Shorts are the garment men think about least and wear most on holiday. A shirt is chosen with some care; the shorts beneath it are often whatever was nearest. The PP linen shorts answer that imbalance quietly. They come in four colourways, White, Beige, Sky Blue and Navy Blue, in sizes from M to 4XL, and they close with buttons cut from walnut. This guide sets out what they are, how linen behaves in a pair of shorts, which colourway suits which setting, and how they differ from the two other pairs of shorts in the collection.

The distinction comes first because it is the one most often confused. PP makes three kinds of shorts for men. The PP natural swim shorts are for the water and are the only PP garment intended for it. The PP Tennis Shorts are for the court and form the lower half of the tennis sets. The PP linen shorts are for dry land: the walk to lunch, the harbour, the terrace, the afternoon in a village. They are not swimwear and should not be treated as such. On a boat day, the swim shorts go in the sea and the linen shorts wait in the bag for the quay.

The walnut buttons are a house signature for the lower half of the wardrobe. Where PP's linen shirts generally close with seashell, its shorts and trousers close with walnut, a material with a visible grain and a warmth in the hand. No two are quite the same in tone. Like the linen around them they are natural and will return to the earth at the end of a long life. They ask for one small courtesy in return: do not press a hot iron directly onto them, and iron around them from the reverse.

Linen behaves in shorts much as it does in a shirt, with one difference: shorts are sat in. Expect soft creases across the lap and at the back of the leg by the afternoon. This is the fibre doing what it does, and it relaxes again with wear and disappears with washing. Linen shorts also give a little at the seat and thigh through a day and return to shape when laundered. What you receive in exchange is considerable. The cloth is open and cool, it does not cling when the air is humid, and it becomes softer each season without losing its body.

White is the resort colourway. It is at its finest in strong light and against a shirt with some colour in it: a Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Sky Blue, Mint Green or Coral Orange. White linen is honest about where it has been, so it suits lunch better than a dusty path, and it is the pair to wear with a white shirt when a host has asked for white.

Beige is the most accommodating of the four. It takes dust, sand and a day's travel without comment, and it sits under nearly every shirt in the collection, from Oyster and Vanille to Dark Blue. For island villages, market mornings and any day that involves a hired car and several stops, it is the practical choice. With a Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in White it makes the plainest and most dependable outfit in a suitcase.

Sky Blue belongs to the water's edge without belonging in the water. It is the colourway for harbours and beach clubs, and it looks well with White, Vanille and Beige Cream above it. Worn with a shirt in a close blue it reads almost as a set, though for an exact match of cloth and dye the PP Natural Set, in which shirt and shorts are cut together, is the proper answer. Navy Blue is the evening pair, or as near as shorts come to one. It gives a pale shirt a firm base, hides the day better than any other colourway and is the one to choose for a terrace dinner on an island where trousers would be excessive.

There are places where no shorts are right, and a guide should say so. In the cities of the Gulf, in mosques and churches, at most hotel restaurants after dark and at any occasion described as smart, long trousers are expected; the PP Casual Linen Trousers take over there. Shorts belong to daylight, to islands and coasts, and to hosts who have made clear that they do not mind.

Care is the same as for any PP linen garment. Wash at 30°C on a gentle cycle with like colours, reshape while damp and dry flat or on a line out of harsh sun. Iron on the linen setting while the cloth is still slightly damp if a pressed finish is wanted, or leave them as they dry for a softer look. They are handmade, like the rest of the PP linen collection, in the Dubai atelier and in Belgium. The shorts, the least noticed garment in the bag, are made to the same standard as everything packed above them.

Linen Shorts for Men: A Guide  ·  The PP Natural Set Guide  ·  The Laos Short Sleeve Guide