The annual conundrum of “What shorts am I wearing this summer?” is quickly approaching. Trends come and go, and each new season brings a deluge of fresh styles, but there’s one style I circle back to every year: the big short.

Unlike the Adam McKay film, this one actually brings me joy. Less financial collapse, more personal victories epitomized by past-the-knee, slightly dramatic, Woodstock ‘99-esque shorts that are borderline trousers. At first, I opted for long shorts was to hide my skinnier legs but now, it’s more about what they do to a fit. These bad boys shift proportions, add a bit of attitude, and takes hot-weather dressin' to a whole new stratosphere by elevating otherwise simple looks to parts previously unknown.

And I’m not the only one who gets it.

Justin Bieber headlined week one of Coachella and, as usual, treated it like a runway. The singer paired some massive shorts by LU'U DAN with a pair of tall LOEWE boots, a subtly luxe twist on a classic New York summer outfit. It looked easy, it looked comfortable, and it looked enviably cool. That’s the entire point — long shorts have an aura that short shorts will never match.

I’ve tried both ends of the spectrum. The thigh-bearing short-shorts with gams fully exposed, and the full-on Adam Sandler-core chaos. After years of trial and error, I’ve landed firmly in the long-short camp.

What I like most about long shorts is how much impact they impart despite being relatively low effort. Throw them on with a linen or cotton button-up, sleeves rolled up just past the wrist, and you’ve got something clean, almost romantic, a bit Parisian in a way. Or, you can lean the other way — oversized everything, larger footwear, a bit of edge, full '90s skate-rat.

That’s the beauty of the big shorts, the versatility in style that still feels intentional. As Sandler says in Uncut Gems, "This is how I win.”

They're a weirdly difficult topic, I'll admit. Shorts are an everyday summer staple that shouldn’t be this complicated, but they are. You’ll never not have moodboards pushing the short-shorts agenda — early-'80s Harrison Ford, loafers, light knit, perfect tan — and then the opposite end, where shorts look like they could comfortably fit three, maybe four people.

My advice: commit. Take the risk, join the big short brotherhood. We welcome you with open arms, and well-ventilated legs.

Just, you know, maybe fully tan your legs once in a while. Otherwise you’re committing to a very specific, very confusing tan line for the next six months. Again, speaking from experience.