Shorts Worth Getting Out That Never Let You Down

Most men treat swim shorts as an afterthought and then wonder why they feel underdressed the moment they arrive somewhere with a pool. The truth is that swim shorts are one of the few items you wear with almost nothing else around them. There is nowhere to hide. Fit, length, and fabric do all the work. We have a particular view on elasticated waistbands in this category because when the construction is right they sit better, pack flatter, and move with you in a way that a rigid waistband simply does not. What we have been looking for are shorts that hit at or just above the knee, use a quick drying fabric that does not go sheer when wet, and carry a print or colour that looks considered rather than accidental. Holiday dressing is more visible than men give it credit for. These are the ones that make the right impression without looking like you tried too hard.

Green is having a proper moment in menswear and swim shorts are one of the easiest places to wear it. Not because it's trendy, but because it actually works near water, against sun-tanned skin, and alongside the kind of casual holiday wardrobe most men are already building. The problem has always been price. A good pair of swim shorts costs more than it should, and most men end up compromising on fabric quality, fit, or both. These don't ask you to do that. We've been looking specifically at shorts that offer a proper swim length, a fabric with enough weight to not go see-through when wet, and a waistband that sits right rather than folding over itself by noon. All in shades of green that range from muted olive to something bolder for the men who want to be seen. Every pair in here costs less than you'd expect for what you're getting. That's the whole point.

Most swim shorts are designed with the pool in mind and nothing else. The moment you pull them on for lunch, a walk into town, or a drink somewhere that requires actual shoes, they fall apart stylistically. Too long, too loud, too plasticky. The occasion has moved on but the shorts haven't. What we've been looking for are shorts that work in the water and then keep working. A length that sits above the knee. A fabric that dries fast but doesn't look like it came out of a sports catalogue. A waistband that doesn't advertise itself. Colours and prints that read as considered rather than accidental. The best ones in this collection cross that line between swimwear and casual short without making a fuss about it. Wear them off a boat, into a bar, around a market. They don't need changing. That's exactly the point. A good pair of swim shorts should extend your day, not interrupt it.

Most swim shorts are designed for a product shot on a white background. They look the part in the thumbnail and fall apart the moment you're actually living in them. Too long, too shiny, too loud, or made from a fabric that takes forty minutes to dry and clings in all the wrong places when it does. We've been through enough bad pairs to know what the real criteria are. Length matters more than most men realise. Mid thigh is the line between looking like you dressed with intention and looking like you borrowed something. Fabric weight and construction determine whether they survive a fortnight of daily use or arrive home looking finished. The ones we've pulled together here work as well walking to lunch as they do in the water. Solid colours, considered prints, nothing that screams. These are shorts built around how a holiday actually unfolds, not how it looks on your grid.

Most men treat swim shorts as an afterthought and it shows. You are on a beach, or by a pool, wearing essentially nothing else, and the shorts are doing all the work. Length matters more than most people realise. Too long and you look like you borrowed them from someone's dad. Too short and you are making a statement you may not have intended. The sweet spot is mid thigh, with a fabric that dries quickly, sits flat when wet, and does not go see through in the water. We have also been paying attention to waistband construction because a drawstring that disintegrates after two holidays is not something we have time for. The shorts in here are the ones that look considered without being loud, that work going from the water to lunch without a second thought, and that will still be in rotation three summers from now. That last part is rarer than it should be.

Red swim shorts are one of those things that should be simple and somehow never are. Too bright and you look like a lifeguard. Too short and the whole thing falls apart. The wrong fabric clings when it dries, bags at the back after a season, and fades to something you wouldn't choose in a shop. We've spent more time on this than is probably reasonable. What we kept coming back to was a specific kind of red. Not the screaming synthetic red that photographs well and disappoints in person. The deeper, slightly muted tones that work with a tan, that look considered rather than accidental, that you can wear off the beach without immediately looking like you're still on it. Length matters too. We like something that hits above the knee without going too far. The fabrics here dry fast, hold their shape, and keep their colour. These are the ones we'd actually pack.

White swim shorts are one of those choices that look effortless when done right and quietly wrong when they're not. The fit matters more than it does in almost any other colour. There's nowhere to hide. Too long and you lose the leg entirely. Too baggy and the fabric clings when wet in ways nobody wants. The waistband, the lining, the weight of the cloth, all of it shows up white and tells the truth. What we've been looking for specifically are cuts that sit at the right point on the thigh, fabrics that dry fast without going translucent, and details that are considered without being loud. White doesn't need embellishment. It needs structure and proportion and a fit that looks as good on the boat as it does at the bar with a linen shirt thrown over the top. The shorts in here have been chosen because they understand that. Simple is not the same as easy to get right.