Pure linen shorts have always asked a lot of you. You accept the creasing, you accept the slightly unfinished look by midday, and you wear them anyway because nothing else breathes quite like it in real heat. A linen blend changes that calculation in every useful direction. The fabric still moves air properly but holds its structure past the second hour of wearing, which is when pure linen tends to give up on you. We’ve been looking specifically at shorts where the blend ratio actually matters, where the weave has enough linen content to do the job but enough of a secondary fiber to keep the shape honest. The right pair works for a weekend lunch with canvas shoes and a light shirt, and doesn’t look out of place at a beach bar when the evening comes in. Fit through the thigh is where most shorts fail. The ones here don’t.