We looked at Brown Gucci Shorts on construction, materials and how it holds up. Here is what stood up. A side zip sits flatter than a fly front. Inseam is the whole decision. Two inches changes who the shorts are for. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is inseam, rise and fabric weight. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: vrggrl.com's Monikh Lace Shorts Black at $89, and tracyanderson.com's Stellar, Not Static Shorts at $138. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. Inseam is the whole decision. Two inches changes who the shorts are for. A side zip sits flatter than a fly front. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Longer shorts want a fitted top. Shorter ones want volume up top. From the second group, apc-us.com's Liz shorts ($88) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, shorts, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 shorts here from 14 brands, $25 to $345, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. wildoakboutique.com's Sienna Vervet Shorts - Cream at $25 is the low-risk way in, and ATM Collection's Leather Pull-On Shorts - Black at $345 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On brown gucci shorts specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: buy the one you can picture using this week, not the one you are saving for later.