If you take a look around the Quad at lunch, most guys don khakis, basketball shorts and sweatpants that are at least knee-length. Then, there’s senior Graham Schmelzer, who is known for his brightly colored, mid-thigh Chubbies shorts.
Graham owns 12 pairs of shorts from Chubbies, a San Francisco-based online clothing brand, in colors like pink and green and linings such as thermal and satin.
“I wear them whenever the sky is out, since their motto is ‘Sky's out, thighs out,’” Graham said. “Obviously I won’t wear them when it’s raining, but I’ll wear them even if it’s cold. I get goosebumps all the time, but I sacrifice pain for style.”
He first started wearing Chubbies a couple of years ago when he saw a couple of UCLA students wearing the shorts. However, he didn’t truly embody the brand until he worked as a parking valet at Chubbies co-founder Preston Rutherford’s wedding on Aug. 1. Rutherford is a family friend of senior Anne Rollinson. At the wedding, “literally every single person” was wearing Chubbies and he received a free pair.
Graham and his Chubbies have been the subject of many of his friends’ jokes, who often often walk up behind him, and take a Snapchat of his Chubbies with the caption, “Are those shorts dress code?”
Chubbies have become such an important part of his life that he plans on applying to be a Chubbies College Ambassador when he heads off to Wagner College in New York next year.
“Think of me and my thighs like the US Postal service: They come out rain or shine,” Graham said. “Chubbies is also two steps ahead of the cold weather — they have flannel-lined as well as thigh warmers, which go over your Chubbies to retain heat. I will most definitely invest.”