Foreign Trade Black Athletic Shorts Review: A $7.46 Polyester Five-Point Cut, Measured

Foreign Trade sells this pair as a straight-leg, mid-length summer short in polyester, listed at $7.46 against a stated original of $8.51, under SKU 7720570468. The black colourway carries script lettering across the front and a small patch on each lower leg. We ordered size M and size XL to check both the cut and how the grading moves between sizes, then put them through the standard routine: parcel weighed on arrival, garments laid flat against the size template, one week of ordinary summer wear, two washes at 30 degrees.

What landed in the parcel

Both pairs arrived folded in plain polybags inside a single outer parcel, with no crush damage to the tape and no visible transit marks on the fabric. The black shells read quite flat under our two lamps — a matte, slightly dry finish rather than the sheen you sometimes get on cheap polyester. We weighed them on arrival: 168 g for the size M and 196 g for the size XL. That is light, and it is consistent with the listing's polyester main-fabric claim and the thin, slightly stretchy hand the description promises.

Construction is simple and readable. Single-needle topstitching runs down both side seams, the hem is a folded double-stitch, and the waist is an elasticated tunnel with a flat woven drawstring through two eyelets. There is no lining, no mesh panel and no inner brief. The front script lettering is a heat-applied print, and the two lower-leg patches are stitched, not glued — on both pairs the patch thread matched the shell within a shade.

Flat measurements against the size template

The listing publishes no figures of any kind, so our own tape is the only reference we can put numbers to. Both pairs were relaxed and unbelted when measured.

The grading is sensible: roughly 3.5 cm of flat waist per size step, with the inseam growing only 1 cm. That means the length stays broadly the same across the range while the waist and hip open up, which is what you want in a mid-thigh short. Elasticated waists stretch a further 6–8 cm beyond the relaxed figure before the tunnel starts to pull.

Fit and one week of wear

Five-point means mid-thigh, ending above the knee. On the size M the 14 cm inseam put the hem about a hand's width above the kneecap, with the straight leg sitting clear of the thigh rather than clinging. Across a week of warm-weather wear — walking, stairs, sitting on public transport, an afternoon of casual football — the stretch in the fabric did the work it needed to and neither pair rode up enough to need adjusting. The drawstring sits well inside the tunnel and does not migrate.

The honest limitation is the fabric itself. Polyester this thin breathes less than a cotton or mesh short, and on a humid afternoon the seat and back of the thigh get clammy. It dries fast after rain or sweat, which offsets that, and the black colourway hides marks well. We would treat these as street-casual shorts for warm days with some breeze in them, not as performance kit for a long run.

After two washes at 30 degrees

We washed both pairs twice at 30 degrees and re-photographed the print and stitching under the same two lamps. The script print on the front showed no lifting at the edges, and the two lower-leg patches kept their thread tension. Colour did not visibly shift against our grey mat. The one change worth logging is slight relaxation in the waist tunnel after the first wash — about half a centimetre of extra stretch on both pairs — before it settled. No pilling appeared where the hem rubs, and the drawstring eyelets stayed secure.

Value at $7.46, and what the listing does not tell you

At this price the construction is defensible: real topstitching, stitched patches, a proper folded hem, and a weight that matches the material claim. The four listed colourways — white, black, orange and green — run across M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL, and the title names black specifically, so confirm your colour choice before checkout if you want anything other than the black pair shown.

The caution is on the listing side, not the garment side. There are no independent buyer claims attached to this factory-source page and no published waist, hip or inseam figures, so a buyer working from the page alone has nothing to size against. Our flat measurements above fill that gap for M and XL, but they describe the pairs we received rather than a guaranteed specification.

Before ordering, message the seller for flat waist, hip and inseam measurements for the size you intend to buy, then compare them against a pair of shorts you already own. If documented performance or durability matters more than price, a short with published specs serves that buyer better.

How we score it

4.2 / 5 — good. The cut, grading and stitching hold up to a week's wear and two washes at a price that is hard to argue with; points come off for the thin, low-breathability polyester and a listing that leaves sizing entirely to the buyer's initiative.