For great summer outfits, look to pastels, prep fit shorts

Anyone who believes the old adage, “when you look great, you feel great,” must not have ever had to don a fashion-forward outfit when it’s humid and 85 degrees outside .

The hot and sticky days of summer can push thoughts of well-pressed shirts and achieving perfect color combinations to the back of your mind. But the hot weather doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t be hot, too. 

First and foremost, everyone can capitalize on the increased sunshine that summer brings by investing in some pastel-colored garments. Once the spring season rolls around, most fashion retailers make it a point to showcase their pastels with signs or intricate displays so they are easy to find. It’s good to stock up, as these stores almost always have some sort of sale in the beginning of the season, allowing color-minded shoppers to get their fix early on.

Shoppers can find many articles of clothing colored salmon, sun-kissed orange, gently faded electric blue or soft yellow. One of the great things about pastels is that their color scheme is incredibly versatile, which means that newcomers to these summer shades can rest easy knowing they don’t necessarily need to suit up in pastel from head to toe.

Guys, for example, can pair pastel v-necks or collared shirts with basic khaki shorts; most undoubtedly own at least two or three pairs already. This is a great look for both the fratty and the faint of heart. A simple shirt, paired with some shorts, preps you for a casual picnic or other summer activity, but a salmon button-up tucked into clean, above-the-knee tan or khaki shorts can easily outfit you for a Kentucky Derby-esque mixer.

Women, who at our age tend to be bolder and more accepting of the day’s latest fashion, can lace up some solid-colored Keds, Vans TOMS or any other form of loafer-like or slip-on footwear when they sport their soft-hued outfits. These shoes are less ornate than say, a pair of gladiator sandals, which immediately grab attention —  something to stray from particularly while wearing pastels.

Avoiding gaudy apparel is something everyone should keep in mind during the summer or at least during the daytime. Summer fashion relies heavily on a sort of bespoken modesty that results from heat. You can’t layer or complement a great shirt with a cardigan, and you can’t shoot for a sleek look as easily as you can when winter grants you more leeway with the addition of pants. Summer’s heat demands compliance, and therefore, mandates us to pursue a minimalist sense of fashion. 

Don’t get me wrong: Gladiator sandals definitely have a proper time and place, but you should tread lightly and avoid pitting modes of calm against clashing bits of excitement.  Pastels are the perfect example: If you’re going to take a muted hue out of the closet, keep the rest of the day’s outfit relatively docile as well. 

Guys might be familiar with the phrase, “sun’s out, guns out” — that summer rallying cry to bust out your sleeveless shirts and pinnies. However, some members of the prep community have recently created a below-the-waist equivalent: “sky’s out, thighs out.”

Yes, shorter shorts are back in style. These curtailed antitheses to their baggy, below-the-knee counterparts, which emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, aren’t as revealing as their 1970s forefathers, but you might want to work on your thigh tan a bit.

Made popular through aggressive online marketing by companies such as Chubbies, who bill themselves as selling “radical shorts for men” and assure buyers that “thigh liberation never looked so good,” shorter shorts have made a resurgence and are becoming a staple in the summer wardrobe of preppier guys. And the diffusion of the shorter shorts trend has landed many pairs in the majority of commercial stores, tagged with stickers labeled “prep fit” or “high leg.”

However, since these are the latest trend, they tend to be expensive. But a little bit of DIY cuffing can transform an already existing short into something more fashionable. Many standard shorts that fall very slightly below the knee can be cuffed until they rest an inch or half inch above the knee.

Be aware of how these cuffs look, though. If you cuff the legs of your pants in the spring or fall, you’ll have some sense of too high or too low. But, if you’re unfamiliar with the cuffing ways, there are a few things you need to take into consideration. For example, remember that your shorts shift on your legs when you sit down, so too much cuffing will have your shorts riding up relatively high when you sit. Also, if your shorts aren’t a slim fit on the leg, cuffing them make result in a very boxy appearance that leaves too loose of a fit.

Girls are able to get a bit funky with their shorts by injecting floral patterns and the occasional acid wash into their wardrobe:, two styles  guys can’t necessarily pull off. These come in addition to the standard range of options presented by solid-colored shorts, which are easy to match, but run the risk of redundancy. 

As long as you don’t go overboard with patterns to the point of buying something that looks as if it’s from Justice or some other tween store, shorts with a little extra zest can add a noticeable pop to your outfit. 

Just remember the basic rule of patterns: never mix them. This is especially true in summertime because of the aforementioned minimalist approach. But no matter what gender you are or what style you stick to, as long as you don’t try too hard, you’ll be fine. 

If you’re doing summer fashion correctly, it should almost seem like you’re doing nothing at all — but still looking damned good while doing it.