Why Sheer Shirts and Short Shorts Are Everywhere

It’s hard to pinpoint the moment that men started dressing so sultry. Perhaps it began in 2020, with the TikTok-led surge of five-inch inseams, or the flirtatious tailoring that has become a mainstay of the red carpet—think blazers with dandy peak lapels paired with slinky wide-leg trousers, the type of louche suiting that recalls the days of Studio 54. Maybe it was see-through shirting, from Emily Bode’s open-weave crochets to Our Legacy’s sheer, silky button-ups. However it started, it’s clear that stylish men are leaning into sheer, tight, short, and altogether skimpier outfits. Just look at what movie stars wore this summer: Pedro Pascal went sleeveless at the Cannes Film Festival, Jonathan Bailey flashed his feet on the red carpet with flip-flops, and Coleman Domingo cavorted around Manhattan in an unbuttoned shirt.

“Naked dressing” has been one of womenswear’s most enduring trends for the last few years—now, it’s time for the fellas to bare some flesh. “In general, we have seen sexiness coming into the menswear conversation.” says Sophie Jordan, the buying director of menswear at the luxury e-commerce retailer Mytheresa. “The door is open for this trend to jump across the genders.” The online storefront sells a body-squeezing Valentino knitted polo, striped shorts from Orlebar Brown that could easily be mistaken for boxers, and Commas’s semi-sheer tank tops. This surge of sexy garments has a trickle-down effect. Maybe you’ve noticed your most stylish male friend’s shorts got tinier this summer. Or maybe he’s deliberately forgoing an extra button or three on his favorite oxford shirt.

Even if summer is coming to a close, skin will remain in through the foreseeable future. At the men’s Spring-Summer 2026 shows, men’s thighs were all over the runway. At Prada, 16 of the 56 looks featured teeny shorts or cinched bloomers so short they looked like underwear.

Over at Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello took a structured and pleated trouser and remade it into shorts with a turned-up cuff that left little to the imagination. Meanwhile, Martine Rose dressed male models in daisy dukes paired with thigh-high socks.

The buzzy American designer Eli Russell Linnetz has supercharged sex appeal in his recent collections: from midriff-bearing knitted vests to bulge-bearing briefs. It makes Hedi Slimane’s skinny jeans of yesteryear seem modest.

Perhaps shorter shorts will be the gateway garments for men testing out sultry dressing. Sure, the most daring looks may remain the province of adventurous dressers and risk-taking (and publicity-hungry) celebrities, but something larger is afoot. Even small gestures—like wearing dainty, toe-cleavage-baring ballet-inspired sneakers or sheer, threadbare vintage tees—suggest that men are ready to be a little more seductive.