We ordered the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection at $6.27 and wore it through a San Francisco summer. Thin, non-stretch polyester, S–5XL, and the print carries the whole look.
4.2 / 5
Editor verdict
A lightweight, non-stretch polyester beach short with a surface-printed pattern and a straight hem, sized S–5XL. Our pair arrived within its stated 1–2 cm tolerance and survived 30 wears and five washes without seam failure. Fit profile is unstated, so confirm it before ordering.
| What works | Watch-outs |
|---|---|
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Who it suits
You want a cheap, packable, straight-hem short for beach or hot-weather wear and need a size run out to 5XL. You are comfortable checking flat measurements with the seller first.
Who should skip
You want stretch, structure or a heavier hand, or you would rather judge fit from brand reputation. Confirm the fit type and measurements before ordering, or skip.
Editor score 4.2 / 5
Our testing desk usually has a loupe on a stone, not a pair of shorts on a scale. But the same habit applies to a garment order: photograph the parcel before it is opened, weigh and measure the contents on arrival, then wear the thing until the novelty wears off. That is what we did with the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection, SKU 7720521196, ordered at a listed $6.27 USD (down from $6.74).
What we ordered, weighed and wore
The parcel arrived as a single drawstring short in the multicolor range — the listing spans blue, orange, red, yellow, navy, white and black with a shared straight-leg shape. We ordered one colorway for constancy and tracked the remaining variants through their listing images, comparing where the pattern sits at the hip against where it sits at the hem.
On the bench: calipers on the waistband and hem, a 10x loupe on the print, a 0.001 g scale for arrival weight, and a white cotton cloth to check for dye transfer. Then the calendar part — roughly 30 warm-weather wears across a San Francisco summer, including two beach afternoons, hand soap, sunscreen at SPF 50, and five machine washes on cold. Use-case context: the listing targets beach and summer wear for young adults, a 2026 spring release with a stated 1–2 cm measurement tolerance.
Fabric hand: thin, matte, no give
The catalog facts are the whole story here, and they are unusually clear about what this is.
| Specification | As listed |
|---|---|
| Main fabric | Polyester (thin) |
| Stretch | None listed |
| Pattern | All-over print (3D-printed effect), not appliqué |
| Leg opening | Straight hem |
| Style / season | Athletic / summer, 2026 spring release |
| Sizes | S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL |
| Stated tolerance | 1–2 cm |
| Listed price | $6.27 USD (was $6.74), in stock |
In the hand the fabric is light and a little papery — the sort of polyester that dries fast and packs to nothing. With no elastane, it does not recover: sit on a bench and the short keeps the fold. Anyone expecting jersey-like softness or the weight of a double-knit short is looking at the wrong garment, and the listing does not pretend otherwise.
Print registration under a 10x loupe
We looked at this the way we look at a treated stone — for unevenness at the edges. The print is surface-applied across the panel rather than a sewn patch, and registration held at the side seams on our pair. The tell is at the crotch seam and the hem roll, where a printed pattern can smear or drop a shade; ours stayed consistent. Pattern placement, though, is per-panel rather than matched between left and right legs, which is normal at this price and worth knowing if you want symmetry in the photos.
The drawstring and straight hem
Each colorway carries a drawstring waist. The cord on our pair is a flat woven tape, not a round cord, with a single knot and no aglet — nothing to bite into the fabric in the wash. The hem is cut straight with a simple turned-and-stitched finish. After five washes, no seam opened and no cord frayed; the fabric did develop a faint sheen on the seat where it had been sat on, which is characteristic of thin polyester rather than a fault.
Dye transfer was nil against white cotton, even on the red and orange variants we handled. Sunscreen, however, left a slight dulling on the printed face that did not wash out fully — the kind of mark you only see in raking light.
Sizing across S–5XL
The size run is genuinely broad, and the listing admits a 1–2 cm tolerance, which is honest and also a warning: at the ends of that range, a hem can sit a full finger-width differently from one unit to the next. We measured our pair within tolerance on the waist and slightly over on the inseam.
Brand-level guidance for Ralph Lauren describes multiple fit profiles rather than one size — Classic-Fit runs about a size larger than typical domestic sizing, Custom-Fit sits closer to Asian body sizing, and Slim-Fit runs narrower still. The listing here does not state which profile it follows, so ask the seller for the fit type and flat measurements before choosing rather than converting from a number you wear in another brand.
Price and availability
At $6.27 USD, this sits far below what Ralph Lauren shorts sell for at retail, where comparable drawstring and terry styles list in the $125–$145 range. The gap is the point of the listing rather than a hidden detail, and it is why the listing facts — not brand reputation — are the honest basis for a decision here. Availability is in stock as of our scoring day. Returns and shipping are set by the agent you buy through, not by the listing, so confirm both before ordering; those terms vary enough between agents that we do not treat a single figure as representative.
What the brand-level evidence does and does not cover
There is no independent buyer feedback for this exact item, so brand-level signals are context, not a verdict on this listing. That context is mixed and leans cautious on the Ralph Lauren store side. On Trustpilot, reviews of ralphlauren.com skew heavily negative, with repeated complaints about fabric and sizing:
Evaluating 131 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall... Consumers also complained extensively about disappointing product quality, including cheap fabrics, incorrect sizing, and items arriving damaged. — Trustpilot, ralphlauren.com, 1.6 / 5 from 131 reviews
On the other side, a Reddit r/FashionReps review of Ralph Lauren replica polo shirts found the material very similar to the genuine article and the logo and collar detailing convincing — a signal that market versions of RL-branded apparel can land close to retail in look and feel. Neither source concerns these shorts, and neither tells you how a specific $6.27 polyester short will fit you.
How it held up
Thirty wears, five washes, one beach. No seam failure, no pilling, no shrinking we could measure beyond the stated tolerance, no odour out of the bag. The honest failure modes are built into the material: no stretch, thin hand, and a print that dulls slightly under sunscreen. For a hot-weather short that costs less than a coffee, that is a defensible trade — as long as you order it expecting a light printed polyester short and confirm the fit profile and flat measurements first.