I was at the Crazy Shirts flagship store in Honolulu, wearing light-blue Baggies, when I spotted the similar-hued “Blue Hawaii-dyed” CrazyShorts display tucked against the back wall. These brightly colored, relaxed-fit shorts looked just like the Baggies I’d been wearing for the past ten years but were made of prewashed cotton twill instead of crinkly nylon. Upon trying them on, I wondered how I had tolerated the plasticky sensation of nylon against bare skin for as long as I did. The outseam draped against my outer thighs, with none of the flaring I’d come to expect from the stiff Baggies. And the wide leg opening let the garment flow with me as I walked around, bringing a breeze with each crinkle-free step. The only detail I didn’t love was the embroidered logo on the bottom of the left leg. At least the thread was tonally matched to the garment so it wasn’t too distracting (it’s completely absent from some colorways like teal, black, and navy).
If you’re at all familiar with Crazy Shirts, it’s from its iconic line of B. Kliban cat comic tees aimed at tourists visiting Hawaii. While still in production today, vintage designs from as early as the 1970s pop up on eBay for dozens, or even hundreds, of dollars apiece — as much a testament to Crazy Shirts’ construction and material quality as it is to the enduring appeal of cat memes through the ages. Since my mom moved to Honolulu at the height of the pandemic, I’ve stopped at the flagship store during each of my visits in search of future classic cat tees for myself and as gifts for friends. But during this past winter’s annual visit, it was the shorts that caught my eye.
Now that hot weather has finally returned back east, my singular pair of CrazyShorts has replaced several pairs of Baggies as the bottoms that go on first thing in the morning and stay on until there’s a reason to change out of them. The roughly six-inch inseam (size-dependent) on the men’s cuts falls well above the knees to reveal a bit of gam. And they’re just long enough to keep my thighs from sticking to a sun-baked car seat. (The women’s version has a five-inch inseam.) They are also great for workouts and don’t retain smells through multiple washes the way synthetics can over time. You shouldn’t swim in them, but let’s be honest: Baggies, with their bubble-trapping pockets, aren’t great for that either.
As far as styling suggestions, I’m not gonna pretend like you can dress CrazyShorts up with a linen blazer, but so long as your top is long enough to cover your abdomen, no one has to know you’re wearing an elastic waistband. And the drape of the heavyweight twill material of the CrazyShorts could never be confused for pajamas, unlike the jersey-knit Everybody.World Everyday Shorts (which I love for lounging around at home).
As comfortable as they were when I first tried them on in the tropical Hawaiian heat, the idea of bringing home multiple pairs of shorts in the middle of December to sit on a shelf until May felt, well, crazy (sorry). But now that summer is here, they are all I want to wear all day every day. Thankfully, I was able to remedy this error during a recent sitewide sale. Another two pairs just arrived in my mailbox mere moments before writing this sentence.
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