So Cool in Hot Pants

Hot pants and spring are eternal. A brief stroll down Beverly Boulevard will turn up a bevy of long-stemmed beauties with saucy attitudes wearing little more than hot pants, crop tops and platform shoes.

Toni Darby (pictured, right) wears them because they’re great for introductions. “Hot pants are a cool, sexy and simple way of saying hello,” she says.

For Dana Mitchell, they’re utilitarian. “This is what was on the floor next to me when I woke up.”

In years past, they were called short shorts or cutoffs. Now that the ‘70s revival is still revving, hot pants (coined by Women’s Wear Daily in 1971) seems the most appropriate appellation.

Worn with a choker and a pair of platform shoes, they look as much now as then. And with a plaid shirt wrapped around the waist and a pair of clogs, they’re ‘90s grunge.

Some of the hot pants seen on Beverly were vintage stock.

Robin Harrington paid $3 for her stretch denims at a Salvation Army thrift store. Emily Marshall (pictured, left) dug through the decades of her mother’s closet to find the matching green halter top and shorts set.

“Hot pants are exactly what they’re called--hot,” says Marshall. “So don’t forget to wear your biggest platforms with your brightest colors. My favorite combo is wedgies and stripes.”