Born as an alternative to constraint, transformed by high fashion and periodically rediscovered: bubble shorts span two centuries of clothing history.
There is a photograph of actress Rita Hayworth taken to promote the musical comedy You'll Never Get Rich (1941) that we could consider the vademecum for shorts. Or rather, for their styling. She wears a white, high-waisted pair with pleats along the fabric, with a short-sleeved blouse, a belt, and a pair of ballet flats with a strap. The image reminds us not only that shorts, if correctly paired, can be an all-rounder for summer in the city, but also that they were already widely popular in the 1940s.
