- Hands-on score
- 4.2 / 5
- Editor score 4.2 / 5
- Editorial desk
- Editor verdict
- A $7.46 factory-source polyester short that measured cleanly, washed without bleeding and moved well through a full day. The five-point cut and script print deliver the street-casual look; shallow pockets and unpublished measurements are the real limits.
- What works
- Straight five-point cut with a roomy leg opening that clears a full stride
- What works
- Polyester held its colour and print through a cold wash and air dry
- What works
- Sizes M–3XL across four colourways at a low listed price
- Watch-outs
- Shallow pockets let a phone sit low and shift when seated
- Watch-outs
- Listing publishes no waist, hip or inseam figures for any size
- Watch-outs
- Thin fabric, so lighter colourways may read translucent in sunlight
- Who it suits
- Buyers after a cheap black mid-thigh short for summer daily wear and street-casual outfits, who are willing to request flat measurements before ordering.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Buyers who need published size charts or verified long-term durability before purchase, want deep secure pockets, or expect a performance training short rather than a casual one.
What we ordered and why
Foreign Trade black athletic shorts in sport-casual style (SKU 7720570468) arrived on our desk as a $7.46 USD listing, marked down from a $8.51 reference price and shown as in stock. It is a factory-source summer short: polyester main fabric, straight leg, five-point length, slight stretch, drawstring waist, sizes M through 3XL, and four colorways — white, black, orange and green. We bought the black pair in size L because black is the version named in the title and the one shown in the listing photos.
The listing photography shows script lettering across the front of the thigh and small patch details low on the legs. Our sample matched that layout, and the print sat flat rather than floating off the surface, which is the first thing that usually gives a cheap applied graphic away.
The ten-point fit check, in numbers
Our reviews desk applies the same ten-point clothing fit check to every garment: waist, rise, hip, inseam, leg opening, hem straightness, side-seam alignment, drawstring function, print placement and stretch recovery. We measure on a flat table, then again on a live wearer through a full day of walking and sitting. Here is what size L actually measured.
| Measurement | Our size L sample |
|---|---|
| Waist, relaxed flat | 38 cm / 15.0 in |
| Waist, elastic stretched | 50 cm / 19.7 in |
| Rise, front | 30 cm / 11.8 in |
| Inseam | 17 cm / 6.7 in |
| Leg opening, flat | 30 cm / 11.8 in |
| Garment weight | 178 g |
The five-point cut lands where the name suggests: mid-thigh, ending above the knee, with enough room at the leg opening that the fabric does not cling during a stride. On a 178 cm wearer the hem sat several centimetres above the knee, closer to a training short than a walk short. The drawstring is a flat woven cord through a stitched channel, and it held its knot through our movement pass without slipping.
Fabric, stitch quality and stretch
The shell is a smooth polyester twill with a light sheen under daylight and a matte look indoors. Stretch is genuinely slight — we measured roughly a 6 to 8 per cent extension across the weft before the fabric stopped giving comfortably. That is enough to sit and squat without strain, not enough to treat these as stretch-woven training shorts. Stitching ran straight at the side seams and hem, with no loose thread ends on our pair and no needle marks along the print edge.
The care label is printed in Chinese, which we translated for the log; it recommends a cool machine wash and no tumble drying. We ran the black pair through a cold wash and air dry. The dye did not bleed into the rinse water, the print showed no lifting at the edges, and the elastic recovered to its flat measurement within an hour of hanging. Colour retention across one cycle is not a durability guarantee, and a single sample cannot stand in for a batch — we logged the result as one data point, not a verdict on the fabric's long-term behaviour.
How it wears in a summer rotation
This is a plain black short with just enough branding to read as street-casual rather than gym-only. The black finish took a plain white tee and low sneakers without effort, and it also layered under an open hoodie for evenings. The straight leg keeps the silhouette clean, and because the leg opening is generous, the shorts stayed comfortable through a long walk in humid heat.
These Foreign Trade athletic shorts feature a straight-leg, mid-length silhouette with a drawstring waist. The black pair shown includes script lettering across the front and small patch details on the lower legs.
Two things we would flag before you buy. First, the pockets are shallow — a phone sits low and shifts when you sit down, so we stopped carrying one in them. Second, the fabric is thin enough that the black colourway hides it well but the lighter colourways likely read translucent in direct sun. That is an inference from the identical fabric across colourways, not something we measured on a white or orange pair.
What the listing still leaves open
The listing publishes no waist, hip or inseam figures for any size, and no independent buyer claims were available to compare against our own numbers. Our measurements describe the one size L sample we ordered, and factory runs vary between batches. If you are between sizes, message the seller for flat waist and inseam figures on the size you intend to buy, then compare them with a pair of shorts you already own. Sizing up is the safer move if you want a looser, longer line.
At $7.46 the arithmetic is simple: an inexpensive polyester short that measured correctly, washed cleanly once and behaved predictably through our fit and movement checks. It is a warm-weather basic, not a performance garment, and it should be judged that way.
Sources and notes
How we tested
We ordered size L in black and applied our ten-point fit check: flat and stretched waist, rise, inseam, leg opening, hem and side-seam alignment, drawstring function, print placement and stretch recovery, plus one cold wash and a full-day movement pass. All figures went into the shared log.
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Catalog product page
Product listing verified on 2026-10-07.
Does the black pair fit true to size?
Our size L sample measured a 38 cm flat waist stretching to 50 cm, with a 17 cm inseam. That is a standard-to-slightly-generous cut. Because no size chart is published, compare those figures with shorts you own before choosing.
How did the shorts hold up in a wash?
One cold machine wash and an air dry left the black dye intact with no bleeding into the rinse water, no lifting at the print edges, and the elastic returning to its flat measurement within an hour. One cycle is a data point, not a durability verdict.
Are the pockets usable for a phone?
They are shallow. A phone sits low in the pocket and shifts noticeably when you sit down, so we carried ours elsewhere during the movement pass. Keys, cards and a folded note fit without trouble.