Good morning to Paul Mescal, who went straight from his hotel to in a rather flimsy pair of bedroom boxers – yet another gem in the crown for the king of thigh chutzpah. Despite , Mescal’s negligible inseam is our Roman Empire, his duelling pins battling it out for our attention. The internet has been swooning over Paul’s thighs since 2020’s .
Henceforth, Mescal and short-shorts have become as synonymous as peas and carrots, Woody and Buzz, the Olsens and cigarettes. The Gucci show was itself a leggy parade of barely-there shorts and long limbs (Gucc-knee, if you will), so Paul was only following suit, but something about his shift from short sports shorts (distinctly outerwear) to full cotton boxers (distinctly underwear) is both deeply unserious and enthusiastically erotically charged. I don’t want to completely objectify one of our most interesting actors, but we’re also witnessing the internet’s favourite boyfriend in his underpants in front of the paparazzi.
And so, I guess, to men’s legs – specifically men’s thighs, a body part that’s become increasingly muscular as it’s become more public. Twin columns once housed in trousers or board shorts have undergone miniskirt-ification, now daring you not to gawp as men’s hemlines rise and rise. Where we once had a glimpse of knee, we now have the holy trinity of hamstring, quadriceps, and adductor.
And I get it – it’s nice to have nice legs, and it’s nice to show them off. What are all the squats.