It used to be that you鈥檇 go to the store and buy quick-drying 鈥渙utdoor鈥� shorts if you wanted something to use for聽hiking, fishing, or camping. Then you鈥檇 go to the mall to buy 鈥渘ormal鈥� cotton shorts for the rest of the summer鈥攁 good-looking pair you鈥檇 wear to a barbecue or out to dinner.
Thankfully, times have changed. Nowadays鈥攁s a result of design and material advances鈥攜ou can buy one pair of shorts that look聽good and perform well, so you can wear them constantly, no matter what you鈥檙e doing. My go-to is the 听($70).
Credit goes to the bomber polyester outer (with a touch of spandex for stretch), which makes the Hybrids comfortable for almost any activity: bike commuting, hiking, and just sitting on a flight. And if you get them wet, the fabric dries in an instant.
Yet聽the Hybrids don鈥檛 scream 鈥淚 love the outdoors!鈥� Instead, thanks to the smooth material, discreet front and back pockets, and more tasteful colors like olive (pictured above), they go well with a polo while you鈥檙e grilling up a favorite summer recipe or vacationing with your kids at Disneyland.
The lining is soft聽on your skin, so the shorts won鈥檛 chafe, even when wet. And because it鈥檚 made of airy bamboo, which doesn鈥檛 trap odors, the shorts won鈥檛 smell if you hit up the bar after a bike ride or wear them for three days straight on an international trip.
The Hybrids have a 7.5-inch inseam, which means they don鈥檛 sit so high that you鈥檒l feel like you鈥檙e trying to fit in with the short-shorts crowd. But they鈥檙e not obscenely long, either.
At $70, these cost a chunk of change. But buy two pairs, and I promise that they鈥檒l be all you need from June through October for the next five years.