A Short History Of Daisy Dukes

The female trainer for the totally new forthcoming Pokémon: Black & White is wearing, as website Tiny Cartridge points out, Daisy Dukes. But what are Daisy Dukes?

Jean shorts, a shorter and literally cooler version of blue jeans, were worn in the 1950s and 1960s as cut-offs. And it was in the late 1960s and early 1970s that they got short. Real short.

From 1979 to 1985, the short shorts were immortalized by actress Catherine Bach. In her portrayal of country gal Daisy Duke in TV show The Dukes of Hazzard, she wore dangerously skimpy threads. Her shorts were so short that the network made her wear flesh colored tights!

In 1993, the shorts saw a resurgence thanks to the rap song "Dazzey Duks", which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. Both the original music video and the "clean" version were total, well, ass fiestas. The song held spawn a rebirth of Daisy Duke shorts — even among junior high schoolers.

The turn of the century brought a Daisy Duke Renaissance. Sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2006) featured a character named Tobias who has a "never-nude" syndrome. In order to avoid seeing himself naked, he wears Daisy Duke-type shorts.

With some many 1980s television shows being developed into feature films, it was inevitable that The Dukes of Hazzard got a big screen remake in 2005. Jessica Simpson played the role of Daisy Duke, shorts and all.