  We use a combination of BVJHK and Spitzer [3.6], [5.8] and [8.0] photometry
to determine IR excesses for a sample of 58 LMC and 46 SMC O stars. This sample
is ideal for determining IR excesses because the very small line of sight
reddening minimizes uncertainties due to extinction corrections. We use the
core-halo model developed by Lamers & Waters (1984a) to translate the excesses
into mass loss rates and demonstrate that the results of this simple model
agree with the more sophisticated CMFGEN models to within a factor of 2. Taken
at face value, the derived mass loss rates are larger than those predicted by
Vink et al. (2001), and the magnitude of the disagreement increases with
decreasing luminosity. However, the IR excesses need not imply large mass loss
rates. Instead, we argue that they probably indicate that the outer atmospheres
of O stars contain complex structures and that their winds are launched with
much smaller velocity gradients than normally assumed. If this is the case, it
could affect the theoretical and observational interpretations of the "weak
wind" problem, where classical mass loss indicators suggest that the mass loss
rates of lower luminosity O stars are far less than expected.
