Recently, shorts have become one of the boldest categories in menswear, with designers and everyday dressers alike embracing every cut and style. The sheer variety is liberating – everything from tailored pleats and voluminous jorts to tiny, sultry inseams are available – but it can also make getting dressed a little more complicated.
To help narrow down your options, we asked a bunch of stylish guys and menswear experts to recommend their perfect shorts — the pair they reach for as the temperatures rise. Some swore by the old-school staples, while others favored the new silhouette. But taken together, their choices paint a picture of what defines a great pair of shorts in 2026 — and why there’s no one right answer anymore.
Young-Su Kim, SVP and Men’s Fashion Director, Bergdorf Goodman
“These strike the perfect balance between formal and casual dressing for summer,” Kim says of these Jacquemus beauties, which balance a relaxed silhouette with a sharp single pleat. The subtly herringbone-patterned linen blend, meanwhile, offers the airy feel of pure linen without all the snags and wrinkles. It all comes together to create an effortless pair that will look as good at the end of a long, muggy day as it did that morning.
Jacquemus
Herringbone Linen-Blend Pleated Shorts
Nick Wooster, Design Consultant
Wooster has long claimed that shorts need the same attention as the rest of men’s clothing. Her pick for this summer is Sid Mashburn’s classic side-tab short, though it’s in a fabric with a little more personality than the usual summer staple. He says, “Sid Mashburn is great for when you want to push the envelope but don’t want to seem exaggerated.” “They’re kind of perfect. They’re not a lot, but they’re enough.”
Sid Mashburn Side-Tab Sport Short
Sid Mashburn
