Straight guys have stolen short shorts. Here’s how the gays are responding
The Gay Guy Uniform™ used to consist of itty-bitty shorts and tight crop tops. But now, it's baggy cargos and loose jerseys.
Mark
Who wears short shorts?
The Gay Guy Uniform
used to consist of itty-bitty shorts and tight crop tops. But now when one sees a pair of 3-inch inseams hugging thicc thighs, the wearer is probably… straight!
How about we take this to the next level?
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Whether it’s Paul Mescal, Chris Pine, Milo Ventimiglia or Jacob Elordi, hot straight celebs are copying queer style. They galavant around in tiny clothes without any risk of facing backlash or bigotry. The latest example is actor and model Hunter McVey, who’s amassed more than 560,000 followers on Instagram by posting shirtless thirst traps.
The appropriation must stop!
On X, a viral user reacted to a pic of McVey in the wild with a shocking side-by-side. “Straight guy shorts vs Gay guy shorts, 2025,” he wrote.
The comparison is so surprising because… it’s true!
Walk into queer watering holes in cool urban hoods from Silver Lake to Bushwick, and one will notice a sea of baggy cargos, relaxed Carhartt tees and greasy-looking mullets. Usually tucked under a baseball hat–with a cheeky phrase printed across–it’s hard to make out their faces tucked beneath their wraparound rave shades and dirtbag mustaches.
But there they are. The artists formally known as “twinks” are now dressed like they’re ready to go off-roading. Don’t worry, though: they’re still soliciting hookups. That muscle tank is from Sniffies!
The board shorts scream “DL trade.”
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The astute fashion writer Max Berlinger calls this Y2K straight jock cosplay “Heartland Drag.” In a very smart Substack, he ties the “queering of heteronormative aesthetics” to straight guys’ embrace of gay style. Among a certain group of Gen Z “it boys,” queer-baiting seems to be the norm.
While it’s heartening to see NFL QBs paint their nails and Benson Boone wear a sequin jumpsuit, looks are no longer subversive when they’re embraced by the mainstream.
“The fact that straight men are more comfortable wearing what gay men used to wear, and now it’s become sort of fluid, I see gay men pulling back and dressing in a hypermasculine style,” a Brookyln-based photographer told Berlinger.
Of course, queer people have always adopted masculine looks, both genuinely and ironically. The rise of the mustached “Castro Clones” in the ’70s coincided with Burt Reynolds and other hunks also sporting the rebellious piece of facial hair.
Through the ’80s & ’90s, hairy chests gave way to Brazilian body waxes. There was no physical difference between oiled-up bodybuilders and horned up Chelsea gays. Hence, bodybuilding magazines doubled as gay rags.
The relationship between gay fashion and straight fashion is symbiotic. Straights mocked skinny jeans in the mid 2000s, only to wear them to the extreme by 2010. We see you Jersey Shore!
Today, gays and theys are dressing as their high school bullies from that era. Think Troye Sivan and “Rush.”
For those gays who miss seeing glorious glutes on the dance floor–rather than pieces of fabric–do not fret. Fashion trends are circuitous.
Once straight bros start wearing camo to bars again, the short shorts will come back.
Styles come and go, but legs are forever. (Besides, some of us never stopped rockin’ them!)
I really really hope the long shorts trend ends faster than the mullet trend.
https://t.co/aUjyzThxY4— Tyler (@tyler_cov) September 4, 2025
The “gay guy shorts” seem more like zoomer shorts— robbie
(@robbie_grows) September 4, 2025
The buff millennials haven’t caught on yet tho and they’re my fav— Josh
(@rightofwhey) September 4, 2025
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