Bermuda shorts and ways to wear them
A staple so unlikely you won't find it among the other office supplies
Last year I developed a series of editorial franchises for Matchesfashion, including one called “Unlikely Closet Staple,” based on the premise that sometimes the most unlikely pieces become our wardrobe heroes, making for the best staples because they give life to everything else that’s already in there (your closet, I mean). This is a feature from their new series, My Vacation Essential, based on a similar conceit and shot last week in Rome, where the brand was hosting its second annual tour through Italy.
The item in question? Taffeta Bermuda shorts.
The occasions under which to wear them? Many. I will demonstrate:
Occasion one: getting on an airplane, walking around a city, covering your shins but exposing your knees:
Put this one together thinking about the key components of one outfit that can become many. You want to wear enough layers that can keep you warm, but which you can also take off if it gets hot, each as a standalone winner for you to re-use within imminent-future outfits. So it’s like, what is your favorite t-shirt? What is your favorite sweater? Can you wear either of these a hundred different ways if you wanted to? Do you feel SUPPORTED by these garments, like, you know, they’re here for you through stains and meals, flights and bikes.
Earrings for now or later. Multi-use sneakers, too, because they look cool in a styled outfit and are practical if you want to gym.
Occasion two: touring, living, a casual dinner, exploring the manifold ways to wear a button-down shirt.
If you’re visiting a city, this is a good day-at-the-museum option. Wear the shirt when you’re indoors (left unbuttoned, or not, up to you), take it off and tie it around your waist when you’re out. Turn the scarf into a hat if your head gets hot. Get on a bike! Or at least next to one.
If you’re wearing a belt, tie your shirt under the belt, make sure to leave the button down unbuttoned so that it sort of skirts out behind you. Lace-up sandals look better with long shorts than they do short — something about the hem’s proximity to the lace up. Per the button down, btw, you can also wear it to
Occasion three: The beach
Bikini, one-piece, whatever. Take the shorts off and let the shirt be the look. If you’re going the plain-color route with your shorts and shirt, now’s a good time to add color with the bathing suit, your hat, shells found on ground
When thinking about pairing colors, I usually refer back to what they taught in art class about primary colors and how they make new colors. So blue and yellow make green — that’s one bucket. Red and yellow make orange — that’s another bucket. Then! Red and blue make purple, one more! Usually, I take variations on the colors from the individual buckets (so blue/yellow/green or red/yellow/orange, or red/blue/purple) and mix them with the variations from another. You’ll notice the bag is the same one I “traveled” with in look no.1.
Onwards to date night, occasion four:
Had originally thought to pair this with something else on top, which just goes to show that keeping extra scarves handy is a very good idea! To make this top I tied the corners together on the top ends, put my head through the opening between my knots then tied the subsequent corners while on my body. In that way, I guess it’s ~custom couture.~
You’ll also notice the sweater from look no.1 joined me as something to keep over my shoulders lest it get chilly. It catches the heels on the shoes (nail polish bottles!) and the choker around my neck, which is actually a shoelace from my sneakers. I thought a choker would well complement this neckline but didn’t have one handy, so made do with what was avail to me.
The best thing about this look in my view is that you can wear the top on either side depending on whether you’re feeling more blue or kind of pink:
And finally, dinner — (but really another form of date night, this time with yourself) — occasion five:
I specify “with yourself” because solo time is a good time to take a risk: wear something you wouldn’t normally wear, or something you’ve been thinking about trying out, and do just that, try it. In this case, I paired sheer leggings under shorts to make them look like…something else? (You might be able to recreate this vibe by buying a pairing of sheer tights and cutting the toe open but they will definitely hug your legs much more tightly.)
I realized after the fact that I’d styled myself into Cher Horowitz with the training bra top over the button-down (left the buttons under the bra open for maximum “peplum” effect) and chose a pair of shoes that were less risky, more sexy so I could walk the walk of an exotic bird and really feel like I mean it.
And that concludes this edish of outfit magish. Questions? Comments? Lay them on.
Signing off,
Leandra
I love this -- and the reason I've been into since forever is that I long for NEW FRIKKIN IDEAS. They're here, aplenty.
What about us older women. Not fond of the knees💁♀️