No one notices them as long as the temperatures are mild. Hidden in the anonymity of the population, they are like everyone else. It’s when winter comes and its share of freezing temperatures that their costume becomes a sensation. Who ? Shorts fans. While a large part of France has been shivering for more than a week, these men proudly display their difference. By showing off their calves like a snub to the cold, they make everyone who is stuck under their hat shiver. Who are they ? Why do they do this? 20 minutes spoke with these Bermuda shorts professionals. Who are far from being dull.
Saturday evening, Lucas was at Roazhon Park to encourage Stade Rennais. Like thousands of supporters, the Breton had put on his SRFC jersey and displayed it in the stands. Except that he only had that on his shoulders! While the entire stadium was bundled up in ugly down jackets and shivering in a slightly negative temperature, Lucas had chosen his usual outfit: shorts, t-shirt and cap. His supporter scarf? He hadn’t even rolled it up! “I’m not cold, I never have been. That’s how it is,” replies the 32-year-old Breton soberly. To justify his little outfit, he is not much more talkative, as if the question surprised him. “I’m more comfortable like this. It’s a comfort to be in shorts. What I don’t like is when someone comes to touch my arms or legs to check if I’m not cold.”
Published on X (formerly Twitter), the photo of this alien caused a sensation, many being surprised to see him braving the cold. This was also the case when American basketball player Sam Merrill showed off in shorts when the Cleveland Cavaliers visited Paris in January. “When people see me, they don’t understand. They have a form of empathy that makes them feel cold towards me. It’s annoying, because I’m fine. I’m not crazy, I just don’t have the same relationship. For me, feeling the cold is feeling alive,” says Baptiste. He lives in Bordeaux and is also part of the clan. This sturdy guy who lives all year round in Bermuda shorts and a t-shirt admits to receiving insistent and “weird” looks when he shows off his legs in the cold. “I sometimes wear pants when I go out on the town with my girlfriend because it makes her happy. Otherwise, people look at you strangely. I don’t care, I accept it. But she is sometimes a little ashamed.”
“We played in the mud, in the rain”
Aged 32, the Bordeaux native developed a taste for shorts when he started playing rugby in his native Basque Country. “We played in the mud, in the rain, in the snow. I think I got used to it.” For Charbel, the preference for Bermuda shorts came later. When he arrived at the CNRS in Montpellier in 2019, this native of Lebanon suffocated in overheated premises. “I came by bike and I was super hot when I arrived. I started coming in shorts and it was much more comfortable. As if it were easier to regulate myself.” At 29, Charbel admits, however, that he doesn’t tolerate the heat “badly”, to the point that he has carried out thyroid tests. “But everything is normal at home. It’s just that I’m never cold.”
Those we interviewed all agree on one point. If they choose shorts, it is above all for a question of comfort. “That’s where you’re most comfortable, you’re not embarrassed. For me, it’s about simplicity.” Jérôme is a heavy goods vehicle driver in a long zone. Every day, he spends eight or nine hours behind the wheel of his truck, crossing France several times a week. In his eyes, shorts are the best way to adapt to the differences in climate he may encounter. “When I’m a little cold, it’s never my legs. I just put on a jacket and then it’s good.”
Our fantastic four are not the only ones to live like this all year round, but they all have a few things in common: they are all men, quite strong and who like to move. Because let’s be honest, we are not all equal when it comes to climate variations. Hormones can in particular affect our feelings, explaining, in part, why women are often perceived as more cautious than men.
They are never sick!
Experiments carried out on rodents had established that males deprived of their testosterone became more cautious, as indicated by The world. This is why men tend to resist the cold better when they are young than when they are old, as testosterone production decreases with age. The warming of women’s bodies during the period of ovulation is also a factor reducing their resistance to the cold.
Scientists also found that body fat also plays an important role in cold resistance, as does muscle mass. In general, more athletic people are less cold, their muscles generating more heat when resting. “What you need to do is stay active and move,” assures Baptiste, who also recommends baths or showers with cold water to firm the skin. Whether they live in shorts, a t-shirt or both, all of the men we interviewed are also categorical on one point: they are almost never sick!