simpleek

How people define fashion and their own style choices will vary greatly from person to person. Some will make a conscious and deliberate effort to put together an outfit that feels as if it was tailor made for them, and others will reach for the nearest T-shirt and jeans that serves the purpose of looking decent enough to walk down the street to buy a carton of milk and eggs. No matter what your style preference may be, we all know which clothes we like and don’t like. Shopping for items that’s supposed to have one basic function, such as keeping you cool during hot summer months, can sometimes be tricky and a nuisance. Buying a good enough pair of shorts has been my biggest challenge year after year.

I typically don’t like wearing a lot of shorts in the summer. When I reached my teens, I started moving away from shorts in the summer to just sticking to jeans, dresses, or skirts. I’ve always been a little self-conscious about how shorts looked on me. They never exactly fit the way I want them to. One pair would make my butt look too big, or another one would either be too short or too long for me to ever be content and comfortable to wear them for more than five minutes before deciding I want to go back to my long jeans.

I have gotten by with wearing anything else but shorts during the warmest months of the year and it has worked out fine so far. But overtime I realized that some of my go-to summer options don’t always work in some situations. When going to theme parks, like Disney or Six Flags, or taking a day trip to your local beach, wearing shorts is far more practical than wearing a skirt or jeans. I have worn both a skirt or jeans going to a theme park or beach, and there has been a measure of discomfort when I’ve worn either. Wearing a nice skirt to Disney felt a little out of place when you’re going on a bunch of rides or sitting on ice cream stained benches to enjoy a Dole Whip. Or hitting the beach with a summer top and jeans for those times when you don’t want to go swimming but prefer to stretch out on the sand or dip your feet in the water can be very annoying and messy. I found myself brushing off more sand from my jeans than when I wear shorts. It’s just more material to have to clean off or roll up if you don’t want the bottom legs of your jeans to get soaked from the waves. Even though I recognize the practicality and benefit of having a few shorts in my summer wardrobe doesn’t mean my search for them have been easy.

Every time I go on my mission to buy the perfect pair of shorts, I always come up short (no pun intended) and I often don’t buy any shorts. Just recently I ordered a pair of shorts online from H&M only to be disappointed by my purchase. While the material, style, and color are exactly what I’m looking for, the length of the shorts is too long when I tried them on. The few shorts I do currently own aren’t much, and I’m looking for a little more variety beyond rotating between two different styles: cream and black and pink plaid.

Looking for shorts is one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had when it comes to clothes shopping. I’m starting to believe finding my perfect pair is like encountering a sparkly unicorn in the wild—rare and non-existent. Despite the discouraging shopping expeditions I’ve been on, I still remain mostly hopeful that I’ll find my shorts. Eventually? Maybe?

What are your own shopping woes? Has there been an item of clothing you always want to buy, but can never find the one that felt right for you?