Navy Chino Shorts [6 ″ inseam] and a yellow butcher strip broadcloth. Those are the two main pieces in this simple outfit. Of course we have a standard brown belt and boat shoes as well, but the real focus is on the chino shorts and the butcher stripe. There is something about this outfit that screams 1980s prep. I don't know if it's just me but this pairing, fit, length is so mid 1980s prep. It's hard to truly pin down, or recreate reliably, but it's there.
One of my favorite workday shorts in the summer are chino shorts with a crease ironed. The crease is so short, due to the short inseam length, yet it helps make the outfit immediately more formal. Yet, only in a sort of light signaling way. How formal can shorts really be? Not very. Nevertheless the whole vibe of the outfit is impacted greatly by this small element. It shifts everything into a sort of playful yet formal and self aware space. I love this on summer workdays.