The short answer on L'agence Audrey Shorts: pick one anchor piece, keep the palette to two colours, and let the shoes decide how formal the whole thing reads. One piece should lead and the rest should stay quiet; two competing pieces read as an accident. Proportion does more than colour: volume on top wants something narrow below, and the reverse. 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: 12thtribe.com's Daria Cream Satin Shorts at $64, and simkhai.com's Emmie Cotton Lace Shorts at $295. 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, goelia1995.com's Cotton Blend A-Line Women Shorts ($99) 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 15 brands, $20 to $295, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. wildoakboutique.com's Elliott Polka Dot Shorts at $20 is the low-risk way in, and simkhai.com's Emmie Cotton Lace Shorts at $295 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On l'agence audrey 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.