Who wears short shorts?
By Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (63054)
July 24, 2026 6:07pm CST
I never gave this a lot of thought before, with the exception of being rather glad that my lovely daughters never wore really short shorts. I was forbidden to wear them--between having two aunts who were Catholic nuns, as well as two grandmothers who thought short shorts were completely unacceptable, I was taught they were not the thing to wear.
A good friend of mine cares for her 93+year old mother, who has had Alzheimer's for a long time now. For the most part, the poor lady cannot even remember names, thinks her parents and grandparents are still alive, and lives in the past a lot, if she can remember anything at all. Taking care of her is very hard. And she comes up with some doozies!
Friend called me this morning. For the last two solid days, her mother has demanded that someone needs to go in to her room and find her ''short shorts'' immediately as she wants to wear them. What's wrong with this picture? She never owned any short shorts, or wore them, either. She is nearly completely immobile, can't walk, in a wheelchair or in her bed. She has every complication of health problems and memory problems imaginable. Her husband died about 30 years ago. She was a college professor, and always dressed very conservatively, prim and proper. And she was throwing a fit for short-shorts.
No one knows how she got this into her head, or why. Maybe she saw something on TV. My friend was at her wit's end with the short shorts thing, her Mom just wouldn't stop demanding them. She did something she said she had never done--she told her Mom that ''Dad would not want you wearing short shorts, you know that, Mother.'' Evidently that was what finally sunk in, so my friend is hoping the two days of her mother demanding and waiting for short shorts to appear is over.
This made me think of our fellow mylotter @LooeyVille, and the things her MIL comes up with. Honestly, it would be funny if it wasn't so sad....evidently my friend's mother thinks she is a young woman and would look great in short shorts, or if you prefer to call them by some of their other names as well--Daisy Duke's, Hot Pants, Micro Shorts, etc.
Of course, for many of us this reminds us of this idiotic song (if you can even call it a song) with the dumbest lyrics known to mankind.
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14 people like this
13 responses
@Deepizzaguy (125343)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
25 Jul
I remember that song which was used a television commercial for Nair products.
3 people like this
@toniganzon (80958)
• Philippines
25 Jul
In her youth, she must have yearned to wear short shorts. That must have become a part of her wish and things got mixed up on her mind.
As a conservative country and coming from a very conservative family as well (we were baptized catholic), we weren't allowed to wear short shorts as well. However, when I went to university, one that's considered the most liberated in the country (with the highest standard of education), I wore them.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
I was never tempted. If I had been I am sure one of the grandmother's would have come back from the grave to tell me to get some clothes on! 
2 people like this
@toniganzon (80958)
• Philippines
25 Jul
@MarieCoyle I lived in the university dorm. No family members could reprimand me.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
@toniganzon
Most young people tend to spread their wings when they get to University. 
1 person likes this
@kareng (83661)
• United States
27 Jul
Having been the caretaker for my mother before she passed away, who also had ALZ with psychosis, you never know what they will come up with. It sounds like your friend's mother may also have the psychosis part of it too. That is when the patient cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not.
I bet she always wanted to wear hot pants!!
1 person likes this
@kareng (83661)
• United States
28 Jul
@MarieCoyle That is for sure! When mom was in the hospital she told us that my dad was on another floor and that he would come visit her. My dad passed away in 2010, but was in and out of the hospital a lot, so I imagine that is where that one came from. And then another hospital stay she informed us that she had a boyfriend who was the President of the hospital. Then there was the time that she was a movie star. She claimed they made a move of her life while she was in the hospital and she was the star of the movie. When she got out of the hospital she wanted to go get her check. She said they were holding it at the bank. I asked which bank and she said the one in the hospital. That hospital did not have a bank or bank branch. The next day she said someone told her that her check had been dropped off at my neighbor's house. We live in the country and neighbors are few and far between. She didn't know of course. I had to drive her around to look for the house to satisfy her. It was much easier to do that vs. go back and forth with her because she got madder than a hornet!
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
28 Jul
Funny thing is, she was always so prim and proper. If you would have said hot pants or short shorts to her ten years ago, she would have totally freaked out. And you are correct--you just never know what they will come up with. 
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
29 Jul
@kareng
I have to agree that Demenia/Alzheimer's patients can come up with some doozies. The husband of a neighbor I am friends with was hit very hard and very quickly with Dementia last year. He was a God-fearing man, never swore or did anything he shouldn't. He served as a lay minister in his working years and was often going on mission trips. When Dementia hit, he turned into a swearing machine. His family and friend were shocked...but then in his ''normal'' times, he was back to his calm and non-swearing self. Another friend recently lost her father, he was 97. His last 2 years he was pretty much not really there at all in his head...he thought my friend was his wife, he couldn't remember having children for a long time. He thought he should get up out of bed and go help his Dad do the plowing (his Dad had been gone over 50 years) and he talked to a pet dog he had when he was a teenager. But your Mom had quite the determination! You were good to her, to try to get her through it. I know it was very hard to see her like that.
1 person likes this
@kareng (83661)
• United States
27 Jul
@MarieCoyle I think they were officially called "Jingles."
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
28 Jul
@kareng
Yes, I think you are right. One of my grandmothers always said ''ditty'' so I do, too.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
Like I said, the lyrics are so brief and repetitive, a person can hardly call it a song...more like a little ditty for a commercial, so there you go, Nair it is!
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (508865)
• Italy
26 Jul
@MarieCoyle I agree they show too much and more than often what they show it's not even pleasant to see.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
27 Jul
@LadyDuck
Definitely a good way to describe what many of us have no desire to see!
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
26 Jul
Anna, I am not a prude but I do think they just show way too much.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
Yes, I have seen a few young ladies wearing the short shorts lately that are simply embarrassing to even look at—let’s just say they leave nothing to the imagination!!
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (240634)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Jul
@MarieCoyle Well, they leave me slightly uncomfortable, not for moral reasons, but it looks like they could wind up with a brutal "wedgie."
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
@TheHorse
I never understood why anyone would want to wear them, but evidently they did, and some still do.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (212875)
• United States
25 Jul
I would be insane to wear them at my age honestly.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
26 Jul
I don't tan. I never have and I won't ever attempt trying it. My legs are so, so white...it's a big no from me.
1 person likes this
@eliza_godinez12 (5791)
• Philippines
25 Jul
When I was a kid, I always dreamed of wearing short shorts, but the scars on my legs kept me from doing so. I was too self-conscious to show my legs. Now, thanks to the skincare product I've been using, my scars have finally faded. A childhood dream has finally come true. I can now wear whatever I want without feeling the need to hide my legs anymore. I can confidently wear short shorts, mini skirts, and short dresses and it feels so freeing.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
I have several surgical scars on one leg as well. Time has faded them but they aren’t bad now.im goodie you that your product worked and you can wear what makes you happy.
@FourWalls (87743)
• United States
25 Jul
I just remember the songs. I never wore them. I’m sorry for your friend’s mom. It’s terrible what that disease does to people, and worst of all it robs the family twice: once when the person forgets them, and once when they die.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
@FourWalls
I feel the same way--it truly does take them twice and makes it doubly hard on all the family and friends.
One day recently, her Mom asked for Sushi and Steak Tartare. Two foods she never, ever would even try to eat, ever. Friend tried to explain that to her to no avail. Finally they realized she saw it in a movie on television. They suggested ice cream and that did the trick.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (140522)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Jul
That's a fun song. Dementia of any kind is cruel.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
26 Jul
Dementia is terrible. It takes people from us.
Every morning my friend's mother says ''Now what is your name again?'' She was always very close to her mother. Now her mother has to be reminded that she is the oldest child and her mother sometimes argues with her. One day her mother told her that she couldn't be her mother, because she (the mother) was only 33 and my friend is 68. It hurts the heart.
1 person likes this
@noni1959 (13190)
• United States
25 Jul
@MarieCoyle I loved them. I would wear the top down, over my shoulders etc. I was thin and got away with wearing them. In my later 30's, I had a shorter pair I'd wear in the summer. This body won't look good in them now.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
@noni1959
I don't know why I didn't want any, but I always just preferred my jeans. I still love jeans.
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
I had mini-skirts, bell bottoms, long hair. Every girl did then, I think. I never did get in to the overalls trend.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (388328)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jul
@MarieCoyle I can understand your friend's reaction. Sometimes, if you don't laugh, you end up crying.
@MarieCoyle (63054)
•
25 Jul
Friend said she didn’t know how to convince her mother that she had never worn short shorts in her life. But mentioning her Dad did the trick. She said she wanted to cry and she wanted to smile, it was a hard two days for her.
1 person likes this
