The weather app in GQ’s neck of the woods has cracked 60 degrees, signaling that shorts season is on deck (and depending on where you live, maybe already up to bat). You know what that means: we’re thinking we need more Patagonia Baggies.
Patagonia’s swishy shorts are up there with the Retro-X fleece jacket, Black Hole duffel, and decades of dedication to nature preservation and conservancy on the short list of the brand’s greatest legacies. Baggies have stayed relevant for more than 40 years because, as writer Reed Nelson noted in his review of the shorts, “founder Yvon Chouinard conceived of them as a ‘do-it-all short’—one he could theoretically hike, climb, swim, bike, camp, and do whatever else in.” Chouinard very much succeeded, cobbling together a simple-but-perfect pair of shorts from airy nylon, a trio of easy-draining pockets, and a liner that many love (and others snip out before the first wear).
Baggies have remained mostly unchanged since. We say mostly, because last year Patagonia managed to improve them in the most Patagonia way possible, updating the shorts to a 100-percent recycled nylon that doesn’t sacrifice the original’s anytime-anywhere ability.
Of course, the Baggies’ allure—and the reason many of us GQ staffers have multiple pairs—goes beyond its performance cred. There’s the history, the fit (as the name suggests, they’re comfortably breezy without being cheesy), the multiple lengths (5” for the purists, 7” for the more demure), and, of course, the colors. Electric yellows and Caribbean teals and gentle corals—and, sure, plenty of more basic hues, too—explain why Baggies have long been the foremost summertime shortcut to a warm-weather fit with energy.
At just $65 a pop, there’s nothing stopping you from filling your shorts drawer with a stack of Skittles-looking Baggies—except for the fact that, without fail, the best colors of the year get sold out just as summer kicks in. Which is why we’re here, sounding the alarm, so you’ve got time to act.
And if you’re on the fence about which shorts length to get, take a tip from Nelson, who wrote in his review: “Like most sane people, I prefer the 5-inch, but I size up for a little added length and volume, and then cinch the waist.” Because yes, the original Baggie really can do it all.
