Late-Night Trend Alert: The Boys Are Showing Leg

Tiny trend alert! Tim Robinson participated in it this week. Bowen Yang has done it. So has Paul Mescal. Even distant cousins Larry David and Bernie Sanders have done it. See, while watching late-night TV over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that my boys are starting to show some skin in a place you might least expect: their mid-calf. Specifically, a little sliver of skin above the sock that the pants don’t cover. Sometimes it’s not even little. Jeremy Kirkland, host of the popular menswear podcast Blamo!, tells me this trend is due to the “shorter and shorter length most men wear their trousers these days.” (You know he’s legit because he calls them “trousers.”) He then sent me a bunch of photos of celebrities on late-night talk shows in the past wearing longer trousers and socks. But that reminded me of fashion trends from even further back in time: In the Victorian era, women dressed so conservatively that the hottest thing in the world was a peek of the ankle. Maybe that’s happening with men now? But no more talking about it — it’s time to bring out those legs. Take it away, boys.

Jerrod Carmichael, Late Night With Seth Meyers (April 3, 2024)

Tim Robinson, Late Night With Seth Meyers (April 2, 2024)

Greg Davies (not Alex Horne), Late Night With Seth Meyers (March 26, 2024)

Bowen Yang, Late Night With Seth Meyers (March 11, 2024)

Neal Brennan, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (March 8, 2024)

Peter Dinklage, Late Night With Seth Meyers (March 7, 2024)

Bernie Sanders, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (March 5, 2024)

Larry David, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (February 2, 2024)

Rob Gronkowski, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (January 29, 2024)

Paul Mescal, Jimmy Kimmel Live! (November 16, 2023)

Please Don’t Destroy (not Martin Herlihy), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (November 6, 2023)

Fisher Stevens, Late Night With Seth Meyers (October 25, 2023)

Marcello Hernández, Late Night With Seth Meyers (October 10, 2023)

Chris Hayes, Late Night With Seth Meyers (October 3, 2023)

Patrick Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel Live! (April 19, 2023)

Brian Cox, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (April 10, 2023)

Alan Cumming, Late Night With Seth Meyers (February 2, 2023)

Jordan Peele, Late Night With Seth Meyers (January 5, 2023)

John David Washington, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (December 22, 2022)

Murray Bartlett, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (August 16, 2022)