Having grown up in surfing over the last 30 odd years. I have been privileged enough to witness firsthand many of the changing fashions and phases surfing has gone through. From the late 80’s my wardrobe has been stuffed full of surf gear. For many years of my life my wetsuit was the single most worn item of clothing I owned.
As you can imagine board shorts have always played a part of my summer dress code… wearing boardies in the winters is not something I have ever done. However, I will get into my shorts as soon as the summer comes around in April time. From then, they are on for most of the time through till late September. In fact, the only time I’d wear trousers is for weddings, funerals and court!
I have been through an astonishing range of boards from the dayglo 80’s Santa Cruz, Gotcha and Hot Tuna, skating shorts to the below the knee long cargo styles of the 90’s. The oversized early 2000’s and the fitted chino style 210’s. It has been a wild ride of colour and usefulness – some much better and more practical than others and some just to dam horrid to look at again.
I have chosen a few pic’s from Pinterest showcasing a pretty comprehensive guide to most of the different types of boardies, just for fun really, and while there are loads more besides I think it is good to have a look at each pair and see how good they would be.
In terms of us, the surfer and our requirements being,
- protecting the inside legs from board wax when sitting outback
- staying in place when surfing and paddling
- not to drag too much when paddling
Also to provide a place for your car or house keys, and a little money. As well as the most important feature, to make sure we look good!
