Nicholas Daley Wide Beach Short

A long, wide short in a checked linen is a difficult thing to get right and the failure modes are well known: too short and it is athletic, too narrow and it is a cropped trouser, too loud and it is a holiday souvenir. What rescues this one is the restraint of the check. Oatmeal against beige is a tonal pairing rather than a contrasting one, so the pattern is visible without being an event, and in a lightweight linen it reads as texture more than as a graphic.

The single waxed cotton pocket at the back is the Daley signature and the only hard thing on an otherwise entirely soft garment. It is one pocket, on the reverse, where almost nobody will see it, which is a good indication of what these details are actually for. They are not there to be noticed. They are there because the person who made the garment thinks in those terms.

We took this because a genuinely good linen short is rare and because the oatmeal check will go with everything a customer already owns. It also matches the Fonte Tailored Jacket, which was not an accident on our part.

A panel of waxed cotton somewhere unexpected is the most consistent Nicholas Daley signature there is, and on this short it is a single pocket at the back.

Body one hundred percent linen. Detail one hundred percent cotton. Made in England. Elasticated waist, waxed cotton pocket at the back. Long cut. Colours: oatmeal and beige.

Cut long and wide, sitting at or below the knee, with an elasticated waist so the fit at the top adjusts within a range. Linen relaxes across a day and returns with washing. This is a short meant to hang loose; sizing down will fight the cut.

With the Aloha Shirt and a loafer, or with the Three-Pocket Cardigan in blue over a plain tee. The Fonte Tailored Jacket is the same oatmeal and beige and the two were cut to be worn together.

The waxed pocket is the constraint on an otherwise washable garment. Do not machine wash or dry clean without warning, sponge the waxed panel with cold water only, and dry away from heat. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

The Fonte Tailored Jacket is cut in the same oatmeal and beige. The Wide Short is the corduroy short, the Pullcord Short the panelled one, and the Aloha Shirt the shirt above them. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.