Summertime is the season of the shorts. A great pair of shorts is a wonderful addition to your wardrobe. Shorts are comfortable, they allow your legs to breathe, they can be worn with a very wide range of clothes and in numerous settings and they are extremely sexy too.

When it comes to the colors of your shorts, there are three main categories in which your shorts can fall and you should own at least one of each category.

Here they are:

 

Neutral

 

 

A neutral pair of shorts can turn out to be not only very stylish, but it can sometimes be a go-to piece as well. In fashion, neutrals are colors that go with anything and, obviously, with each other. These are: gray, black, white, khaki, tan, ivory, beige, brown, dark blue, etc. Therefore, if you have a pair of shorts that is any of these colors, you can safely wear it with anything else and you can make sure that it will go very well from a chromatic point of view. When in doubt, go neutral.

 

 

Solid

Even though neutral shorts are great, since they are a safe bet and can look amazing, sometimes you might want to spice things up and express yourself by wearing a solid color pair of shorts.

When you are wearing a non-neutral pair of shorts, you should always make sure that they are incorporated well in the overall color scheme you are sporting.

In this sense, for example, you can pair your shorts with an item in a color that lies close on the color spectrum to the color of your pants (for example, blue and purple, orange and red, etc. are pairs of colors that are close to one another other on the color spectrum). Alternatively, you can wear them with a piece in a color that, on the color wheel, lies on the opposite side of the color of your pants (yellow and blue, green and red, etc. are examples of pairs of colors that lie on opposite sides on the color spectrum). As a tip, you can also remember that wearing the same color two times, but in different shades can also result in a wonderful effect.

There are several types of color schemes with which you can work, but the number one thing you should remember when it comes to choosing the colors of your garments is that the color scheme you are creating should integrate all the items you are wearing (including your shoes and other accessories) and that the result should be pleasing to the eye. Of course, we know that this is something subjective, but, if you feel that something doesn’t look right, don’t get stuck and make a change!

 

 

Print

A third type of pants you should definitely have is shorts that feature a great print or pattern! Prints and patterns have the ability to complement solid colors very well if you know how to mix colors. However, you can also choose to mix prints and patterns and wear more than just one print at a time.

Should you want to mix patterns, you can easily do so by following one simple rule: The sizes of the two patterns you want to wear need to be different one from the other. For example, thick stripes can be easily matched to thinner ones, or to any other print or pattern, as long as they are not similar in size. You don’t necessarily have to wear the same pattern twice but in different sizes; you can wear two different patterns, but you still need to follow the rule; for example small dots mixed with pig paisley. As a tip, we can say that for a great effect, you can pair two very different patterns or prints that share a color. This will be a sign that you are a guy who pays great attention to every detail and will add cohesion and coherence to your outfit.

Also, don’t forget that a pattern is a symmetrically repeated construction, a print is an image that features a clear composition and a texture is a pattern that can not only be seen, but also felt.

 

Owning multiple pairs of shorts will definitely make your wardrobe and your looks more interesting and it will give you more options to express yourself when it comes to creating your everyday outfits.

Once you find a few pairs of shorts you like, you should definitely enjoy them and look for many interesting ways to sport them on an everyday basis.

 

 

Fraquoh and Franchomme

 

 

 

 

 

Further reading:

The guide to shorts

The guide to casual pants

How to dress up casual pants

P.S. What type of shorts do you like? How do you wear them? Share your thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, subscribe now to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook or Twitter!