Dolfin / Dolphin shorts

Fashion Synopsis

Take the scandalously high hot pants of the early 70’s, slit the sides and round the corners, trim with a contrasting color, and voilà, you’ve got the hottest thing to come out of the fitness craze of the 80’s. Dolphin shorts, as these micro shorts were called, left little to the imagination, and although originally created for the jogging enthusiast, girls (and young or adventurous boys) took to wearing the short shorts for everyday fashion.

Dolfin is the trademarked name from the company who originally created and marketed the skimpy jogging shorts, but as the trend took off running, everyone joined the race. Soon any super-short short in any variety of color or fabric was being called a dolphin short. Ladies loved the long-legged illusion, and much to the delight of teenage boys everywhere, the short shorts occasionally exposed the ‘cheek.’ Some schools outlawed the shorts because they were causing a distraction in class, but after school was a whole other story.

Boys and girls, men and women took to the streets with running shoes or roller skates, triple-striped tube socks, and their dolphins. Cotton, nylon, velour and terry cloth…the dolphin short and matching tank top exposed the world to the sexiness of exercise gear before leotards and legwarmers.

The style soon faded from the fashion forefront, but runners still swear by the short. Fitness fanatics far and wide embraced the sexy short to show off their hard-earned toned legs. And in a crowning endorsement, even after all these years, fitness guru Richard Simmons still wears his red-striped nylon dolphins.

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