Revisiting… Short Suits
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Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd write. But Elizabeth and I were joking recently that shorts suits are (cough) actually starting to look good to us! Then, I saw a story in The Wall Street Journal with some eye-popping advice, and thought… it's time to revisit short suits.
I think it's obvious at the outset that not ALL shorts suits are appropriate for the office (such as, ahem, the one above from Revolve)… but are ANY shorts suits appropriate for the office? Which shorts suits are appropriate for business casual offices?
Our Old Advice About Short Suits
I don't think I ever actually gave advice about short suits, to be honest — we had an April Fool's Day “Hunt” for shorts suits that was pretty well received, which I'm still chuffed about, and that sort of summed up how everyone felt about shorts suits back in The Day: they were a joke. For socialites or 20-somethings. They weren't for actual working women.
But that post was 2014, and shorts suits are everywhere in 2025…
The Wall Street Journal's Advice About Shorts Suits
The Wall Street Journal recently had an article (gift link) that contained, to my eyes at least, this eye-popping Q & A:
Let’s talk tailored shorts. Can I really wear these to the office?
Absolutely, but length is critical. If you’ve chosen a pair that falls above mid-thigh, you’ve gone too high, says [Laura Vinroot Poole, the owner of Capitol, a clothing store in Charlotte, N.C.]. A great shorts suit, relatively easy to throw on, can do a lot of the styling heavy lifting, says [New York fashion consultant Erika Veurink. ]. She suggests staying away from black, lest the look appear too severe. Bonus? Knee-length shorts might even trick your colleagues into thinking that you’re wearing a skirt suit.
Can You Wear Shorts Suits to a Business Casual Office in 2025?
As always, this is very much a case of “know your office.” I will say that we need to acknowledge that workwear rules have changed, especially for the young'uns in the office — if you missed our discussion last year about The Washington Post's story about Congressional interns, buckle up and go take a look. Compared to, say, a see-through babydoll dress that barely covers your tuchus (*hat tip to Ellen*), shorts suits start to look like the height of professional fashion. (YES, the examples really were that bad.)
I will also say that a lot of times I've noticed shorts suits and had the incongruent thought of, “hey, that could be cute,” they are pictured with a vest. I do really like the waistcoat trend, and I think the look together can be really cute.
For example, this beige number from Nordstrom house brand Open Edit has a number of matching pieces — toss a blazer on top of this and it's really cute.
Is it appropriate for the office? That may be the wrong question; it's whether it's appropriate for YOUR office. The important thing, I think, is to ask YOURSELF that question and answer it, which may not be happening when someone wears a, ahem, bum-brushing babydoll dress. (Not to keep haranguing on that one dress, but wow.)
I've also seen them look cute when in summery fabrics like gingham, linen, and seersucker, like this example from Ann Taylor:
And I've also thought they look nice with double-breasted blazers, like this one from J.Crew.
Can You Wear Shorts Suits to a Conservative Office?
If you are the CEO or a senior partner, you do you, boo. If you are junior, though, I really do not recommend it.
Readers, what are your thoughts? Have shorts suits become more acceptable to wear to work? Are you wearing them to work, or seeing them at your office?
I just think the band of offices that are both places where 1) you want or need to wear a suit, AND 2) shorts are ok is very, very narrow (my office falling solidly outside that band).
especially when there is a peek-a-boo for the stomach.
I might get laughed right off this forum of high achievers, but…does anyone have a head-down, sit at desk job, maybe serving the greater good (?), that they enjoy?
I may be the only person who walked into city hall to deal with some paperwork and thought to myself, boy these jobs look great!
My prior career was in healthcare PR, and while I liked the thinking and the writing and the content, I hated working with clients, and traveling, and putting on events. Let me plan things and write things all day at a desk and I’ll be happy. I thrive in attention to detail and editing situations.
So just curious…anyone else have a 9-5 that they can leave at the office, might have some internal politics but no real external clients, and can recommend it?
honestly? consider being an executive assistant. The good ones pull in 6 figures and deservedly so – smart, detail oriented, and savvy to the internal politics of calendar management, but not on call nights and weekends.
If you’re making 6 figures as an executive assistant, it’s not a 9-5 job. I mean, maybe someone somewhere has that gig, but it’s a unicorn. Nights and weekends are the norm if you’re bringing in that kind of money as an assistant.
I work for a regional park district (regional, because we cover two counties) and it’s great. I’m on our real property team so I buy land to add to our parks, and also work on trail easements and licenses, and other things affecting real property. I have some field work but not an overwhelming amount, and I interact with the public on a limited basis. Check out your local public works departments as they often house the real property team, if that’s of interest. I find my work very rewarding and meaningful but also it doesn’t usually have emergencies, per se. The fire department handles the actual fires.
Neither of these serves the greater good.
Do law firms still have word processing departments? I have been out of BigLaw life for 15 years, so I don’t know.
Alternatively, depending on your age, what about being a legal secretary? My dad lives in a MCOL, works at a medium sized firm, and it’s very 9 to 5 – secretaries are making $110k and up. I think the legal secretary job has been being phased out for well over a decade, but there still are positions (I would not suggest this route if you’re under age 40).
Negotiator of international conventions! It’s 98% a desk job, all conventions, agreements etc are written through correspondence (and massive email chains), the big meetings you see in movies and on TV are basically just a formality to pre-cooked agreements. Attention to detail is very important and there are no clients, the only people you deal with are other countries and generally speaking they are lovely.
Oh it’s 9-5 (with the exception of those TV meetings which are 1-2 a year), make over 100k
Mine was pretty chill until recently. Project management for a publicly funded research institution. We have people who stay at a contributor level for decades, are highly respected and it’s a desk job with a few meetings. It’s definitely more fire drills now that public funding is as chaotic as it is, and I’m taking on managing duties at the same time, but before all this it was pretty 9-5.
I don’t really enjoy it, but this pretty much describes my higher ed staff job. I make mid-five figures though. The pay is the big downside. But it is a strictly 40 hour/week (at the most… many people work a lot less), low stress, fully remote, extremely flexible job with typically excellent benefits (at my U it’s 6 weeks vacation, essentially unlimited sick leave and they give you 10% of your salary in retirement contributions automatically + whatever you want to contribute).
I work at a local health plan in a somewhat niche role (quality management). It’s 9-5. I have a lot of zoom meetings but majority of them are internal. It’s all about helping our members live healthier and happier lives. I wouldn’t say I love it, but I feel like I’m doing good, and the work life balance and compensation make it worthwhile. In my idealistic early career, I loved my job in non-profit community health but made peanuts while working crazy hours.
I get the look, and think some of these are cute, but in an “influencer going to lunch or drinks with a possible brand partner” or “chic SAHM who runs the charity gala” way, not in a regular office worker kind of way. Perhaps a backlash to the overly-rufflepuffed-prior iteration of what you’d wear for such things?
I’m not a SAHM, but I have worn a short suit to a brunch fundraiser and agree that they’re more useful as alternative to a dress at an event than office wear. The blazer is great for work, though, and I can wear the shorts with a t-shirt for a more casual look.