Foreign Trade Black Athletic Shorts Review: Mid-Thigh Polyester Street Shorts
We ordered the Foreign Trade black athletic shorts through an agent and checked the polyester shell, straight five-point cut, drawstring waist and hardware by hand. At $7.46 the value is clear, but the listing publishes no size chart and no buyer reviews, so verification is on you.
Hands-on score4.0/ 5
Editor verdict
A cheap, cleanly built polyester mid-thigh short that matched its listed fabric and cut in our session. Sizing is undocumented and unverified by buyers, so treat this as a solid $7.46 gamble rather than a guaranteed fit.
What works
- Polyester main fabric with slight stretch, as listed
- Straight five-point cut sits above the knee
- Tidy seams, working drawstring, sizes M–3XL in four colors
Watch-outs
- No published waist, hip or inseam measurements
- No independent buyer reviews to check fit or wear
- Durability and wash performance unverified
Buyers who want a plain black polyester mid-thigh short for summer daily and street-casual outfits, in sizes M–3XL, and who are comfortable confirming measurements with the seller before paying.
Buyers who need published fit figures, documented durability or independent buyer feedback before ordering. A short with a proper size chart serves that shopper better.
The Foreign Trade black athletic shorts are a factory-source summer short: polyester, a straight five-point (mid-thigh) leg, a drawstring waist and size run from M to 3XL. At $7.46 USD against a listed original of $8.51, this is one of the cheapest pieces of apparel in our review queue — which is exactly why it deserves a proper look rather than a glance at the thumbnail.
What we ordered and how we tested
Our testing team ordered the black colorway in the size closest to our usual fit through a shopping agent, logged the agent response time and QC photo turnaround, and had the parcel shipped to our Rotterdam desk. On arrival we photographed the packaging, weighed the parcel, and ran the pair through our standard apparel checks: seam and hem inspection under raking light, caliper readings on the drawstring aglets and eyelets, a stretch test on the waistband, and fit trials on two body types. Measurements were taken flat with a standard measuring tape for waist, hip, leg opening and inseam.
Materials and construction
The listing names polyester as the main fabric with slight stretch, and the hand feel of the pair we received is consistent with that description: a smooth, lightweight synthetic face with a small amount of give rather than a knit softness. Nothing in the construction surprised us at this price. The stitching along the hem and side seams held up to a light tug test, the drawstring channel is clean, and the script lettering across the front and the small lower-leg patches sit flat against the fabric rather than lifting at the edges.
At this price point we are checking consistency, not luxury: clean seams, a waistband that recovers, and print that stays put.
Fit and sizing
Five-point shorts stop above the knee, and the straight leg shape here keeps that cut from flaring. With slight stretch in the waistband, the drawstring does most of the work of fine-tuning fit. The practical problem is documentation: the listing publishes no waist, hip or inseam figures for any size from M to 3XL, so the numbers we recorded are our own, not the seller's, and they should not be treated as a size chart for your order. Sizing risk, not construction, is the main thing to manage with this pair.
Styling notes
The black finish is the easy version of this design. It pairs with a plain T-shirt and sneakers for warm-weather casual, and it layers under a hoodie when you want a sport-casual outfit rather than pure athletic kit. The white, orange and green colorways change the visual weight considerably — the branding reads much louder on the lighter options. If you want the shorts to stay neutral, black is the safest of the four.
Price and value
At $7.46 USD, the bar this pair has to clear is simple: does it look and behave like a real garment rather than a filler item? In our session it did. The seams were tidy, the drawstring hardware was functional, and the color was even across both legs. Value at this price is not the question — verified performance over a season is, and that is where the missing documentation matters.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product | Foreign Trade black athletic shorts in sport-casual style |
| SKU | 7720570468 |
| Brand / category | Foreign Trade (Pants) |
| Price | $7.46 USD (listed original $8.51) |
| Main fabric | Polyester, slight stretch |
| Cut | Five-point (mid-thigh), straight leg, drawstring waist |
| Sizes | M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL |
| Colors | White, black, orange, green |
| Availability | In stock at review date |
What we could not verify
There are no independent buyer claims attached to this listing, so durability, colorfastness after washing and long-term print adhesion sit outside anything we can confirm from a single session. Our assessment covers what we could hold, measure and photograph. Before ordering, message the seller for flat waist, hip and inseam measurements in your intended size and compare them with a pair of shorts you already own — that single step removes most of the risk here.