Summer Trend to Try: Flowy Shorts

If you follow me on Instagram, then you already know that I've fallen in love with this style of shorts, and I'm here today to tell you exactly why they're so great.

Mini skirts have been trending, and I'm just not a fan. I think they're super cute on other people, but they just do not work for my body. As a rule, they're cut too straight, and as a result I'm always super uncomfortable wearing them.

Flowy shorts are my compromise for this particular trend. They look and wear like a skirt but have all the practicality of shorts without being a skort. Because they're not a skort. They're not a skirt with built-in shorts underneath. They are shorts that are cut and layered in a way to mimic the look of a skirt.

They're brilliant and so much fun to wear. They're also modest! I don't have to worry about flashing anyone or showing more skin than I want to, which is always a concern for me in a mini skirt. I can move freely, including bending and squatting, and I'm not concerned with them riding up every time I sit down.

And so far, not a single person has been able to tell I'm wearing shorts unless I point it out. So if you want to try the mini skirt trend without wearing an actual mini skirt, flowy shorts are the alternative you need!

Still don't believe me? Check out some of the ways I've been wearing the ones I own.

I started with these flounce shorts from Old Navy, and yes, I got both colors. Because I always size up in shorts, I got these in size medium. They are 100% cotton, too, so you can expect a little bit of shrinkage. The legs on these ones are super wide, which really gives them the appearance of a skirt. The waist is elastic with a tassel drawstring, and they've got pockets. The inseam on these is a bit shorter than I usually wear at 2.5", but because I sized up it wasn't really an issue. These are starting to sell out, especially in the white.

When styling these, I honestly treat them like a skirt. This particular day was field day at my school, so I was outside in the heat for an extended amount of time. I did have on a white tank top, but ultimately didn't like how bright it was against the dark floral print of the shorts, so I ended up wearing my vest as a top.

Have I mentioned how versatile these shorts are? I experimented a bit with the white floral pair before ultimately ending on my favorite combo - printed bottoms + a graphic t-shirt.

This wasn't an exact match by any means, but I like that the tee helps to pull out and balance the earthier tones in the shorts. I don't really like the neutral sandals here; they make the outfit feel top heavy because of the darker color up top. In hindsight, I should have swapped these out for brown sandals.

Here are three other ways I styled them before deciding what to wear for the day.

Outfit 1 - They say stripes go with everything, and I like this combo in the picture...but I didn't like it in reality. Maybe if the top had been just a regular striped tee instead of this fitted tee with flutter sleeves and a tie back. It just felt like there was too much going on in the outfit as a whole. I also definitely would have needed to wear black shoes.

Outfit 2 - This pairing was interesting but not quite right. There's no lilac in the shorts, so it didn't truly match. I don't think it was wrong per se, but it wasn't what I wanted.

Outfit 3 - There's no doubt that this combo works. The neutral tone of the olive green tee is a perfect blend for the neutral tones of the shorts. It's just a simple, basic outfit formula that you can't go wrong with.

Up next, these flowy shorts from Amazon that feel fancier than the Old Navy ones. They are a slimmer fit through the legs, which makes them a bit more sleek in my opinion. The material is chiffon, 100% polyester, and triple layered. With the Old Navy ones, the bottom layer is a solid color, but with these shorts each layer is made of the same patterned material, which really makes a difference. The waist is elastic with a drawstring tie. They don't have pockets. I got all three in size medium.

Let's start with the "white blue floral." I kept the styling of this pretty simple with this solid-colored, seamless, slim-fit baby tee. It's a bit cropped, which worked nicely with the high waist of the shorts. The blue was an exact match for the blue in the print, which was a happy coincidence. I added this neutral-colored belt for a bit of contrast and kept my shoes neutral. I really wanted the skirt to be the star of this outfit.

The "white leaf" print is so cute in person! I wanted to keep things loose and casual this day, so I went with this loose cropped tank. I really liked the way this turned out, and I was comfortable all day.

Finally, the "purple yellow floral" print was tricky to style, but ultimately I decided to go with my tried-and-true outfit formula of printed bottoms and a graphic tee. I have been wearing this bluebird floral shop tee on repeat here lately, and it was perfect with these shorts.

Shop the Outfits in this Post + More Flowy Shorts Below