Coming up short

When was the last time you went shopping for shorts? Personally, I think it’s been a while because what I’m seeing, in the very limited number of stores I’ve visited, has been more than a little surprising.

First – the styles I’m seeing are not particularly appealing. Either they’re too short, too bougie or too plain ugly. I don’t want shorts that expose my entire upper thigh, nor am I interested in a pair that reaches my knees. Is mid thigh too much to ask?

Yesterday, I trolled through the big LL Bean complex in Freeport, Maine and was shocked by how limited the selection was. There were linen shorts available in 2 colors, which were nice, in a length that I would find comfortable to wear, however, the width of the legs and the sheer volume of fabric made them a hard no for me. The madras ones on the sale rack were pretty but absolutely looked terrible on me with their close to the body cut.

No, thank you. I’m not interested in a plaid second skin, especially at a cost of $49.99.

My next stop was at the Levi’s outlet where I found lots of denim shorts, but none quite what I wanted. The ones that had embroidered flowers reminded me of the 70s in a wonderful way, but they were cut à la Daisy Duke instead of a more tasteful Daisy Buchanan. They were a pass.

Beyond that style, nothing really caught eye. Fortunately, I scored a fantastic pair of Selfedge denim jeans (to replace the pair of jeans I bought in 2002!) originally priced at $125+ for the bargain cost of $19.99. Now that I’m thinking about it, I should have bought two pairs and cut one off to make shorts…

I’ll probably head to Marshall’s to troll for shorts that I like, but maybe you’ve seen some in your retail travels? Keep in mind that I don’t spend my money at Target, Walmart or Amazon, if you have suggestions.

For now, it’ll be my old cut offs and a single pair of navy blue with white polka dot Banana Republic shorts that I’ve had for close to 10 years. Help!