Z Supply’s shorts category is surprisingly broad. Linen, knit denim, rayon-modal lounge, a few heavier drawstring styles — the brand treats shorts as a real category, not an afterthought. After eight weeks of rotating three pairs, I have opinions.
I bought the Keaton linen short, a knit lounge short, and one of the seasonal denim shorts. All three at full price, all three tested against my existing short rotation. For the full brand context, my main Is Z Supply Worth It? goes deep on the fabric story. This review is specifically the shorts verdict, and it fits into the larger Affordable Fashion Brands comparison work I’ve been doing this year.
The Z Supply shorts lineup
Z Supply rotates shorts across three main fabric categories. Linen pieces (including the flagship Keaton) show up every spring and summer. Knit lounge shorts run year-round in a few variants — usually a rayon-modal jogger short and a slubby drawstring. Denim-ish shorts appear seasonally, sometimes in actual denim, sometimes in the knit denim fabric Z Supply uses on their All Day jacket line.
Rise and inseam vary across the lineup. The Keaton linen is mid-rise with a looser wide-leg cut. The lounge styles are high-rise with elastic waists. The denim-ish pieces split the difference. Know which silhouette you want before you start browsing — Z Supply doesn’t have one house cut they apply across the category.
Keaton linen shorts: the flagship
The Keaton is the piece I’d actually recommend. Eight weeks of wear, washed five times, still looking sharp. The linen is weighty enough to drape instead of cling, the wide leg is generous without being clownish, and the side pockets sit flat (a small thing that matters more than you’d think — most linen shorts have pockets that bow out).
Sizing: I bought my usual medium and the fit was true through the waist with a touch of extra room in the hip, which I expected from a relaxed cut. I’m 5’7″, 30-inch waist, and the inseam hits at a flattering upper-thigh length without being short-shorts short. They’re lined at the front panel only — worth knowing if you have thigh chafing concerns, though the linen weave itself is opaque in the colors I own.
Honest negative: linen wrinkles. If you put these on straight from the dryer you look like you slept in them. I’ve been hang-drying mine and spritzing with a wrinkle release spray and it’s manageable, but if you hate ironing or steaming, know what you’re signing up for.
Knit lounge shorts
The rayon-modal lounge shorts are the comfort pick and the category where Z Supply beats most competitors. The fabric is cool, drapes well, doesn’t pill, and the elastic waist is wide and flat enough that it doesn’t dig in under a long t-shirt. I wore my pair through a summer heatwave and they performed.
One warning: the drawstring can pull out of the waistband on some of the lounge cuts. Mine did on about wash three. A quick safety-pin fix put it back but I was annoyed. This is a construction shortcut I see on several Z Supply loungewear pieces and it would cost the brand almost nothing to fix with a bar tack.
The denim short: my skip
Here’s where I’d pump the brakes. The Z Supply “denim” short I tested was one of the knit-denim fabric pieces, not a true woven denim. I wanted the look of a cutoff short without the stiffness — and what I got was a short that looked great for about two hours and then went out at the knees and waist because the knit fabric has no structural recovery.
After the first wash the waistband stretched and the leg openings drooped. The short was cheaper than a true denim cutoff, but you get what you pay for: a short that looks like denim for one photo and then sags into lounge-short territory the rest of the day. Skip this one. If you want Z Supply’s knit denim tech, spend the money on the Z Supply All Day Knit Denim Jacket instead — the jacket is where the fabric actually earns its keep.
Sizing advice across the category
Everything I tested ran true to size in the numeric sense. The variables are rise and cut. The Keaton is the most forgiving of in-between sizes because the wide leg hides half an inch of give. The lounge shorts stretch to accommodate but also bag out over time, so if you’re between sizes I’d go with the smaller. The denim-ish cut runs closest to true — you cannot trust stretch to save you.
Z Supply’s broader sizing guidance holds: if you normally wear a medium in contemporary brands, you’ll wear a medium in Z Supply shorts. The brand doesn’t pull any tricks on the size label.
Current stock direct: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=z+supply+clothing&tag=tumbleweed03b-20 Amazon has a rotating selection with some retired colorways: Z Supply Shorts. on Amazon Poshmark is the right move if you want to try the Keaton linen in a color you’re unsure about.
The verdict
Buy the Keaton linen shorts. They’re the best linen short I’ve bought under $100 and the construction justifies the price. Buy the rayon-modal lounge shorts if you want comfort and can live with the drawstring hassle. Skip the knit-denim short entirely — it doesn’t have the structural integrity to fake real denim and it’s not marketed as loungewear, so you end up with a worst-of-both piece.
If I were starting from zero with a fixed budget, I’d get the Keaton in two colors (black and natural) and leave the rest of the shorts category alone. That covers summer, looks intentional, and doesn’t sag out in the wash.
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FAQ
Are Z Supply linen shorts lined?
The Keaton is front-panel lined only. The linen weave itself is opaque in the colors I’ve tested, so the partial lining is enough for most wear. If you’re worried about bright-light transparency, stick with darker colors.
Do Z Supply shorts run small?
No. They run true to size across the lineup. The Keaton is the most forgiving of in-between sizes because of the wide cut. The lounge shorts run true and will stretch over time, so go with the smaller of two sizes if you’re between.
Wash instructions for Z Supply shorts?
Cold wash, inside out. Hang-dry the linen Keaton and the rayon-modal lounge shorts — tumble-drying both on high accelerates fabric wear. The linen will wrinkle regardless, so plan on a quick steam or wrinkle-release spray before wearing.
