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 feels unbearable in this heat. You enlisted to fight the Central Powers, but no one said anything about fighting heatstroke. What do you do? Naturally, you take a pair of scissors to your trousers and create 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 Mason Berridge, rear admiral of the First World War 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 its pink sand beaches and bright turquoise waters. This diversity is reflected in the vast selection of hues for Bermuda shorts. While you have a free rein of colors in which 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. And 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, they cannot 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 today’s 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 ways 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.
Ultimately, what began as a military adaptation tactic has evolved into an island-specific style informed by British formality and infused with the pastel colors that paint the island skies, beaches, and homes. Suitable for the most casual to the most formal occasions—from a beach stroll to a school uniform and perhaps even a wedding look— Bermuda shorts are effectively the island’s stamp on the global fashion lexicon. But they also celebrate Bermudian culture and testify to the island’s ability to blend tradition with modernity, bridging past and present, function and fashion, island and world.
Recently, we’ve seen that trend become just a little less island specific, so we brought some of our favorite Bermuda-inspired shorts to shoot on the beautiful varicolored island for which they’re named, styled on some of the beautiful islanders who call the island home.
Talent: Riley Jackson, Ranaa Farooqui, Tajahri Rogers, Rhema Webb-Hollis, Nabil Albuoy, Nalia Mitchell, Lily Lightbourn, Zion Armstrong, Noise Cans, H
H Gombeys of Bermuda
Location: Leamington Caves, Hamilton Princess, Belmont Hills Golf Course
Hair: Harmonie Herrera
Makeup: Sa’Kazja Wainwright
Photo Assistant: Nneoma Ajiwe
Production: Burnthouse Productions
Special Thanks to: Bermuda Tourism Authority