Bare legs in the cold? No sweat

Chicago —- As the midday temperature on a recent day hovered around 45 degrees, a nasty wind whipped across Lake Michigan. Most people on the streets of Chicago on this fall day burrowed beneath winter jackets, some with hats on their heads, others with scarves covering mouths that grumbled about the early arrival of winter weather.

But here came Mandy Larkin, bounding down Michigan Avenue clad in a tiny denim miniskirt and white T-shirt. Sure, she had a flimsy cardigan over her shoulders and a scarf slung around her neck, but she looked more prepared for the beach than the blizzard that seemed imminent.

“The weather reports on the Internet said it was going to be a lot warmer here,” explained the 19-year-old Dubliner, her voice a combination of brogue and chattering teeth. “Everyone keeps staring at me.”

Larkin’s sightseeing partner —- older sister Beatrice —- had broken down the day before and purchased a winter coat at Bloomingdale’s. “Look what’s underneath!” she said, revealing her tank top.

Maybe the sisters were surprised by the first real cold snap of the season. But others bare their legs as a statement —- a big nyah, nyah, nyah to Old Man Winter. On a cool November evening we tracked down some bareleggers in Oz Park on the city’s North Side.

“Shorts provide a mental break from reality,” said Kim Schwartz, 35, of Chicago, wearing a long-sleeved Windbreaker and running shorts as she chased her 19-month-old, Philip. Schwartz wore shorts until Christmas last year, wrapping a long coat around herself.

“We’re born naked. Shorts come pretty close,” she said.

“My legs don’t get cold,” boasted John Fyfe, 62, of Chicago as he walked his Shih Tzus. A fleece covered his top half; shorts, dark socks and sandals warmed the bottom half.

The trader wears shorts to work in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, and he does so unless the temperature dips near the single digits.

“I’m comfortable,” Fyfe said. “The only downside is that people constantly make jokes about the shorts.”

The trend isn’t relegated to cities. Nicholas Sakellaris is passively encouraging the youth of Oak Park, Ill., to shun slacks. “Every school year I wear shorts up until … mid- to late December,” said the second-grade teacher at Washington Irving School.

It started out as a joke, said the 35-year-old. But the joke evolved into a tradition of baring knees while illuminating minds. “I think it also makes me look like I am tougher than everybody else, so I stand out that way, too!”

Tougher, maybe; chillier, definitely.