Essentials Shorts

Essentials Shorts: Sweat Shorts, and More Than That

Worth being clear about what these are, because the word shorts covers several different garments. The core of the Essentials shorts range is heavyweight fleece: the bottom half of a tracksuit, cut short, in the same fabric as the hoodies. Alongside that sit lighter, sport-cut lines, built for actual heat rather than layering.

A handful of skirts also sit within this collection, catalogued alongside the shorts.

The Essentials Shorts Lines

Fleece Sweat Shorts

The largest part of the range: heavyweight fleece, warmer and heavier than most shorts. That sounds like a drawback, and it is not. The label makes this in black, grey, buttercream, Oatmeal, brown and olive. It hangs properly instead of riding up. It also works through a British summer that spends half its time at about fourteen degrees.

Volley and Basketball Shorts

Two lighter, sport-cut lines sit apart from the fleece. Volley shorts use a lighter fabric than the sweat shorts, cut shorter and built for actual heat. It is the classic surf-adjacent volley short shape. Basketball shorts take court proportions through the Essentials filter, sitting longer and looser than the standard cut.

Mesh Shorts

The lightest construction in the range. Mesh breathes far better than cotton and dries fast. That is the entire argument for choosing it once summer actually arrives.

TMC Crenshaw Shorts

TMC stands for The Marathon Clothing, Nipsey Hussle's label. Crenshaw references the Los Angeles neighbourhood he built it in. A tribute line rather than a Fear of God original, in blue and heather grey.

1977 and Gold Heather Shorts

1977 carries the same birth-year graphic as the hoodie, in black and a sand beige. Gold Heather uses the same flecked yarn as the hoodie line, in cream and white. It gives the fleece texture up close, rather than a flat surface.

The Essentials Short Set

Searching for an Essentials short set rather than shorts alone is common. There is something specific worth knowing: Essentials does not sell them boxed together. Every set you have seen was assembled by the wearer.

Which means it is entirely doable here, and easier than with most brands, because the palette is so tight. Pair these with a tee from the t-shirt range in the same tone for the full co-ord. Or go one shade apart for something that reads less uniform. Buying both halves in one order is the most reliable way to get them matched, since neutrals shift slightly between production runs.

Essentials Shorts Colours

Black and grey lead the fleece range. Both go with every top in the collection, which is why they are the default first buys.

Buttercream and olive are the more interesting second pair. A pale short with a dark tee is a cleaner summer look than two dark pieces. It is also closer to how Essentials is styled on the brand's own channels.

Essentials Shorts Fit

Relaxed through the thigh, finishing around the knee or just above depending on your height, with an elasticated drawcord waist. Order your usual size.

These are more forgiving than the tops. The drawcord absorbs a fair range within each size. If you sit between sizes on Essentials hoodies, you can size either way here without much consequence. Sizing up adds length as well as width, so take the smaller if you want them sitting above the knee.

Caring for Essentials Shorts

Fleece shorts get worn hard and washed often. That makes cold washing matter more here than on pieces you wear less. Thirty degrees, inside out, gentle cycle, no softener.

Air dry rather than tumble. Heat shrinks fleece through the leg first, and it lifts the rubberised logo at the edges. The dryer costs you both the fit and the branding. Tie the drawcord loosely before washing so it does not disappear into the waistband, a small thing that is genuinely annoying to fix.