The Anti Frump Guide to Summer Shorts

If you are sitting there feeling cool as a cucumber in your shorts or you are looking forward to wearing them this summer because you know you look absolutely fabulous, then this video may not be for you. But if you, like me, and so many other women over 50 are kind of dreading shorts season and you feel like your legs are kind of past their prime, then stay put because I have some tips for you. I'm going to share four big tips, nine outfits with shorts that are going to help you feel comfortable, classy, and confident when you put on shorts this summer. Hello ladies. Welcome to Dress For My Day. This is Kay. You know what? I know that shorts are kind of a controversial issue when we get to be over 50 or maybe even before that. Our legs do feel a little past their prime, don't they? I know that for me, I have age spots. I have crepey skin. My ankles sometimes swell. My knees are swelling a little bit these days. I've got veiny issues. Have I left anything out? You could probably add to the rant, I'm sure. We all have the issues though, ladies. And you know what? Here's the truth though. Those are just the cosmetic things about my legs. The truth is my legs have served me well. Like the rest of my body, they've lived 62 years and they've done a lot of things. They've marched me across football fields more times than I could count. They've hiked me up and down mountains. I've even run a few 5ks. They've helped me carry babies in the womb and out. They've stood at the altar as I've said I do to my husband. They've done a lot of things and they've served me well. And I have decided that this summer I am not going to be ashamed of my legs and I'm going to wear shorts. Hey, if you're with me, let's get going because I do have four big tips that I think are going to help us all feel a little bit more comfortable and confident in our shorts. I'm also sharing those nine outfits and most of these things are shoppable. I'll give you links here if they are available on YouTube links, but I'll also have links down in the description box below that you can check out for everything that I'm showing you. Halfway through the video, I am sharing a great coupon code not for a beauty item today. Instead, this is for something for your home. But I love this particular brand and I want you to know about this coupon code. Tip number one to feel comfortable and confident in your shorts this summer is to prioritize fit. Sometimes when we're wearing shorts over 50, our first goal is to just cover up as much as we can. But that's a problem. That can make us look frumpy. We don't want to look frumpy in our shorts, ladies. We don't want to look like we're hiding something. The truth is you can't hide in shorts. So instead, shop for shorts that truly fit. Shopping for shorts is akin to shopping for a swimsuit or jeans, isn't it? It can be no fun. But take your time. Search those websites for the fit guides. Use those. Every pair of shorts I'm showing you today fit true to my usual size with that particular brand. So I do not suggest that you size up in your shorts as we used to do. I think brands have gotten savvy and they are making shorts to fit our usual size. Instead, you do want to look for shorts, though, that fit you nicely in the waist. Most of the shorts I'm showing today are, maybe all of them, are a high rise, meaning they hit me right around the belly button. That works nicely for me so I don't get that muffin top. We don't want that muffin top when we're wearing our shorts. And, of course, there are other things that we can do to help prevent that, too. The biggest fit issue with shorts is we want to make sure that there is some room between the shorts leg and our leg. There needs to be a little breathing room there. The more room you have there, the thinner it will make your legs look. Now, hey, if you have really thin legs, unlike me, then you probably do want to shop for shorts that are not real wide and billowy. You probably want your shorts to be a little bit more fitted, still not snug to your leg, but a little less room between your shorts leg and your leg. Obviously, you don't want shorts to be too tight. You don't want any pulling or whiskering across the front. You don't want them binding in the back or hugging your derriere. You want them to skim your body, just like your other pants. Tip number two for looking classy and feeling comfortable and confident in your shorts, especially over 50, this year is to consider a matching set. I'm actually showing you several matching or coordinating pieces today, and I love these. They're all just a little bit different. The reason a matching set works so nicely is that it gives you a complete outfit. It looks very intentional. It doesn't look juvenile. It doesn't look thoughtless. It looks pulled together and polished. So, I'll be breaking these down a little bit more as we go, but aren't these matching sets just so snazzy? Tip number three when wearing shorts is to stay true to your personal style. Don't know what your personal style is? I don't believe you have to find it. You get to define it. Be sure to check out this video that I think I did several months ago about how to define your personal style. There I use style angles, three words. You get to determine that will define your personal style. Those style angles will help you stay within your personal style even when you're wearing shorts. The reason I think this is an important point is because sometimes when we wear shorts, we can end up looking a little juvenile, a little childish, because we tend to forget our personal style and we just throw on some shorts and maybe a t-shirt and some flip-flops or something like that, but I want to encourage you to put together intentionally designed outfits with your shorts, just like you do when you're wearing a dress or jeans or slacks. And that takes us to number four, which is to build an outfit around your shorts. Don't just put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and call it a day. Now, then again, on any given day, that could be the totally appropriate thing to do. There are certainly times when it feels right to wear just a t-shirt and some shorts, but if you're going to wear shorts this summer, at least fairly often, then I really encourage you to put together an outfit. You know, the truth is I'm not going to wear shorts a whole lot during the summer. There are so many other things to wear that make me feel just as cool and comfortable, but you know what I find? The time that I'm most likely to wear shorts is when I am just hanging around at house or maybe I'm doing something with my family. Maybe we're going on a picnic or we're celebrating the Fourth of July. Maybe they've all come over or traveled up and we're having a cookout or something. Those are very casual times and I'm just around the people I love, but you know what those people I love tend to do? They take pictures. They all have cell phones and they take pictures on those days. They don't show up and take pictures of me when I'm wearing my cute jeans and my pretty button-up shirt. They don't take pictures of me when I'm wearing a dress and I'm at church. They take pictures of me when I'm wearing shorts on those family days. Can you relate? And that's why we want to look our very best, even when we are wearing shorts, on those casual days this summer. They just tend to be the times that family members and loved ones snap those photos. So we want to put together outfits with our shorts. Not just put on some shorts to keep ourselves cool, but put on some shorts and make it an outfit. Today I'm showing you nine shorts outfits and just today I have put on and off eight of those outfits. You know what that did for me though, besides wearing me out? It actually gave me some confidence. I was kind of dreading wearing shorts this summer, but now that I've put together these nine outfits, I know I can do it and I can feel comfortable and I can feel confident and pulled together and like myself. So I encourage you to maybe go ahead and play with the shorts that are in your wardrobe too. Start making those outfits, seeing how you're going to put them together. Pick out the shoes that you'd like to wear, the accessories. You'll see that I've accessorized all of these today. Just start playing around with it. Gain some confidence by putting together a real outfit with your shorts. Now what about inseam? That tends to be the topic that women want to discuss when it comes to shorts and a lot of women believe that we age out of those shorter inseams, but the truth is that your inseam is just as personal on shorts as they are with your jeans or your pants. It all has to do with your size, your height, whether you're petite or more of a missus or tall. I'm five foot eight and so the sweet spot for me tends to be between five and seven inches, but today you're going to see me wear a wide variety of inseams. We're going to start with the shortest and go to the longest to run through these nine outfits. Like I said, I'll break down some of the details just to tell you how I styled them and what I think makes a difference, but let's look first at that three inch inseam short. This is a short that I probably will not wear much of anywhere, but it is awfully soft and comfortable and cool to wear at home and I would certainly wear it with my family around too. This is a three inch inseam short from J. Crew in a beautiful linen and I'm wearing it with a tank top and a coordinating linen button-up shirt. I purchased them separately, of course, but one of the things that I think makes this shorter inseam work nicely for me here is that I have added that matching shirt. It just pulls it together. It makes the short not look so short. It makes it look more like a completed outfit. I've added some neutral sandals here and kept this look really easy and breezy. These shorts do run true to size and I will definitely point out anything that fits a little differently. Our second short is a fun one. This is the mother lure me in the dodgeball short. They come up with such crazy names. Mother is a quality or premium denim brand and I usually do size up in their jeans and likewise, I have sized up to a size 31 in these. These are 100% cotton jean short with little fishing lures printed all over them. I just think they're darling. Can a woman over 50 wear novelty shorts like this? Absolutely you can. I do think there's some tricks to the styling and at one time I probably would have said you need to wear a chambray shirt or just a white t-shirt or blue t-shirt. Just keep it really simple, but what I did here was I looked at the website to see how they had styled these shorts. They had styled them with a blue tank top and a yellow button-up linen shirt over it. I don't have a yellow button-up linen shirt, so I decided to do it a little differently. I went with a yellow ribbed tank top and a light blue button-up shirt to give me that low contrast and intensity that I prefer. I really love the way this works, so I did a little play on the colors that are in the jean short, but I think it pulls together really nicely. I've added a few accessories and some cognac sandals to pull it all together and I will definitely enjoy wearing this. I think it's perfect for a late day. What do you think? Our next short is the Tommy Bahama relaxed raw edge jean short. Are you a jean short girl or do you think we age out of them? You know what sister, I don't think we age out of anything unless we want to. If there comes a point where you feel like something is no longer appropriate for yourself, then that is certainly fine. I've had a few things like that myself, but I still love my denim shorts. I think the key once again is that they should not hug your leg. They're going to hug your rump a little bit more than other shorts, but they don't need to hug your leg. This one has a five-inch inseam, so I think it's a great little fit. These shorts have a nice high rise, they have a zip and a fastener there, and of course they do have belt loops. But I think one of the tricks to really making a great outfit with a denim short is to add something that keeps it feminine. So instead of wearing just a gimme t-shirt here, I added a feminine shirt. And when I say feminine, what I mean is something that's maybe a little flowy, you know, has a little give to it. It's a pretty cotton, has some embroidery detail, or some pin tucks, or maybe some crochet, or lace. And this top has a couple of those features. I know this particular top also comes in other colors, so you certainly do not have to do white. You could do another yellow, or blue, or pink, or even a pretty print. But just a pretty feminine kind of flowy top here with denim shorts I think is so smart. And now here's another matching set. This is a Alain Fisher 6.5 inch inseam little short. These are a cotton, organic cotton knit short in a beautiful grenadine red. They are so fun. I find myself wearing these so often already. They have an elasticized and drawstring waist, they do have pockets, and of course there is a coordinating jacket sold separately. Both pieces I find to run large, as all Alain Fisher does. I always size down to a small, and I did likewise with both of those pieces for a really nice fit. Normally, I've been wearing this little set with a white ribbed tank top, but today I decided let's do something different, so I paired it with a navy ribbed tank top. Works really nicely here. Just love this set. I think it's perfect for a friend invites you to go for a walk in the neighborhood, or at a park, or something. You'll feel sporty, you'll feel really classy though, and so you won't mind stopping afterwards to get something to drink before you head home. Our fifth short is one that everybody needs to pay attention to. This is the Spanx 7-inch super smooth cotton twill short. Oh my goodness, it fits beautifully. Has nice structure, a really traditional fit, but just so pretty. You know, Spanx just does shapewear well. Now, this short does not feel like shapewear. It feels very comfortable. I did use their size guide to size up to a large, which I often do at Spanx. You may or may not need to do that, but that was just what I did. It just has that shaping panel there in the front, so it gives you a beautiful fit. It's a nice thick cotton twill, so it's not going to show a lot of lumps and bumps and bulges, and it does come in other colors, and it also comes in a five inch inseam. I just opted for the seven inch. I have styled this short with just a pretty t-shirt. Now, I didn't go with like a gimme t-shirt. I wore one that's got a little bit of shape to it. It kind of goes in at the waist a little bit, has a nice drape there, and a pretty v-neck that's pretty blue. It's flattering on me, so you can see that just wearing this white short with a pretty t-shirt in a color that works nicely for you can give you a quick, easy outfit. One thing I did that's really fun here is I added a novelty shoe. These shoes are by Rothy's. They're in a pretty blue and white print that mimics the blue and the white in my outfit, so I love the way it pulls together. You know, summer is the time to wear some shoes like this. A little bit more playful, a little bit more relaxed during the summer, and I think these shoes really pull this easy outfit combination together nicely. Now, before we go on with our last few outfits, I wanted to mention that coupon code I have for you. It's not a beauty bonus today. I guess this is a home bonus. Several years ago, we were at my kids' house for Thanksgiving, and I noticed their pretty rugs on their floor. They told me they are ruggables, and my daughter-in-law loved the fact that they are washable. Oh my goodness, I couldn't imagine washing rugs, but sure enough, we have since then filled our home also with ruggables. The padding is included in many of them, so it's one piece, not two, and so therefore, they're not slipping all over the place, and the padding doesn't come out from under them. They stay beautifully. They have so many beautiful designs, and indeed, they are machine washable in your washing machine. They have so many designs to choose from, and I have a coupon code there. It is KAY15, which will get you 15% off unless they have a better deal going, and then my coupon code does not stack, but if there are any rugs that are not on sale, then you will get the 15% off. I just want to make you aware of that. You know, I have so many coupon codes, and I'm constantly getting alerts about great deals. The best way to find out all that information is to subscribe to my newsletter. It's absolutely free. I actually pay the bill for it, and you get to determine if you get it daily, Monday through Saturday, or just on Saturday when I share my weekly roundup, but in those newsletters, I always share the things that I'm buying, the sales that I'm shopping, or that I found out about, and my coupon codes, which I think at this point I have over 30. So, you definitely want to sign up for that newsletter if you haven't done that. It is in the description box below. It's absolutely free. I highly recommend it. Let's move on to the rest of those shorts. Shorts outfit number six is one that I've shown here before, and this is from LilySilk. We have another matching set, and oh my goodness, this one is so dreamy. This LilySilk crepe de chine silk set is sold separately. This is their Havana shirt, and the short has a drawstring, an elasticized waist. It has a seven-inch inseam, so it has a beautiful drape there. Oh my goodness, I love this short set. Now, this is really perfect for going to brunch, when you're on vacation, and you want something to wear to dinner that is still cool and comfortable, easy, breezy, has that vacation vibe, but looks a little dressier. I think this is perfection. So again, that matching set is just such a smart idea. How about some madras plaid? You know, this is just a classic print that comes back every summer, and Talbot's does it well. This summer, they have come out with three different inseams in this modern madras plaid. I think they have a nine, a seven-inch, a nine-inch, and 11-inch. This is the seven-inch that I've chosen here. Fits nicely, true to size. I'm wearing the Mrs. 10. Normally, in the past, I would suggest wearing this with like a chambray top, and it still would look great that way, but the one chambray top I had just did not work. I had a high neck, and it just seemed like too much, so I had to really kind of search in my closet. This is that playing with what you have in your closet and making it work, building those outfits so that you have confidence when it's time to put them on. I came across this little polo shirt that is a little bit of a cropped length that's really soft and easy breezy, and it works beautifully. It's a very preppy kind of top with a preppy short, so it works really nicely here. I've just left it out, didn't tuck it or anything, because it is that cropped length that works really beautifully here, and then I completed the outfit with my preppy tree-torn sneakers. Remember wearing those when you were growing up? They're back, and I absolutely love mine. I walked all over London and the Cotswolds in these, so a great little sneaker. So it pulls together so nicely, and I've got links to shop it below and here. Our eighth pair of shorts comes from J. McLaughlin. This is an eight-and-a-half inch inseam linen short. It has a beautiful structure. It's a tailored short. It has nice pockets, zip fly there in the front and everything, belt loops, and in fact, I used the belt loops this time. I did tuck in a linen shirt from Frank and Eileen here, added a belt, and just really pulled this together for a little bit of a dressier look. This is something I actually would wear out to dinner during the summer. I even added a heel. So yes, you can wear heels with your shorts and look really classy. I think the key is to go with a substantial heel to kind of ground the outfit a little bit instead of a kitten heel. That's just my preference. So I have worn a block heel sandal from Veronica Beard, but a wedge sandal would also work really nicely here. Just something to give the outfit a little bit more of an elevated look, a little bit dressier look, so adding a little bit of structure, but also still not a kitten heel. I think a kitten heel or a stiletto heel is going to look a little 70s with your shorts, but if you want to look current, I think a block heel or a wedge are really smart. This short does run true to size. I'm wearing a Mrs. 10, and it comes in a couple of other colors as well. And our final short is a 9-inch, so really a boardwalk short, from Lilly Pulitzer. I don't wear a lot of Lilly Pulitzer, but these just beckon to me. They look like vacation, don't they? These would make a great beach vacation short. So fun. They do have a high rise, that 9-inch inseam. They're a nice cotton with a little bit of stretch. They do have pockets and a zipper and all those fun things. Just a really sweet short. Now, once again, I would usually suggest that you keep this really simple, don't add a whole lot of color, but I decided just to mimic one of the colors up top with my tank top. I've added a ribbed pink tank top this time. I think it kind of matches. And then I've softened the look a little bit and pulled it together with a linen jacket. Now, my linen bomber jacket from Talbots is about three years old, so it's no longer available, but we are seeing so many similar jackets, linen jackets this year, so I know you can find something very similar. If not, another really nice option here would be a white denim jacket or even just a white cotton sweater over your shoulders would be really pretty, too. There are so many ways you could style these shorts. Even with a cotton sweater would be really nice, especially if you're at the beach or something like that. So, a fun short again, and I kept that whole vacation vibe going with some gold and pink jewelry from Julie Voss, and I've worn my gold sandals from M. Jimmy. And by the way, I do have a coupon code for those also, and once again, that is KAY15 for 15% off. Really, you need to subscribe to that newsletter so that you have, you know, full access to all of those coupon codes I have. They add up to substantial savings. Well, those are my shorts outfits. I hope that seeing me with my flawed legs, but wonderful legs, praise God I got them, but I hope that seeing me model these nine outfits has given you a little inspiration, but also some courage. I think that's what it takes, ladies, at our age is to stay courageous and to stay confident and remember that nobody is looking at your legs nearly as much as you are. In fact, I've always heard it said that really one of the first things we look at in other people is our hands, not our legs. So, people may be looking at your hands, and yeah, there are age spots there, but they're not looking at your legs nearly as much as you think. So, if you'd like to, there is no pressure here, but if you would like to, I really encourage you to go ahead and wear those shorts, and now I've given you some ways to wear them stylishly so that you don't feel frumpy, but you feel classy and comfortable and confident when you step out in them this summer. Thanks so much for watching, and I will see you again next Wednesday. Bye now.