Shorts are the clearest case of an office rule that flipped inside a decade. YouGov put the same question to Britons in 2016 and again in June 2026, and acceptance of men wearing shorts in an office rose from 37% to 68%. The 2026 figures are 68% acceptable against 27% unacceptable for men, and 69% against 25% for women. What has not changed is who objects. The over-65s are the only age group still genuinely divided, at 50% acceptable to 45% unacceptable, while every working-age group is strongly permissive. That looks like generational replacement rather than people changing their minds, which matters in practice because the office norm and the individual boss's norm can now be different things. The permission is also narrow rather than general. In the same survey, flip-flops were rejected 67% to 28% and tops exposing the midriff 65% to 30%. So the boundary has moved on leg coverage while footwear has stayed exactly where it was.