Fashintern - you are right, blouses are cooler to wear than t-shirts and give more sun protection.
Jessikams - the proportion of footwear is a great point. I have long low volume feet - so a chunkier sandal (if it fits) helps to ground my look too.
Synne - the soft blouses will help the shorts feel more like my style.
Sal - I like my sunglasses, although I have not updated them for about 3 years. A sunhat and sunglasses are essentials for summer and something I should think about updating this year. I have been wearing lots of caps, but I think a woven hat is likely to give me the look I want.
Star, I like a firmer fabric for shorts too - that is a good point about not showing too much skin.
JamC - I do have some light pop over tops, bought last summer that will work with these shorts.
Suntiger - I completely agree that getting shorts right is tricky and I am not expecting to look great in them. A good point about mixing dressy items with the casual shorts to dress them up.