From the Pool to the Bar: How to Style Swim Shorts Beyond the Water
The best trick in a resort wardrobe is not owning more clothes, it is owning pieces that refuse to stay in one lane. A tailored swim short is the prime example: cut properly, it carries you from the morning swim to lunch, to an afternoon walk, to the first drink of the evening, without a single change of clothes. Here is how to make that work.
Why it works: the tailoring test
The reason a good swim short passes as shorts is simple, it is patterned like shorts. A clean tailored cut, a flat waistband and a leg opening that follows your thigh read as intentional clothing rather than beach gear. If your short balloons or clings when wet, it fails the test; if you are not sure your cut qualifies, our guide to swim short length and fit covers exactly what to look for.
The pool-to-lunch formula
The move is one layer and one shoe. Over a dry short (quick-dry fabric is what makes "dry" happen before lunch), add an open linen shirt or an oversized cotton tee, and step into espadrilles or leather sandals. That is a complete lunch outfit anywhere on the Mediterranean, and a dark, refined short does the heavy lifting: something like Obsidian Wave reads as tailored shorts the moment it leaves the water.
The lunch-to-bar upgrade
As the sun drops, swap the tee for a proper open-collar shirt, button it halfway, and roll the sleeves once. Add a minimal watch and trade sandals for clean white sneakers or loafers worn barefoot. With a statement print, keep everything else neutral, a piece like Latin Rhymes is the outfit; the shirt and shoes are just the frame.
The three rules that keep it elegant
First, dry matters: sitting down to dinner in visibly damp shorts undoes everything, which is why fabric choice is a styling decision, not just a comfort one. Second, contrast formality: the sportier the short's print, the cleaner and simpler everything else should be. Third, fit over everything: a tailored short with a plain tee beats a baggy short with an expensive shirt, every time.
What not to do
No athletic sneakers with visible socks, no logo-heavy tops competing with the print, and no board shorts at a dinner table, length and volume are what separate resort style from surf style. When in doubt, shorter, cleaner, simpler.
The bottom line
One well-cut swim short, one linen shirt, two pairs of shoes: that is an entire day on holiday, solved. Build around a versatile piece from our men's swim shorts collection and pack lighter than you thought possible.
Designed in Montreal, made for everywhere the sun reaches.
