Shorts are Cool and I'm Not Kidding.

In case you haven't heard the news, things haven't gone exactly as planned this summer for buyers and retailers. Magazines and fashion forecasters insisted for months and months that this summer, summer 2006, would be THE year of the dress.

Now, while it's true that there are loads of great dresses in stores, women as a collective have embraced shorts of all lengths instead. That's right, shorts. I wouldn't lie to you.

Now, I'm not really a shorts advocate per se, but if you've been swayed, take a gander at these cuties from Citizens of Humanity. They're clean and classic enough for me to forgive their abbreviated length (insert *sigh* here). Try them with a swingy babydoll top and some sky high espadrilles.

Citizens of Humanity Los Bermuda Shorts

($158, www.revolveclothing.com)