You see a lot of girls rolling their shorts when they are playing or just lounging around.

One reason is that most manufacturers don’t pay attention to the fact that girls and women like shorter inseams or at least want to have the option to choose the inseam length. So, when they buy a short, they roll the waistband because the length of the short is not quite where they want it to be. Yes, sometimes the shorts get rolled for aesthetic reasons – they like them to be shorter or that is “the look right now”. Any and all reasons are fine…just know your options.

Lots of companies just slap a “girly” logo on a garment a state that it is a “women’s short” – what’s worse is that most footwear companies do this and just print the women’s size on a smaller version of a boys’ or men’s shoe and call it “women’s”….ARGH!

Pay attention…inseams come in many lengths, and this allows you to choose your look or the look your team is trying to portray. Most basketball shorts for women have a 7” inseam, but most girls favor a 5” or 6”. A lot of field players in soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse like shorter inseams and we see the 4” inseam as the most popular right now.

Did you know…?

Did you know that the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) actually had a rule on the books that states, “No shorts may be turned over with exposed strings to the outside. No exceptions.” CRAZY! They stated that were two reasons for this rule. First, there was a safety reason –the drawstring hanging out created a safety concern…watch out for that drawstring it may break your leg. Second, they stated that rolling the waistband allows for an additional logo to be seen and there are strict rules regarding the fact that only one logo may be showing on any team garment.

OK, we can see that a drawstring could cause injury by getting a player tangled up…but the extra logo??? If it has a “swoosh” on it, we all know it says “Nike” inside.

Most people don’t realize that the inseam is measured from the crotch of a short to the outer edge of the leg hem, not how long the short actually is. The length is determined by the rise (the distance from the waistband to the crotch). This means that you could have a 4” inseam short that has a long rise and have a short still come down to your knees.

I guess this just means…roll’em if you wish, know your rise, know your inseam…wear what you want.