Boy Shorts
Calling all boy parents! Why the heck is it impossible to find good-fitting shorts for boys?
I swear almost every style out there is a literal capri length. Shorts are so much cuter on them and I am sure more comfortable for them when showing a little knee, free the knee! First, I polled you all and then bought over 25 pairs myself to narrow down the best options. I have organized it by athletic, casual, and twill shorts and have a few options in each category from low to high price points.
A few key things to note from my research and experience:
I used my son as a model throughout all of my research. He is 4.5 years old and wears a 4T pant. He is 42 inches tall and a skinny boy.
I think shorts last much longer than a pant, don't assume every season you have to size up in shorts and get rid of their old sizes. My son outgrew all of his pants this year because they became too short on him, but with shorts, we don't have that problem. You will see in some of my recommendations he can still fit in a 2T short!!!
For consistency, I bought a size 4T in every short I tested. I will note where styles are true to size, but I found that the twill/dressy styles ran big. Especially if you are looking for a cute short length, you need to size down.
Before I get into styles, the best brand and one-stop shop for good-length shorts is Primary, hands down. The brand's entire purpose is to offer quality, genderless and simple essentials in a range of colors. In every short, they offer a few lengths and lots of colors. They are at a mid-tier price point, but you can hand them down to any boy or girl sibling. Shop all their shorts here.
So, let's get into it!
Athletic Shorts
Casual or Lounge Shorts
Looking for comfortable everyday shorts for your son to run around in all summer? This is that category and I have included low and mid-tier quality price points that are winners.
Twill Shorts
I found this category to be the trickiest to find the perfect length short. Sizing generally ran large in all the styles I bought, so overall I had to size down in most brands, especially the affordable ones to get a good length.
Commissionable links.
SHOP
These are my favorite athletic shorts for boys that have a short length, unlike most athletic shorts which hit way below the knee. A true athletic top-notch material and available in 7 colors. They fit true to size and can be passed down to any sibling, boy or girl. Available in sizes 2-14.