The case for lace trim shorts styling as a late-summer wardrobe pivot is, at this point, fairly convincing, and not simply because the bloom has come off denim. There is something more considered happening here, a quiet shift away from the utilitarian ease of jorts toward something that carries a little more intention without demanding any more effort.
The 1930s lingerie reference is the useful frame. Satin and lace, worn below the waist and paired with a boxy tee, has a long history of walking the line between underdressed and precisely right. The bloomers moment of last season flirted with the same territory but demanded more commitment, more volume, more confidence, more of an agreement to look as though you had stepped out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting. The lace-trim short is the more wearable resolution: the romanticism is present, but it is quieter, cleaner, easier to absorb into an existing wardrobe.
The piece that started it: Dôen’s Iona Shorts
Much of the current enthusiasm for this category traces back to Dôen and its Iona Shorts, which have gathered a following built on their silk-like handle and the kind of colour palette (eucalyptus, dusty rose, cream) that photographs well without being engineered to do so. According to Vogue, the Iona Shorts retail at $298, which places them firmly in the considered-investment tier. The secondary market has responded accordingly: pairs surface on resale platforms regularly, often in colourways the brand no longer carries. The appeal is not difficult to understand. They function across registers (morning coffee, office in a heatwave, drinks that run later than planned) without requiring a change of shoes or a rethink of the top half.
What lace trim shorts do well, and what the bloomer never quite managed, is compress the mood of a slip dress into a silhouette that actually moves with you. Style them with something deliberately casual and the lace reads as contrast, as intention. Style them with something structured and they behave. There is a useful lack of fussiness to the format, which is not something you can say about every piece carrying this much surface decoration.
Lace trim shorts styling across the market
The high street has, predictably, caught up. Mango’s cotton lace-trim short in brown (available at ASOS, £45.99) leans into the autumnal chocolate tones that moved through the autumn/winter collections, making it a more useful transitional purchase than the usual white or ecru options. Worn with a fine pointelle knit, it extends the summer wardrobe into September without any particular effort.
Topshop’s checked lace-trim short (£32) is the more unexpected entry. Pleated and patterned shorts are a harder sell in theory, but the execution is careful enough that the check reads as playful rather than confused. It pairs as well with something deliberately clashing (a mermaid blue, an acid yellow) as it does with anything more neutral.
Anthropologie’s LyreBird silken lace-trim shorts (£58) sit closest to the pyjamas-as-daywear register that gathered momentum last year. The rose colourway and silk-effect fabric benefit from being ground with something that offers friction: a distressed jacket, a buckle boot, anything that prevents the look from tipping into literal sleepwear.
At the more understated end, Zara’s embroidered shorts in soft taupe (£15.99) ask very little of the wearer and give back in versatility. The embroidery is subtle enough to read as texture rather than decoration, which means they absorb louder companions (a panelled boot, a textured tank) without protest.
Nobody’s Child produces, perhaps, the most architectural version on the market at the moment: black and white, with eyelash lace edging that creates actual visual contrast rather than a mere trim detail (£59). They also have pockets, which remains, unreasonably, still worth mentioning.
Lipsy’s black lace-hem satin shorts (available at Next, £34) solve the work-wardrobe problem with less fuss than expected. Worn under a longline jacket with a kitten heel, they register as deliberate, even polished, which is a reasonable return for £34. Free People‘s soft spoken micro shorts (£44) are the most considered in their construction: the ribbed waistband and bow details are the kind of small decisions that distinguish a piece made for longevity from one chasing the moment. Balance the delicacy of the shorts with something more substantial on top (a dark denim jacket is the most straightforward solution) and the proportions land exactly where they should.
The Dôen Iona remains the benchmark against which the rest are measured, but at $298 it is also the piece that makes the strongest case for the category more broadly: if a pair of lace-trim shorts can command that price point and maintain that level of demand on resale, the format has clearly moved beyond novelty.
