Tropical print shorts have a credibility problem and most of the market has earned it. Oversized parrots, colors that look like a hotel lobby carpet, fabric so thin and stiff it crackles when you walk. The result is that most men avoid the category entirely, which is a shame, because done well a tropical short is one of the better things you can wear somewhere warm without looking like you tried too hard or not at all.

What separates the good ones is restraint. Not in terms of color necessarily, but in terms of scale, placement, and fabric quality. A well chosen linen or cotton blend with a considered print reads completely differently from the stuff hanging in airport departure lounges. Length matters too. Too long and it looks like you borrowed them. Too short and the conversation changes entirely.

These are the shorts that get tropical detail right. Wearable beyond the pool. Worth packing first.