” wherever we go.

It was 1972 when Jim Jenks, Ocean Pacific’s founder, came up with the idea of making a better pair of shorts. The classic corduroys--an apres-surf short--was born.

Today, the old-school short--with those cool cargo pockets embroidered with the Op logo--is still riding that wave of success. Retro is in--especially anything from the 1970s, the decade that manages to ah, ah, ah, ah, stay alive, stay alive.

Not since those glorious days have board shorts, tube tops and surf wear been so popular--as proven by the dominance of retro fashions at the recent Action Sports Retailer trade expo.

Which brings us back to the Op best-selling classic. More than 10 million pairs have been sold. And annually, the company ships about 300,000 shorts in the same nine colors to stores all over the world.

“We get calls all the time about that short,” says Nat Norfleet, director of design for Op. “Guys just love that short. And you know it’s a short short.”

“Dude,” I tell him. “That’s why we dig it. It’s like wearing corduroy boxers over your boxers.”

But mostly, says Norfleet, the short is a staple in any man’s wardrobe because it’s an active short “that’s built to last.”

Made of soft, mid-wale corduroy, the style and shape has remained true to Jenks’ design. Only a few minor changes have occurred through the decades: a snap has replaced a button, the cargo pockets are deeper and the rear waistband is elasticized.

“We’ve tried the short in different fabrics in order to increase sales, but it always comes back at us,” says Norfleet. “People don’t want us to change the look.”

In 1992, the company moved the back pocket from the left to the right. Big mistake. The next season, it was moved back by popular demand. And that’s where it remains. “Some people believe that the shorts they see in the stores were actually made in 1972,” says Norfleet. But it only seems that way.

Dude, it’s deja vu.