Helen Mirren once exclaimed, “I wouldn’t be seen dead in shorts!”
I adore Mirren and think she’s brilliant in every movie she’s in. But I have to disagree with her here. We’re thinking that maybe Dame Mirren hadn’t seen the current crop of shorts. For those of us still happy to be in the gam game, there’s a whole range of gorgeous styles: wrapped, ruffled, wildly printed, canvas, linen, denim, leather. For many people, shorts have definitely preempted skirts as a summer sartorial style choice.
Shorts (in the right style) can be worn to cocktail parties and to the office. Oh wait. Most of us are working from home. Well, then, you definitely can wear shorts to work, and they will be a nice upgrade from PJ bottoms on your Zoom calls.
We look for longer styles that would be flattering to women with more to hide, so to speak. But if you feel shorts are just too, um, short, try the skort, a popular fashion lovechild: shorts bred with a skirt. You’ll still feel all the freedom of shorts tempered by the modesty of that skirt panel.
Here’s my, ahem, short list of options for working the look this summer.
Editor’s Note: We realize that the women in these photos below are younger than our age group and more lithe than most of us. We are using photos from the brand’s website and therefore have no choice but to show these models. However, we think women our age can find a style that suits them among this selection.
Read More: 9 Swimsuits for Women Over 50 That Real People Will Actually Wear
Our Shorts Story
Click through the photos below (using the red arrows) to see all the styles we’ve picked out for you.