NEW YORK — Is it OK to wear shorts to the office on days with record-setting temperatures? Designer runways might have you think so. Short suits were a trend in spring-summer womens wear collections. They’re also showing up in fall and resort collections.
Seen on models, with their perfect spray tans, long legs and high heels, shorts offer little to quibble with. They appear polished, stylish and appropriate — and that’s what everyone should strive for with this look, according to experts.
Designer Jason Wu says shorts can be worn anywhere, but they have to be worn as a total look, and that look has to be dressed up. He stepped up black shorts worn by a model at a runway show recently by complementing them with a tweed jacket with leather trim and a tuxedo-style shirt.
“The new short goes from beach to cocktails,” he says.
“Shorts can really replace a skirt — they’re actually easier to move in,” says Colleen Sherin, senior fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue. “What’s the difference between shorts and a skirt — even if they’re the same length? It’s that shorts are perceived as casual by nature, something that children wear, something we wear on weekends. That perception is changing.” But pick your ensemble carefully to make sure your look isn’t too casual.
Sherin likes to see women heading into the office wearing knee-length shorts that are either slim and tapered or wider with a cuff, made of cotton poplin or gabardine. Linen will keep you cool, but may end up rumpled, she warns.
Pair the shorts with a crisp button- down shirt and a cropped blazer, she says. The strappy sandal is a must-do accessory, too, and a chunky platform version in a neutral color will elongate the appearance of the leg, Sherin says. An espadrille is an acceptable alternative.
However, flip-flops really don’t ever belong at the office, and the casualness of those items is exaggerated by shorts, Sherin says.
Style commentator Mary Alice Stephenson treats her weekday shorts as though they were dresses, and that can mean pairing them with pumps.
With a heel, though, be aware of the length of the shorts. Stephenson advises: “Keep them long. … Think Bermuda.” She adds, “Cargo shorts, denim shorts and Daisy Dukes cannot come out to play at work. Keep your shorts classy and stick to a more demure short.” Pleats are OK, she says, but anything too showy or too beachy is not.
How do you know if shorts are acceptable at your office? If starched shirts are the norm, then maybe you should save your shorts for the weekend. But if women are walking around in sleeveless dresses or miniskirts, the office culture might be trendy enough for shorts.
Maybe start with shorts on a casual Friday and gauge that reaction before wearing them to a Monday-morning presentation, says Stephenson, who styles celebrities, runway collections and magazine photo shoots.
The look is easier for women to experiment with than for men.
“I don’t sanction men wearing them to the office in any way, shape or form,” says trend analyst Tom Julian, president of Tom Julian Group. The problem for most men is that the rest of their closet can’t support dressier shorts — they have neither the right shoes (driving moccasins, boat shoes or clean, canvas sneakers) nor the right shirt (a safari style or a polo).
He makes the exception for an office-sponsored field trip to the ballpark or golf course.
But not everyone likes the shorts-for- work look. Kimberly Shepherd, a 25-year-old interactive coordinator for Univision, doesn’t want to see shorts anywhere near her Miami office building. “You can always wear a nice summer dress, even a sundress can be dressed up,” Shepherd says. “A dress keeps you much cooler than shorts, anyway.”
