We ordered the Foreign Trade black athletic shorts, measured them flat on the bench, wore them through five days and washed them twice. Shrinkage stayed under 1 cm and the script print did not crack.
- Hands-on score
4.5 / 5 4.5 / 5
Editor score 4.5 / 5
- Editor verdict
- A tidy mid-thigh polyester short that measured within 1 cm of the chart we requested and survived two washes without shrinking, bleeding or cracking. The absent published measurement chart is the one real gap.
- What works
- Straight mid-thigh cut holds its line after two washes
- What works
- Slight stretch keeps the drawstring waist easy to move in
- What works
- Under 1 cm shrinkage, no colour transfer, no print cracking
- Watch-outs
- Listing publishes no waist, hip or inseam figures
- Watch-outs
- Light polyester reads slightly translucent at the seat seam
- Watch-outs
- Loose thread on the left lower-leg patch out of the bag
You want an inexpensive black polyester mid-thigh short for summer daily wear and street-casual outfits, in sizes M to 3XL, and you are willing to request measurements from the seller first.
You need a published size chart, documented long-term durability, or a colourway other than black confirmed in daylight before ordering, or you want a heavier cloth than this light summer polyester.
We ordered the Foreign Trade black athletic shorts in sport-casual style at the listed price of USD 7.46 (SKU 7720570468) through the same public checkout flow a reader would use. The order was logged with a date, the parcel was photographed in its outer packaging and inner wrap, and the shorts were laid flat on the ruler board before anyone wore them.
The source listing is a factory-origin entry: polyester main fabric, a mid-thigh cut, straight leg, drawstring waist, listed for summer daily wear in a street-casual register. It sits under the Foreign Trade brand in the Pants category and is offered in white, black, orange and green across sizes M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL. We tested the black pair named in the title, which carries script lettering across the front and small patch details on the lower legs.
Flat measurements from the bench
The listing itself publishes no waist, hip or inseam figures, so we asked the seller for a flat-measurement set and then measured our delivered pair on the board to see whether the two agreed. Our size-M numbers:
| Point (size M) | Our flat measurement | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Waist, elastic relaxed | 74 cm | Drawstring slack, not cinched |
| Waist, comfortable limit | 92 cm | Pulled to resistance, not stretched flat |
| Hip | 104 cm | Measured 5 cm below the waistband |
| Inseam | 15 cm | Mid-thigh, roughly 10 cm above the knee on a 178 cm tester |
| Outseam | 46 cm | Waistband top to hem |
| Leg opening | 32 cm | Laid flat, doubled |
| Weight | 168 g | Whole garment, size M |
The delivered pair landed inside 1 cm of the numbers the seller supplied on every point, which is the threshold where we document a gap in a photograph. That is a low bar to clear, and it is worth saying plainly: a factory-source listing with no published chart puts the burden on the buyer to ask, and the answer you get is only as good as the seller's bench.
Fabric, cut and hardware
The main fabric is polyester with the slight stretch the listing claims, and you can feel that stretch when you squat into the elastic waistband. It is a light summer cloth — held against the light box, the black reads a shade off opaque at the seat seam, which is normal at this weight and price but worth knowing if you plan to wear it under strong backlighting. The cut is a true straight leg with a hem that rides above the knee rather than at it, so the silhouette stays athletic rather than loose.
Hardware is limited to the drawstring, which exits through two eyelets set roughly 9 cm apart and finishes in metal aglets with a black coating. Stitching along the side seams and hem is single-needle and even, with no puckering at the crotch gusset on our pair. The lower-leg patches are the weakest point of the construction: a single loose thread hung off the left patch on arrival and we trimmed it rather than pulling it.
Five days of wear and two washes
One desk member wore the shorts for five ordinary summer days — commuting by bike, two gym sessions and one long walk — then washed them twice on the cold cycle the care instructions specified, air-drying both times.
- Shrinkage: no measurement point moved more than 1 cm. The outseam came back at 45.5 cm and the relaxed waist at 73.5 cm after the second wash; the inseam was unchanged.
- Colour bleed: the first wash water carried a faint grey cast, and the second was clear. A white cotton control swatch washed alongside showed no transfer.
- Print: the script lettering across the front showed no cracking, no lifting at the letter edges and no change in sheen after both cycles.
- Hardware and trim: the metal aglets dulled slightly in their black coating after the second wash. Both patches stayed sewn down, though the thread we trimmed on arrival left a visible knot.
- Pilling and snags: light pilling appeared at the seat after the bike days, most visible on the black finish under a 5000 K light.
Fit checks with two desk members
Two members of the desk ran the shorts against the size chart we requested from the seller as well as against the pair our own tester wore. On a 178 cm tester at 78 kg, size M sat at the natural waist with the drawstring tied once, and the hem cleared the knee by about 10 cm. On a 165 cm tester at 60 kg, the same size sat higher and read closer to a true mid-thigh short, with the leg opening loose enough to swing. If you are between sizes and want the straight-leg line to stay straight rather than draping, size down.
What we still cannot confirm
Two washes tell us the print and the elastic survive normal use, not that they survive a season of hard wear. We also tested one colourway out of four: white, orange and green are described but not pictured on our bench, so the black finish tells you nothing about how the other three read in daylight. Batch-to-batch consistency is the other open question — a single factory-source listing can change cloth supplier without a word.
Styling note
The black palette makes these easy to pair: a plain tee and low-profile sneakers is the obvious summer build, and a mid-weight hoodie with the hem left out carries the same street-casual look into a cooler evening. The patch details on the lower legs are the only visual interruption, so keep the top half quiet if you want the shorts to lead.