Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts Review – The best shorts in our closet?

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It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 years since we first got our hands on the Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts (AKA ADED Shorts) – it’s even harder to believe that we haven’t stopped to give you our honest Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts Review! That’s just nuts and not acceptable to us!

Let’s dive into our full Public Rec ADED Shorts Review.

Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts
4.5
$68

A simply great pair of shorts. Super comfortable and super functional.

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We might earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

It’s a bit confusing because there is also Public Rec All Day Every Day PANTS. Read our full All Day Every Day Pants Review.

Also, at $68, are they worth it? That’s a steep price to pay if they are simply glorified sweatshorts. Our Public Rec ADED Shorts Review will cover all of that… and much more!

All Day Every Day Shorts Review: The claims

All Day Every Day Shorts Review Public Rec Features
The ADED Shorts Features

Here’s what Public Rec Says about their ADED Shorts:

  • Our best-selling pant, made shorter. Designed to feel active and look stylish.
  • Generous fit gives glutes and thighs room to breathe. If between sizes, size down.

Public Rec doesn’t make as many claims about their shorts as they do their Pants, but they essentially say they are the same thing.

The ADED Shorts do share many of the same characteristics of ADED Pants, especially being easy to care for, tons of stretch, and breathable. They are incredibly stretchy, very breathable, and are pretty easy to care for. Our only very slight issue with the shorts is that sometimes “little bitty fuzzies” (I don’t know what else to call it – basically pieces of lint) get stuck on the shorts. With the darker colors, this happens frequently, but not a huge deal at all.

I will add that the ADED Shorts are a bit thicker than your typical athletic shorts. So, if you want something that is super lightweight, go with something like the Myles Everyday Short.

I would not recommend the ADED Shorts for working out (weightlifting, running etc.), although it is possible.

But if you’re reading this Public Rec review, the first thing you are wondering is – what do they really look like? Do they look like sweat shorts or more like Chino Shorts?

ADED Shorts Review: The Look

Let me explain this simply: the ADED Shorts look more like sweat pant shorts than they do Athletic Shorts or Chino Shorts. I was going to do a graphic that showed what these shorts looked like, but let’s be honest: no shorts are “dressy.”

This isn’t a ding on the ADED Shorts, but they straddle a unique line: too thick to be athletic shorts, too casual to be chinos, too nice to be sweat shorts. But that’s OK. No one is expecting shorts to be dressy at all. They just need to be functional and look decent. Take the Khaki color, for example:

The Khaki color could probably even pass on the golf course.

I do have a previous generation of the ADED Shorts and they told me the fit is a little bit looser than the current version. The current version of the shorts are just a little snugger, shorter, and less baggy.

Public Rec also came out with the Workday Shorts, which look a little bit more dressy:

These shorts look a bit more like the Oliver’s Captial Short – which is essentially the same material as their All Over Short but cut like more traditional chino shorts (read our Oliver’s Captial Short Review and + Oliver All Over Short Review for more information.

ADED Shorts Review: How to Style

Allbirds Tree Skipper

I typically wear my ADED Shorts with my White Allbirds Tree Skippers, Allbirds Grey Tree Runners (see our Allbirds Review) and a t-shirt, typically a Buck Mason T-Shirt (read our full Buck Mason Review) or Fresh Clean Tees Shirt (read our Fresh Clean Tees Review).

I typically wear these when I’m doing something active – most commonly at the trampoline park, riding a bike or playing a the playground. That brings us to the killer feature…

All Day Every Day Shorts Review: The Killer Feature

Just like in the Public Rec ADED Pants Review, I had no idea that I’d like the pockets of these shorts so much.

ADED Review: The Pockets

ADED Short Review: The Pockets

The pockets on the ADED Shorts are simply amazing! The fact that the normal side pockets are zippered (instead of the odd zippers on the side of so many pairs of pants/shorts) is AWESOME Here’s why: when I wear any sort of athletic shorts, my keys and phone ALWAYS slide out, especially when I sit down in the car I can simply zip the pockets and I don’t have to worry about it.

Even better: at the trampoline park, I don’t have to worry about my phone or wallet falling out – or even worse, having them get stolen when I leave them in a cubby.

ADED Shorts Review: The Waistband

I was initially hesitant about the ADED Shorts Waistband, to be 100% honest. Here’s what Public Rec says about the waistband on their website: Elastic waistband with internal drawstring for maximum comfort.

But the ADED Shorts aren’t like other sweatshirts or athletic shorts that you simply buy small, medium or large. You actually buy the waist, like you would a normal pair of shorts.

The All Day Everyday Shorts have a super-strong waistband. Sometimes, when you are wearing elastic shorts, there can be an issue with the waist being too loose. 3+ years later and I can honestly tell you that you won’t have that issue. The waistband is still super snug!

So much so, that I’d say if you like loose sweat shorts, to go up a size. The elastic is THAT strong. It doesn’t pinch or feel uncomfortable, but they, for sure, aren’t going to fall down.

All Day Every Day Shorts Review: The faux zipper front

Look mom! No zipper.

The All Day Every Day Shorts have a fake (aka “Faux” because these are fancy) zipper front. This is a bit odd but you’re the only one that knows that it’s a fake front. They did it to make the shorts look more formal, but I’ve accidentally tried to use the restroom frustrated I couldn’t find the fly. But that’d by design.

Public Rec Review: The Quality

The ADED Pants Next to the ADED Shorts

Public Rec makes some incredibly high-quality clothes. I have had a very small issue with the zipper coming out of my pockets but Public Rec took care of the seamstress cost to fix it.

The even more impressive part: the seamstress said they were some of the best made clothes she’s ever seen. That’s pretty amazing coming from someone that stares at clothes every day.

All Day Every Day Shorts Review: The Final Verdict

Public Rec Logo

These shorts fit in a unique category: not quite sweat shorts, not quite athletic shorts, no quite chino shorts. However, if you want an extremely comfortable pair of shorts that are super versatile, we’d recommend that you check out Public Rec’s All Day Every Day Shorts.

I was hoping that the ADED Shorts would be a replacement for my chinos shorts or athletic shorts but the truth is, they do so much more than those – they just don’t look like chino shorts or athletic shorts. However, they do look slightly more like sweat shorts than I imagined, especially the color I have (heather charcoal).

Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts
4.5
$68

A simply great pair of shorts. Super comfortable and super functional.

Buy Now
We might earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Even at $68 – I know that the All Day Every Day Shorts zipper pockets have saved me more than that on lost keys, broken iPhone screens, and lost wallets alone. And I didn’t look like a slob doing it.

Get the All Day Every Day Shorts from Public Rec.

Have any questions or comments about our Public Rec All Day Every Day Shorts Review? Let us know in the comments below!

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