Bermuda Women's Pearl Bracelet Fashion Jewelry 70

Bermuda Women's Pearl Bracelet Fashion Jewelry.

By Aamir Mannan

The islanders had no choice but to love them. Up until the `50s, visitors and Bermudians alike were required by law to observe the island`s oh-so-proper ways. For women that meant, among other things, never showing legs above the knee. The government strictly enforced a regulation that said women could not appear in public wearing ``short shorts.``

Women could don a semirevealing one-piece swimsuit on the beach, but if they showed their legs in town, they were awarded a green ticket, which meant paying a relatively hefty fine. As a compromise, government officials and islanders agreed on the Bermuda length, which was just above the knee.

The original khaki Bermudas - first brought to the island by British troops who had discovered their utility while in the warmer climes of India and Africa at the turn of the century - measured 22 inches from the top of the waistband to the hem. To make sure they were no shorter, Bermuda`s policemen carried yardsticks.

As the shorts became popular, island merchants stocked their shelves with myriad colors and prints, as well as the standard khaki version. Men wore them with knee socks everywhere: to the office, to dinner, on the beach. Women preferred a more casual look, so they usually wore them with sandals.

Whether you call the shorts ``Bermuda`` or ``walking`` doesn`t really matter - there`s little difference between the two. Today, the two names are used interchangeably, although the original walking shorts were perhaps a little less tailored than today`s often slim-fitting, shorter (19 1/2-inch) Bermuda shorts.

In America, the shorts had some trouble catching on until the late 1940s, when Claire McCardell picked up the look popularized on Bermuda and attempted to bring it into fashion for women.

She was somewhat successful, but the look still didn`t appeal to the fashion-minded until a few years later. On the campuses of Princeton and Yale, as well as on the beaches of ultra-chic Southampton and Palm Beach, men and women loved the look and adored the comfort of madras Bermuda shorts.

Soon, American businessmen were buying three-piece suits that consisted of a jacket, matching trousers and walking shorts. The style attracted considerable attention in the States (it was already de rigueur on Bermuda and had been for years), but quickly passed when air conditioning made walking shorts impractical for indoor wear.