Chubbies is one of the few apparel labels where the question of where to buy changes what you can actually buy. The company sells mostly direct through its own website, and wholesale partners carry a trimmed slice of the catalog. A pair you spotted online may not exist on any rack near you. Early September is the crossover point: summer stock is marked down and fall assortments are moving in. Here is where each channel stands on selection, price, inseam, and returns.
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Who Actually Needs Chubbies
Chubbies is a direct-to-consumer men’s clothing brand built around short-inseam shorts and swim trunks, sold mainly through its own site and a limited wholesale network. Four Stanford friends started the company in San Francisco in 2011 on a single premise: men’s shorts had gotten too long. Their marketing called it the shorts revolution, and proper length became the whole product identity.
The core buyer wants warm-weather clothes with color and a shorter cut, not technical gear. The catalog is wider than the name suggests: a swimsuit range, a polo, tank tops, tees, a lounge collection, and licensed collaborations sold under an “x Chubbies” naming convention, including NFL team prints and a George Kittle line. The tone leans fun rather than serious.
Buying Criteria: What Separates One Pair of Chubbies From the Next
Inseam is the first decision and the one most buyers get wrong. Fabric, liner, and line follow from it.
Inseam length. The catalog is built around a 5.5-inch inseam, with a 7-inch option on most casual and water styles and shorter cuts concentrated on the originals shorts line. Inseam, not waist size, is what people send back.
- Measure a pair you own. Lay it flat, measure the inner seam from crotch to hem. That is your baseline.
- Subtract an inch or two. Most first-timers overshoot. If your favorite is 7 inches, try 5.5.
- Read the size guide for waist. The relaxed cut runs differently from slim-fit labels, so check the size guide on their site first.
- Buy where you can return. If you are unsure on length, that rules out final-sale clearance.
Lined or unlined. Swim trunks include a built-in mesh liner. Casual shorts generally do not. Buy the wrong one for the pool and you get a heavy pair that dries slowly.
Which product line. The names are not interchangeable, and a wholesale account usually stocks only two or three of them.
| Line | Built for | Liner |
|---|---|---|
| Originals Stretch Shorts | Everyday casual, shortest cuts | No |
| Everywear Performance Shorts | All-day wear, light activity | No |
| Ultimate Training Shorts | Gym and running | Yes |
| Classic Swim Trunks | Water | Yes |
Fabric, print, and color. Current styles use a stretch woven rather than rigid cotton twill, and the blend varies by line. Solid navy and khaki sit beside loud tropical designs. Only the official site carries the full print run. Our guide to where to buy sunglasses covers the same weekend territory if you are assembling the rest of the outfit.
How Much Should You Pay for Chubbies
As of September 2026, full-price shorts and trunks on the official site generally list in the $60 to $80 range. Benchmark every other channel against that.
- Full price. A current-season print in your exact inseam, in stock and returnable.
- Clearance. Past-season prints and leftover sizes, discounted steeply and usually final sale, so length has to be right the first time.
- Resale. eBay and Poshmark are where discontinued prints live, at whatever the seller decides to ask.
Where paying more is not worth it: a full-price solid color in September. Basic shades get discounted deepest and soonest once end-of-summer markdowns start, because nobody hoards a plain navy pair. The Friday at 5PM line the brand is known for is a clock-out slogan, not a weekly discount.
Buying Chubbies Online: Retailer Comparison
Chubbies shorts turn up on a dozen sites, but the official site has the deepest catalog by a wide margin. Everywhere else stocks a subset, so selection rather than price is the real difference.
| Where | Selection | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| Official site | Full catalog, every inseam, new drops | Published window on unworn items, confirm at checkout |
| Amazon | Core originals shorts and trunk styles | Standard Amazon apparel policy |
| Nordstrom, Zappos, Macy’s | Department-store edit, safer colors | Varies, check the policy page |
| Walmart | Narrow, seller-dependent | Varies by seller |
| eBay, Poshmark | Discontinued and past-season prints | Seller-set, often final |
Those are published policies as of September 2026 and they change, so read the terms in your cart.
The official site
The main site is the only place with the complete catalog: new arrivals, limited prints, collaborations, and the shortest inseams wholesale rarely stocks. Free shipping thresholds and membership perks shift with promotions, so check what applies to your cart. Joining the email list is how you hear about a sale before the good sizes disappear.
Amazon
Browse their storefront on Amazon for core originals shorts and trunk styles. This is the brand’s own storefront rather than a reseller, which matters on a label that attracts knockoffs. Depth is the tradeoff: fewer prints, fewer inseams, none of the limited drops.
Nordstrom, Zappos, and Macy’s
Department stores stock a curated edit, mostly solid colors and mid-length cuts. Macy’s lists the line on their online brand page. Nordstrom and Zappos are worth a search when you want a familiar return desk. Selection on the Walmart marketplace is thinner and listings can come from third parties, so confirm who is shipping.
eBay and Poshmark
For a discontinued print, search the listings on eBay and check seller feedback and real photos, not stock images. Poshmark covers the same secondhand ground with a lighter pool, and neither has a return safety net.
Buying Chubbies Locally: Store by Store
Physical retail is where you can hold two inseams against each other before committing. Availability is uneven store to store, so call ahead.
Company-owned retail stores
The company runs a small number of its own retail locations in a handful of US cities, not nationwide. Those are the likeliest places to find the shortest cuts in person. Check the official store locator before driving anywhere; third-party lists go stale fast.
Dick’s Sporting Goods and Scheels
Both sporting goods chains carry the line and list it online, so confirm your local store has it before you drive over. Look in men’s shorts or activewear rather than the water section, even in summer, since these chains skew toward the athletic and performance styles. Our roundup of where to buy running shoes pairs with that trip.
Academy, Dillard’s, and regional stores
Academy Sports and Dillard’s have both listed the line, and Palmetto Moon, a Southeast lifestyle chain, is the strongest regional option in the Carolinas and Texas. REI, Dunham’s Sports, Sun and Ski, and Glik’s fill in the rest. Costco has carried the occasional apparel drop, though not dependably.
Timing tip: early September is markdown season and the last real window before shelves flip to fall. By October the shorts vanish until spring, and the flannel shirts take over the same rack. Know your inseam? Buy now.
Red Flags When Shopping for Chubbies
The costliest mistake is buying clearance in an inseam you have never worn, because clearance is almost always final sale. Four more traps.
Assuming the size chart matches your other shorts. The cut is relaxed through the thigh and seat, and the waistband is often elastic. Check against a measurement you took yourself.
Buying unlined for the water. Casual and water lines look nearly identical in photos. Read the item page for the liner before adding to cart.
Marketplace listings with no seller history. An unusually cheap listing with stock photos and a new seller account deserves scrutiny; counterfeit apparel follows popular prints. Stick to authorized channels or a seller with real feedback.
Sitting on the box. Return windows run from delivery, not from the first warm weekend you get around to trying it on. Try it the week it arrives and send it back if the length is off.
Best Chubbies Styles Right Now
Picks are organized by product line and use case, since prints turn over every season.
Best overall: Everywear Performance Shorts, 5.5-inch. Stretch fabric, no liner, a length that works for errands and dinner alike. Roughly $60 to $80 at full price. Check price on Amazon
Best for the water: Classic Trunks, 5.5-inch. Lined, quick-drying, and available in the loudest prints they make. The 7-inch version is the safer first order. See it on Amazon
Best statement pair: Originals Stretch Shorts. The cut that built the label, in the boldest colorways. Buy it once you know a 5.5 fits you. Check price on Amazon
Best for the gym: Ultimate Training Shorts. Built-in liner and moisture-moving fabric, the one style competing on function rather than personality. See it on Amazon
Best budget route: clearance and resale. Past-season prints get cut hard once the season turns, and secondhand goes lower still. Flexibility on color is the price of admission, and returns are off the table.
Start by measuring a pair you already own, then order one 5.5-inch pair from a channel with a real return window. If you already know your length, September clearance is the moment to buy Chubbies cheap, before fall assortments land. For the weekday half of the closet, our work clothes buying guide picks up where this one stops, and the lululemon buying guide covers the gym side.
Chubbies Questions, Answered
What stores carry Chubbies?
A small set of company-owned stores, plus wholesale accounts at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Scheels, Macy’s, Dillard’s, Academy, Palmetto Moon, REI, Dunham’s Sports, and Sun and Ski. Wholesale carries a curated subset, mid-length inseams and safer colors, so the shortest cuts stay effectively direct-only.
Do they run true to size?
Waist sizing is conventional, but the fit is relaxed through the thigh and seat, so shoppers used to slim-fit labels often find them roomier than expected. Sizing and inseam confusion come up repeatedly in Amazon buyer reviews for the line.
Is there a women’s line?
The main catalog is men’s. Women’s swimwear moved to Cheekies, a sister label under the same parent company. Plenty of women buy the men’s shorts and size down, which works on the casual lines but changes how a liner sits.
Why are Chubbies so expensive?
Full retail sits in the $60 to $80 range because the model is direct-to-consumer, so the price absorbs marketing and returns instead of a wholesaler’s margin. Price is the recurring complaint across third-party review pools, where buyers compare the fabric against sub-$20 big-box shorts. Comfort and liner quality are the counterweight.
Is the label going out of business?
No. It is operating normally and grew revenue across 2025. The confusion traces to news about parent company Solo Brands, whose shares moved off the New York Stock Exchange to over-the-counter trading in 2026. That is a listing change at the parent level, not a shutdown.
About This Guide
In September 2026, our editorial team re-verified prices, retailer availability, and product picks for this guide. Prices move fast at the seasonal turn, so treat the ranges above as a snapshot. Whether you order direct or find a pair in store, the right pair of Chubbies is worth the trouble of sizing correctly the first time.