Why do British kids wear shorts in cold weather?

[Parapapapan]

I’m at Efteling with a lot of kids from different nations, mostly Dutch/Belgian/German/British from the language they’re speaking. One thing I’ve noticed is that if I see a child in shorts they are typically English speakers. I live on the continent and you rarely see kids in shorts in 10 degree weather and colder.

Im curious! Can anyone help explain why they wear shorts? Don’t they get cold? My kids would moan so much and be so miserable when cold!

Such a weird question.

Perhaps British parents are more inclined to let their children dress as they want to?

Don’t they get cold?

I imagine if they did, they'd wear trousers.

I've never seen a child wearing shorts in winter except maybe those poor sods gussied up in some preposterous private prep school uniform involving a blazer, a cap and shorts in heavy grey woollen fabric.
I thought german kids wore lederhosen? 🤣

10C isn't considered cold where I live.

Our grandchildren have to be forced to wear coats.

We're not British, though a similar climate, and DS and his friends used to wear shorts year-round throughout the later primary years (school with no uniform). They didn't seem to feel the cold.

My 9yo hasn’t worn a pair of trousers all winter, even when icy frosty! He just doesn’t get cold and finds trousers restrictive. He’s very active and sporty.

Maybe we’re are just a hardy nation? I went to university in Newcastle and we never wore coats on nights out! My dad used to have school swimming sessions in the harbour in just woolly shorts! North east coast too!

Mine just picked shorts over trousers 90% of the time 🤷. They just were always warm, always either indoors warm or running around outside. Trousers were deemed annoying and once they were old enough to choose what to wear they just defaulted to shorts.
And 10°c is double figures - not cold at all.

What’s the difference between a pair of shorts and a skirt? Same amount of fabric but lots of women don’t think twice about wearing them in the winter.

My exh is a PE teacher. Shorts are on.

I work with kids and a few of the boys wear shorts every day without fail. I also work with a couple of men who do the same

It's not just kids - a lot of adults (men in particular) wear shorts all year through. So do postal workers traditionally, although I believe this is because, when it rains, legs dry more quickly than fabric and they don't want wet trousers flapping around their lower legs as they dash around doing their deliveries.

See also the number of school girls who go in bare legged in the depths of winter. Maybe some people just feel the cold more than others - and possibly having youth on your side makes you less prone to feeling chilly?!

Same in Glasgow, where it's often 'taps aff' as soon as the temperature reaches above zero

I've never seen a child wearing shorts in winter except maybe those poor sods gussied up in some preposterous private prep school uniform

Primary school aged boys from all types of school used to wear shorts year round. Winters were colder and they all walked to school. They survived.

These would be grey, above the knee shorts, with knee high socks, not skimpy things.

In fact shorts were permitted for boys at my mixed secondary, but the Head suggested it was better to go into long trousers from the start, and I only remember one or two boys ever wearing shorts in the first year.

I know several boys that wear shorts all year round
I really don’t think anyone is forcing them to wear shorts if that is what you’re suggesting

Doesn’t this have some historical legacy? That boys used to wear shorts until they were a certain age and were allowed to move into long trousers? It might be connected to the school system. Or something about rationing of fabric during the war?

Looks like it's forecast to be around 13-15 there. That's summer if you are from Scotland!!

Taps aff!

a lot of adults (men in particular) wear shorts all year through. So do postal workers traditionally,

One of the platform staff at a local station wears shorts year round, even when the rest of the staff are in woolly hats and gloves. In his case I think it's to show off the tattoos on his legs.

The fashion at DSs school is short all year round as part of uniform. It's a normal state primary.

Then DH has a stubbornness about this too as he's outdoorsy.

My postman has also said he does it because it's easier to deal with inclement weather with shorts than saturated clothes. (See kilts for Highlanders - they wore them not just for cultural reasons but also practical reasons).

Yes, I think it has historically been seen as a mark of maturity and privilege/status to be allowed to wear long trousers, rather than just what makes more sense depending on the weather.

Before that, they had 'breeching' - where all babies and young children wore dresses and it was a rite of passage for boys when they were first allowed to wear trousers instead, sometimes not before the age of about 8.

Maybe it is a thing then?! I'd have thought shorts in winter to be unnecessarily cold. But I guess if it's a trend right now they won't care!

My postman has his shorts on now, but he had trousers on a couple weeks ago. God knows why I remember this?!

I clearly also have strange conversations with my postie!

Equally, why do so many men wear shorts all through winter? I can understand the logic of the postie, but not so much those who wear shorts, big puffer jacket and a woollen beanie.

its a weird British cultural thing to want to appear hardy and robust and not complain (though we love to have a good moan)

cold houses too we just like to suffer a little , but not too much😆

Traditionally

Boys wear shorts, men long trousers.
Girls wear short skirts hair down, women longer skirts hair up.

Old fashioned even 50 years ago but there you go

Because legs dry quicker than trousers.

If they have sturdy shoes, warm socks, vest, polo and sweater then they really won't be cold inside / dashing around a playground.