These shorts reached our bench the way most of our TikTok finds do: a short video, a caption about the price, and a listing that asks you to trust a photograph. At $7.46 — the listing shows $8.51 struck through — the Foreign Trade pair is cheap enough that the branding is the entire personality. So we ordered the black pair in size L and spent most of the test on the two things a buyer actually looks at in the clip: the script lettering across the front and the small patch details near the hems.
What arrived, and what the listing leaves out
One pair, flat-folded in a plain poly bag, SKU 7720570468, no branded hangtag. The listing itself is thin in specific ways that matter more than the styling copy: the weight field reads 0.00, and there are no waist, hip or inseam figures published anywhere on the page. For an agent order that means freight estimates start from guesswork, and sizing starts from a hope. We logged the parcel on our scale before opening it and photographed the fold creases, because a mid-thigh short that has been compressed for two weeks looks different from one that has hung on a rail.
The script print and the leg patches
This is where a $7.46 short usually fails, so we treated it as the main event. Our testing team ran six washes at 30 °C with air drying and photographed the lettering and both patches after every cycle.
- Script lettering: no flaking and no peeling through six cycles. The edges of the print softened slightly after the third wash, which is normal for a surface print on a synthetic shell and is not visible from standing distance.
- Leg patches: the stitching stayed tight, but one patch corner lifted a few millimetres by the sixth wash. It is not a failure yet; it is the first place we would expect one.
- Colour: the black stayed black, with no grey cast at the seams where the fabric creases hardest.
We did not tumble dry the pair, so we cannot tell you how the print behaves under heat — that is the test most likely to separate a durable print from a decorative one, and it is the reason our score sits at good rather than excellent.
Fabric, stretch and the "other" question
The listing names polyester as the main fabric and describes slight stretch. In hand the shell is thin, cool and a little papery, the kind of summer weave that dries fast and holds a crease until it is washed out. It moves with a stride without pulling at the thigh. What we cannot confirm is the exact blend: a sibling five-point short from the same factory brand (Chensida) lists 60 percent polyester and 40 percent other fibre. That is a different listing and not proof about this SKU, but it is enough that we would not describe these as pure polyester without a care label in hand.
Sizing with no published chart
The listing offers M through 3XL in white, black, orange and green, and publishes no measurements at all. We measured the size L pair we received, flat, one sample, honest to about a centimetre.
| Measurement (size L, flat) | Our figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Waist, relaxed | 36 cm / 14.2 in | Roughly a 72 cm circumference before stretch |
| Waist, pulled | 43 cm / 16.9 in | About 86 cm of drawstring-assisted give |
| Hip | 51.5 cm / 20.3 in | Loose, straight-leg line |
| Outseam, waistband top to hem | 50 cm / 19.7 in | Lands above the knee on a 178 cm frame |
| Inseam | 17 cm / 6.7 in | Short, as a five-point cut should be |
| Leg opening | 30 cm / 11.8 in | Straight, not tapered |
Those numbers describe one pair in one size. They do not tell you what a 3XL measures, and nothing on the page does. If you are between sizes, size up and use the drawstring: the waistband has enough travel to close a two-size gap, and the straight leg does not look sloppy when it hangs a little wider.
Against one close alternative
| Foreign Trade black athletic shorts | Plain mesh short with a published chart | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.46, $8.51 struck through | About $12 |
| Fabric | Polyester, slight stretch, thin hand | Polyester mesh, no stretch |
| Published measurements | None | Waist, hip, inseam per size |
| Distinctive detail | Script print, lower-leg patches | None |
| Print durability | Held through six 30 °C washes | Not applicable |
The mesh short wins on certainty and loses on character. The Foreign Trade pair is the better-looking object and the cheaper one; you pay for that in homework, not in dollars.
Where that leaves the decision
As a summer short, this holds up: the cut is right for warm weather, the waistband does its job, and the branding survived more washing than a $7.46 garment is usually asked to. As an online purchase, it asks you to message the seller for flat measurements before you pay — and if the reply is vague, that silence is the answer. Buy it for the look and the price, not for documented specs, and treat the patch corners as the wear point to watch.