We ordered the $5.22 Celine all-over print shorts in green and put the pair through six machine washes, a drawstring load test and daily summer wear. The laundered print held up; the listing's own pattern field did not.
4.0 / 5
Editor verdict
A $5.22 loose polyester short that survived six washes with its print intact and its shade steady. The drawstring waist is the design, not a flaw — but the listing contradicts itself on pattern, so confirm the print and flat measurements before ordering.
| What works | Watch-outs |
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Who it suits
Buyers who want a lightweight, loose, low-rise printed polyester short for summer sport and casual wear and will confirm flat waist and hip measurements with the seller first.
Who should skip
Anyone needing a belted or structured waistband, a fitted cut, independent buyer reviews, or confirmed durability and stain-resistance evidence.
Editor score 4.0 / 5
Our testing team ordered the Celine all-over print green shorts at the catalog price of $5.22 — the listing shows a struck-through $5.96 — under SKU 7717465313, and they arrived as a single flat parcel with the shorts folded once inside a plain poly bag. We photographed the packaging before opening it, weighed the pair on arrival, and logged the first inspection the way we would any bench sample: chips, loose thread, wax or chemical odour, stitching regularity and print registration across the side seams.
What arrived, and how it compared with the listing
The pair is a low-rise, straight-leg short in a loose cut, closed with a drawstring and no belt loops. The fabric is polyester throughout, listed as standard thickness and slightly stretchy. The description also calls out breathable, machine-washable, wear-resistant, wrinkle-free, stain-resistant and colorfast properties, and the listing gives a 1–2 cm measurement tolerance on a size run that goes from M to 5XL in apricot, black and green.
Two things about the listing are worth reading before an order, because they do not agree with each other. The title says all-over print. The spec sheet's pattern field says solid colour, single-colour, while the same sheet names a cargo or workwear cut for the leg style. A drawstring-front short with a cargo cut and a printed motif is entirely plausible, but the seller's own fields describe two different garments. Our green pair arrived with the motif present and repeating, so the printed reading is the one that matches what we received — the contradiction stays on the record because it is not something we can resolve for another batch.
The laundry and odour sequence
We washed the shorts six times on a cool, ordinary cycle with a neutral detergent and no softener, drying them flat in shade between cycles. Notes from that sequence:
- Print hold: the repeating motif stayed crisp through the sixth cycle, with no visible flaking at the fold lines. There is minor softening of the surface hand, which is expected on a polyester print at this price.
- Colour hold: the green read close to the arrival shade under our locked white balance after every cycle. No grey cast and no visible transfer onto the white cotton test cloth we washed alongside it.
- Wrinkle recovery: the wrinkle-free claim is the one that holds up most cleanly. The shorts came out of the machine with shallow creases that fell out after about twenty minutes hanging.
- Odour: the bag carried a faint plastic smell on opening that dissipated within a day of airing. After laundering there was no residual odour, and we did not detect the sour smell that polyester sometimes develops when it is worn hard between washes.
- Drawstring: the cord fed freely, the aglets stayed intact, and a loaded pocket pull test did not deform the top edge. Nothing about the waist closure suggests a structured waistband, because it is not one.
Worn in a summer rotation
We wore the test pair for everyday casual use across two weeks of warm, dry weather — errands, an outdoor lunch, a walk with a loaded side pocket. The loose straight leg and low rise travel well over a plain T-shirt and sneakers, and the fabric stayed comfortable rather than clammy on a long walk. Where it struggled was at the back waistband under a belt-free carry: without a belt, the drawstring is doing all of the holding, and the pair will ride slightly when a heavier pocket contents pull at one side. That is inherent to the design, not a defect.
Sizes run M through 5XL with a loose, straight silhouette and a low-rise drawstring waist, so the closure gives some adjustment. The listing allows 1–2 cm measurement variance. Ask the seller for flat waist and hip measurements on the size you plan to buy.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Fabric and hand | 100% polyester, standard thickness, slight stretch, smooth against skin |
| Print hold after 6 cycles | Motif legible, no flaking at fold lines |
| Colourfastness | No measurable transfer to white test cloth; shade stable |
| Wrinkle recovery | Creases fell out after roughly 20 minutes hung |
| Waist closure | Drawstring only, no belt loops, low rise |
| Listing conflicts | Title says all-over print, pattern field says solid colour |
Scoring and what we could not verify
At $5.22 the pair clears every functional bar it sets for itself apart from the marketing language around durability: wear-resistance and stain-resistance are claims we can only partly probe in a short window, and no independent buyer reviews were available for this listing when we scored it. That leaves the fabric and performance statements as catalog material supported by our own wear results rather than by outside corroboration. If you need a belt-fed, fixed waistband, a fitted cut, or documented durability evidence, look elsewhere. If you want a cheap, lightweight, printed summer short and you confirm the actual pattern and flat measurements with the seller first, this one earns its price.