The year is 1916; World War I is raging, and you’ve just been deployed to the Bermuda Garrison. As a born-and-bred Englishman, the scorching island climate is a stark contrast to the cooler temperatures of home. Your thick woolen uniform is unbearable in this heat. You enlisted to fight the Central Powers, but they didn’t say anything about fighting heatstroke. What do you do? Naturally, you take a pair of scissors to your trousers, creating a makeshift solution to the sweltering temperatures. Thus, the Bermuda Short was born—an adaptation that would become a hallmark of the island’s sartorial landscape—or so the story goes.
Some say Rear Admiral Mason Berridge of the WWI Bermuda Garrison was inspired by Nathaniel Coxon, owner of the Tea Room, who created Bermuda shorts for his staff to beat the heat. Regardless of its exact origins, the style’s history is steeped in the spirit of acclimation, a recurring theme in fashion.
Modern-day Bermuda is a tapestry of vibrant colors, from the pastel homes and multicolored costumes of the island’s Gombey to the pink sand beaches and bright turquoise waters. This diversity is reflected in the vast selection of hues for Bermuda shorts. While you have free rein of colors to wear your shorts, traditional Bermuda Shorts adhere to a stringent dress code: They must hit right above the knee; they cannot be too baggy; they cannot be too fitted; they have to be worn with dark socks that sit above your calf; they must be worn with hard sole shoes, a navy blazer, and a button-down shirt to be considered formal or appropriate for business occasions, and in those instances, can not be worn by women. The latter rule is one that Rebecca Singleton of The Authentic Bermuda Short (TABS) has upended by modernizing the styles and creating Bermuda Short looks that cater to modern men and women. Her designs feature shorter, more stylish hems, versatile fabrics, and flattering cuts that honor the island’s tradition while embracing modern sensibilities—fitting for an island where powerful women have always played a significant role.
On the other side of the fashion spectrum, designers have been flooding the runways with their interpretations of Bermuda shorts. Marc Jacobs, for example, sent a number of exaggerated stiff leather shorts down the runway in February, disrupting common concepts of dimension and textures. The shorts we’re seeing on the runways today defy the traditional rules of proportions, fabrics, and design in a way reminiscent of Bermuda’s climate-inspired case for shorts for every occasion. In the spirit of defiance, we even see these short styles on fall runways, a testament to their enduring appeal and adaptability.