Stardew Valley’s Mayor Lewis has a very infamous pair of purple shorts that can be used in a fair few unusual ways. These shorts are the main objective in one of the very first quests in the game, as Mayor Lewis tasks the player with discreetly recovering his very private item. While most players may just find the shorts, chuckle at the mayor in private, and hand them back to him, there are so many more possibilities for embarrassing the mayor.
One of the very first people players speak to is Lewis, the friendly mustached mayor who explains what life is like in and around Pelican Town. While Lewis is not a romance option for players, he does apparently get around town, despite keeping that fact on the down low. The mayor likes glazed yams, hot peppers, green tea, and leaving his embarrassingly bright purple shorts in other people’s bedrooms. Midway through the first summer on the farm, a letter will arrive in your mailbox from Mayor Lewis awkwardly asking for players to find and return his lucky – and very, very private – purple shorts.
Where To Find The Mayor’s Lucky Purple Shorts
They’re Closer To The Farm Than One Might Think
Once Mayor Lewis sends his letter to players – having known them for a solid couple of months – you’ll be able to find them in the oddest of places: Marnie’s bedroom. As hinted by the shorts presence in her bedroom, the kindly animal lover has a secret relationship with the town mayor. Why exactly this affair is a secret is never revealed, especially since there is no hint of scandal. Both characters are single and seem to be compatible, but maybe Mayor Lewis would just be a bad boyfriend. Nevertheless, both Mayor Lewis and Marnie prefer to keep the relationship private, but that power is now in the player’s hand.
Players must get to at least two hearts of friendship with Marnie to be able to enter her bedroom and grab the shorts. This is done by speaking to Marnie every day or giving her some of her favorite gifts. In particular, she loves Diamonds, Farmer’s Lunch, Pink Cake, and Pumpkin Pie, alongside all the universally loved gifts. While players can certainly befriend Marnie and quietly return the shorts to Mayor Lewis for a tidy sum of 750 Gold and one friendship point, there are a few more interesting options for using the purple shorts.
Hand The Shorts Back To Marnie
A Surprise To Be Sure… But A Welcome One?
One of the first things players can do with the infamous purple shorts is to try giving them to Marnie. She will react with a “Gah!” and stumble over her words for a while before telling the player that she has no idea what those shorts are. Since the tryst between Lewis and Marnie is secret, her embarrassed reaction is worth seeing. Conveniently, she won’t take the shorts, meaning players can continue terrorizing Pelican Town with the purple menace.
Add The Shorts To The Luau Potluck Soup
The Governor Will Forgive The Valley Eventually
Lewis gives his shorts-seeking quest on the third day of Summer, which means that the Summer Luau is the first opportunity to prank the mayor in front of the entire town. The addition of the Governor, who Mayor Lewis is trying very hard to impress, makes this an even funnier use for the shorts.
Players are invited to add an ingredient to the Luau soup, which should, of course, be the lucky shorts. Normally, players would add a high-quality ingredient – like a gold Cauliflower, silver Starfruit, or gold Cheese – to earn as many friendship points as possible with the rest of the townies. Unfortunately, these friendship points must be sacrificed in the name of embarrassing Mayor Lewis, though it should be noted that players won’t lose any friendship points either. Tossing in the purple shorts will give a special reaction from both Lewis and the Governor.
After tasting the soup, the Governor will remark that it’s a bit tangy but otherwise good. After closer inspection, the Governor will fish out the lucky shorts from his bowl much to the surprise of Mayor Lewis and Marnie. He then announces that he’s never been so insulted in his entire life and feels sick to his stomach. After the Governor flees the scene, Mayor Lewis declares this soup prank as reprehensible, but fortunately no one knows who exactly did it.
Display The Mayor’s Shorts In Your Fair Grange
This Prank Leads To A Surprising Reward
The Stardew Valley Fair takes place in the Fall and is the highlight of the year where every member of the community can display the very best of their craft and harvest. Normally, players would put up nine items from their adventures and hard work. These could be high-quality items like produce, gems, artisan goods, and crops. However, more mischievous farmers can also take this opportunity to show off Mayor Lewis’s shorts and, surprisingly, earn some hush money as well.
Placing the lucky purple shorts anywhere in the grange display will cause an angry reaction from Lewis, who says that his shorts are very private and gives the player 750 Star Tokens to not tell anyone about them. Since the first prize reward for winning the grange display is 1000 star tokens to spend on fair items, this bribery is an easy way to earn plenty of star tokens to spend without having the best items on display.
Add The Shorts To Your Wardrobe
A Fashion Statement That Only Two Townies Care About
One of the seemingly simplest ways to use the lucky purple shorts is to wear them around town, as seen in the video from YouTuber LizTheFantastic, above. While the shorts cannot be worn as they are, players can use a sewing machine to combine them with a gold bar. This creates a wearable version of the shorts for players to equip.
The shorts don’t give any bonuses, unlike other special clothing items.
Interacting with Lewis gives the expected response of embarrassment, anger, and annoyance. Marnie reacts more positively to the shorts by laughing. Interestingly, no other villager reacts to the shorts, meaning they either have no idea how significant they are to the mayor or they don’t care.
Fight The Shorts Monster In The Mayor’s Basement
In Lieu Of A Minotaur, Stardew Valley Has Flying Shorts
Stardew Valley 1.6 added another special Easter egg in the Mayor Lewis’s Shorts saga, as well as a subtle fishing hack. Entering Mayor Lewis’s bedroom (after befriending him enough) and placing a staircase allows players to descend into a basement labyrinth featuring an entire maze of barrels with another pair of lucky purple shorts at the end. Check it out in the above tweet from explodingnugget.
Brave farmers can snatch up the shorts, but be prepared to flee back out of the maze, because a flying pair of invincible shorts will begin attacking right away. Less experienced players should bring some food to heal as they escape the angry undergarments. This can be done daily for players to collect as many lucky shorts as they could ever desire.
Video Credit: LizTheFantastic/YouTube, explodingnugget/X
