The Coolest Summer Swimwear

Refine your beach and pool look with something sleek and short.

Reports of the board short’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, but baggy swimsuits are definitely taking a season off. You’re as likely to see something knee-length on Miami’s hip Lummus Park Beach this year as you are to see a one-piece on Ipanema during the World Cup.

“There has definitely been a trend away from long, baggy swimwear over the last few years,” says Isaac Ross, founder of Solid & Striped Swimwear. “I think guys have been taking a lot more pride in their appearance. The same trend I’ve seen in tailored suits, pants, and button down shirts, now applies to swimwear. Men look better in a tailored pair of trunks. Form-fitting trunks have a slimming effect and definitely look more sophisticated.”

The five pieces below are all marked upgrades from those knee-length clown shorts you used to wear to frat house clam bakes.

Solid & Striped, Amalfi Check$150


These mid-length classic check trunks provide coverage without being clunky and the cotton mesh lining keeps you comfortable – wet or dry. Made of lightweight Italian polyamide, they feel more like boxers than a traditional swimsuit.

Vilebrequin Merise Solid Swim Trunks$260


These slim-fitting, retro-modern trunks are made of a stretch polyamide-Lycra blend well-suited to beach volleyball and other sports. The expanded waistband will be kind to your figure if you didn’t get enough workouts in this spring.

Tommy Hilfiger Solid Trunks$59


Tommy’s undercover trunks are designed to pass for shorts at cocktail parties. The nylon dries in an instant, so your cash won’t get wet if you put it in the pockets for a run to the lobster shack.

Orlebar Brown Setter Shorter Length Swim Shorts$230

These shorts are aggressively abbreviated, but they’re also extraordinarily comfortable, great for swimming, and (despite what you might guess) opaque when wet. They were good enough for Daniel Craig’s James Bond. They’re good enough for you.

Parke & Ronen Angeleno Ionia Stripe$125

The intricate pinstripe pattern, zip fly, button closure, and front pockets combine with a simple square-off cut to make a statement: This guy knows what he’s doing in and out of the water.