Summer's Most Unexpected Trend Is Bloomer Shorts—Here's How to Wear Them

Elle

30-05-2025

Call them bloomers, bubble skorts, or balloon shorts—no matter the name, the effect is the same: a playfully voluminous silhouette that's suddenly everywhere this spring. These thigh-grazing, puffed-up bottoms are reclaiming their place in the fashion spotlight, offering a fresh feminine counterpoint to the tailored staples and cargo shorts that have dominated recent seasons. While their roots can be traced back to vintage lingerie and 18th-century undergarments, today's versions feel more street style than sleepwear, thanks to elevated fabrics, unexpected pairings, and clever styling.
Designers like Chloé and emerging labels like Posse and Tae Park are leading the charge, reimagining the silhouette in crisp cottons, whispery sheers, and luxe textures that beg for a vacation setting—or at the very least, a warm-weather weekend look. What's striking about this trend isn't just its shape, but its range. Whether you're pairing a candy-coloured pair with a triangle bikini top and an oversized button-down à la French Riviera-chic, or grounding white poplin versions with minimalist staples and sculptural jewellery, bloomer shorts are surprisingly versatile.
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For those with a bohemian streak, the style also lends itself to romantic layering—think lace-trimmed camisoles, ankle-tie shoes, and straw accessories that look plucked straight from a midsummer daydream. Equal parts coquette-ish and cool, they're proof that comfort and fashion don't have to be mutually exclusive. Ahead, find our favorite ways to wear the look—and where to shop them now.
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Alexis Bennett Parker is the Commerce Content Lead at ELLE.com. In this newly created role, she oversees all shopping-related stories online, from fashion-forward trend pieces to the most coveted beauty buys on the market right now. Alexis has worked in the publishing space for 11 years, and seven of those years have been dedicated to helping shoppers make informed purchases—no buyer's remorse here! Before joining the team at ELLE.com, she worked in the editorial departments of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle, to name a few magazines. Not only has Alexis worked closely with several brands and tested hundreds of products over the course of her career, but she's also won awards for her work as a shopping journalist. Namely, she was an honoree at the Pynk Magazine Gala in 2023, received the Condé Nast Commerce Content Award for Best Article by a New Hire in 2021, and was included on the Top 40 Under 40 Heir's List in 2018.