The Short List
I hate shopping.
I especially hate shopping for clothes.
But it's a necessary evil when it comes to finding the best men's shorts because shorts are all I ever wear.
I don't spend all my days on Reddit threads about technical fabrics and I don't set Google alerts for "best men's shorts" or anything, but I do research, ask around, and spend more time than normal looking at other men's upper thighs.
As it stands now, these three pairs—a fancy pair, a sporty pair, and a comfy pair—are the best men's shorts I've found.
Best of all, they're so good that I don't need to shop for new shorts anytime soon.
Long Story Short
These three are the best men's shorts I've found:
are the best shorts for travel and fancy occasions.
Lululemon Pace Breakers are the best shorts for sports.
Icebreaker Momentum are the best shorts for comfort at home.
What Makes a Great Short?
From most to least important, here what I need from a great pair of shorts, regardless of their purpose:
✓ Girlfriend-Approved
No matter how great a pair of shorts is in my mind, it's not worth wearing if my girlfriend Kim's going to give me dirty looks and nag me every time I wear them.
✓ Low-Maintenance
I don't want to have to iron my shorts ever, wash them more than once a month, or wear a damp pair because they took too long to dry.
And I definitely don't want them to fall apart when I'm traveling, so they need to be durable.
✓ Easy-to-Use
They should be a plain color that matches with anything, have a flexible waistband so they stay on, and have a drawstring to stay tight when necessary without the need of a belt.
And they must be comfortable. Once I've decided which shorts to wear, that's the last I want to think of them.
✓ Have Deep Pockets
I've lost enough phones, wallets, and pens to have learned the importance of shorts with nice deep pockets.
If one pocket has a zipper, even better. Definitely not all zippers, though. I want quick and easy access.
✓ Not Require Deep Pockets
For those unfamiliar with the expression, "to have deep pockets" means to have a lot of money, which I don't.
So, all else equal, I rather spend my paltry pennies on other things than fabric to cover my pasty thighs.
But, as you'll see in my picks for the best men's shorts, I end up sacrificing on this criterion every time in favor of pairs that excel everywhere else.
The Best Men's Shorts for Style and Travel
These are shorts I can wear for social situations (restaurants, bars, dinner parties) and for traveling (flights, trains, bus rides).
My Pick
Before I got my New Way shorts, I wore either a pair of standard khaki shorts from J. Crew or a pair from Myles Apparel.
These Outlier ones are miles better.
They look as good as the J. Crew shorts, but are functionally better in every way imaginable: comfort, pockets, wrinkle-avoidance, and belt-less-ness.
They aren't quite as comfy as my Myles shorts, but Myles shorts are glorified bathing suits. Kim wouldn't even let me wear them to restaurants. She lets me wear my Outliers everywhere. So I do.
I love my New Way shorts so much I wrote a whole 1,500-word tribute review of them.
Do They Pass the Girlfriend Test?
✧ Kim's Take
"J. Crew meets Lululemon! They're functional, show just the right amount of leg, and look smart.
Also, since Chris somehow manages to spill everything on himself, this green/grey/beige color can hide stains, too. A winner in my books."
Low-Maintenance?
✧ Quick-Drying and Stretchy
They're so quick-drying and stretchy that the Outlier website advertises them as swim-ready. I have no plans to swim in them, but it's a handy feature to have when I'm sitting on the plastic seat of an un-air-conditioned bus somewhere tropical in a pool of my own sweat.
✧ Super Easy-Care
As for durability, it'll be a couple of years before I know for sure. I know already I'll never iron them (what little wrinkles form when I stuff them in my bag quickly disappear when I put them on) and I'll wash them only slightly more frequently than that (they've already passed the nacho cheese stain test).
✧ Small Downside
The only downside so far is they're kind of tight on my thighs, so when I stand up after sitting down for a while they have temporary wrinkles that radiate from my crotch.
Easy-to-Use?
✧ No Chafing
I just wore my Outliers on a 35,000-step day while looking for apartments here in Valencia, Spain. I wouldn't have dared doing that my old fancy shorts. And I had zero issues.
Well, one issue, I guess.
When I did some yoga-like stretching in the park to loosen up my tight hips, they got bunched up and I had to pull down the legs to straighten them.
✧ They Hold Up Great
As for belt-less-ness, the fit and flexibility of the fabric holds the shorts up just fine ob their own. They have a drawstring, but I only use it when I carry heavy stuff in my pockets.
Deep Pockets?
✧ You'll Forget What You Put in Them
The very first day I wore my New Way shorts, I stressed out because I couldn't find my wallet. I looked everywhere for it… only to realize they were in my pocket.
It's a skinny wallet, but still.
The point is the pockets of these shorts are the right size and place to store stuff very comfortably.
None of the pockets have zippers, though.
Not Require Deep Pockets?
✧ Definitely an Investment
A big red F in affordability for these shorts.
They .
But hey, if these shorts are as durable as they feel and as people say they are, it's worth the investment.
The Best Men's Shorts for Sports
My Pick
Lululemon Pace Breaker Shorts
I've been wearing some version of Lululemon's Pace Breaker shorts ever since they came into existence about fifteen years ago.
During that decade and a half, I've introduced many challengers to the title including the best I could find from Nike, Patagonia, New Balance, Under Armor, and RYU.
None have come close to dethroning Lululemon.
Do They Pass the Girlfriend Test?
✧ Kim's Take:
"Chris wears these shorts more often than he wears a shirt in the summer.
For how often he wears them, they hold up great. Sure, the color fades every now and then but I think other shorts would do the same. And Chris can wear them multiple wears and they don't ever stink too bad. They also dry super quick.
I'd like to see him in a shorter version (which Lululemon has) but for now, no complaints."
Low-Maintenance?
✧ Still Gotta Wash Them
I have to wash my Pace Breakers regularly, but that's because I do a lot of sports in them. They're not merino wool like my comfy shorts, so if I don't wash them they, like any other sport short, smell like ass. Sweaty ass.
✧ No Static
The good thing is, unlike other shorts I have, the fabric they're made of doesn't don't get super staticky if I put them in the dryer (which I try to avoid since they hang dry fast enough).
✧ Last Up to 10 Years
As for durability, one pair lasted ten years but that was an exception. Usually they last me about three years before the color gets really faded and the fabric starts to wear.
Easy-to-Use?
✧ The Most Functional for Fitness
Function is obviously what matters most for a sports short and that's the reason I swear by the Pace Breakers.
In so many other sports shorts I've owned, the elastic waist band rides up or slides down or the drawstring comes loose too often. Cheaper pairs also annoyingly stick to your leg when they and you get really sweaty. My Pace Breakers have none of those problems.
✧ Beach-Friendly
They're also my favorite shorts for beach volleyball, recreational swimming, and hot-tubbing because the pockets are a flow-through fabric like my Outliers', which prevents sand and air pockets from getting trapped in them.
Deep Pockets?
✧ Handy Pockets
Most sports shorts don't have regular front pockets, which is a pain in the ass when I want to wear them for errands and put my wallet, keys, or whatever into them.
No pain in the ass with these, because they have nice and deep front pockets. They also have a side zipper pocket which is handy for my cards, cash, and keys during workouts.
✧ Secret Inner Lining Phone Pocket
The Pace Breakers have a sleeve on the left thigh of the underwear lining for holding your phone. It's awesome for jogging and upper-body workouts, but when I'm sprinting or jumping, my phone sometimes falls out. For those occasions I use my SPIbelt.
Not Require Deep Pockets?
✧ A Good Deal
Their $68 price tag ain't cheap but, like I said, they last a long time.
And Lululemon stands by their product quality. The couple of times I've had issues, the guys at the store replaced the shorts with new ones without batting an eye.
The Best Men's Shorts for Comfort
My Pick
Icebreaker Momentum Shorts
If I were single, I'd wear these shorts exclusively (except for sports).
I pretty much do anyway. As soon as I get home, I go to my room and change into them. I'm even wearing them as I type this.
And when Kim's not looking I wear them out in public.
They're like a much-loved house pet: I don't normally take them traveling because I keep my packing list light, but I miss them greatly when I'm away and rush to greet them as soon as I get home.
Do They Pass the Girlfriend Test?
✧ Kim's Take
"I like these more than Chris' Roots sweatpants, but they're still sweat-shorts.
I know they're comfortable and I have no problem with him wearing them at home. But that being said, they're very thin and show everything around the crotch region so I definitely don't approve when he tries to wear them outside."
Low-Maintenance?
✧ Rarely Need Washing
If I told you how rarely I wash my Momentum shorts, Kim would get mad at me. That's because they're made with my favorite material in the world: stink-proof, super-insulating, surprisingly-soft merino wool.
✧ Surprisingly Durable
And while merino wool has a reputation for not being very durable, I've had this pair of shorts for a year-and-a-half of heavy use and they're still good as new.
✧ Slow to Dry
The only downside is when I do wash them, they take longer to dry than purely synthetic shorts. I hate having to wear other shorts while I wait.
Easy-to-Use?
✧ The King of Comfort
I've already said enough about how comfortable they are.
They feel like stretchy sweat shorts, but better because the merino fabric insulates better than cotton.
Deep Pockets?
✧ They Do the Trick
They're deep and tight to the body so stuff doesn't fall out of them when I sit, lie down, and stand up.
They don't have a zipper pocket, but that's fine. I'm only supposed to wear them at home anyway. And the right pocket has a little coin pouch at the bottom of it, which is a nice touch.
Not Require Deep Pockets?
✧ Merino's Expensive
As with all merino products, they're not cheap. They're $90.
I could have bought ten pairs of regular cotton sweat shorts at Winners with that money. But I don't care.
What's Under the Shorts?
I wear nothing under my Lululemon sports shorts because they have a built-in liner.
But I do wear underwear below my Outlier fancy shorts and my Icebreaker comfy ones.
It'll take a whole other blog post for another time to explain how I decided on the best underwear. If you insist on knowing now, my favorites are from Icebreaker, though, frankly, I can't say they're significantly better than others I have from Ex-Officio, Patagonia, and Saxx.
Where is the rest of the article??
You can't end with "my favorites are the ". That's not a sentence.
"Beneath every great pair of shorts must be a great pair of underwear like ." … Like what?
"They . " They what?
At first glance, this is really great info, until I discover one more thing that is just missing or unfinished. Seems to happen a lot on this site which is disappointing.
Thanks for pointing this out, Max. No idea what's happened here. It seems that maybe I'd linked to Icebreaker's underwear, then somehow the text and link got inadvertently deleted. Based on what you say, the same may have happened to other products I've linked to. Ugh. I appreciate you making me aware of this.