Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Shorts Review: A $6.27 Summer Short, Measured

What we ordered, and what landed

We bought the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection through the Kakobuy shopping agent at $6.27 (the listing shows $6.74 as the original price), SKU 7720521196, and it arrived in stock as listed. The warehouse QC set ran to nine images covering the colourways on offer: blue, orange, red, yellow, navy, white and black, each on the same straight-leg athletic cut with a drawstring waist.

Our testing team photographed the parcel untouched, weighed it before cutting the tape, then laid the shorts out and compared them against the agent's QC frames under a 5000K lamp. Pattern placement and colour saturation matched the QC images closely on the two pairs we opened. The drawstring tips, the waistband seam and the hem finish were the three points we checked first, because that is where a printed polyester short of this price usually shows its shortcuts.

Fabric, print and construction

The fibre content is polyester, and the listing is explicit that there is no stretch and that the fabric is thin. That matches what we handled: a light, slightly papery hand with no give across the leg, closer to a swim-short shell than to a cotton-twill short. The pattern is a 3D print rather than a sewn-on badge or appliqué, so there is no patch to lift at the corner after a few washes — the trade-off is that a printed surface on thin polyester shows every crease.

The cut is straight through the leg with a simple hem, a drawstring rather than a belt loop, and an elasticated-waist feel that the drawstring supplements rather than replaces. Seam allowance at the side seam measured 0.8 cm on our size L sample, neatly overlocked, with no loose thread runs at the hem or crotch. For a beach short, the construction is unremarkable in the good sense.

Our caliper and tape readings

One 1–2 cm tolerance is stated on the listing, so treat the figures below as a single sample and ask the seller for flat measurements in your size before ordering. Everything is in centimetres, size L, measured flat.

At 187 g a pair, this is one of the lightest bottoms we have logged this season. Rolled, two pairs fit in a jacket pocket without a bulge — useful if you are packing for a beach trip and want something that dries fast.

Wear trial

We wore the shorts across four warm days in Rotterdam and one beach afternoon, with temperatures between 24°C and 29°C. Breathability is the strong point: the thin polyester moves air well and dried in roughly 25 minutes after a swim, hanging in shade. There is no cling when damp, which a heavier knit short often shows.

The weak point is the same fabric. With no stretch, the waist has to be set by the drawstring rather than by give in the material, and if you sit between sizes you will feel the difference immediately. We would not size down looking for a closer fit; there is nothing in the fabric to absorb the error.

Sizing: the part that needs a message to the seller

The size run is genuinely wide — S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL, 4XL and 5XL — which is more than most listings at this price bother to stock. The complication is not the size grid but the brand's own fit conventions. Ralph Lauren guidance circulating among buyers describes several fit profiles: Classic-Fit runs roughly one size larger than typical domestic sizing, while Custom-Fit sits closer to Asian body sizing. This listing does not say which profile the pattern follows.

Because the listing also states a 1–2 cm measurement tolerance, the reliable route is to ask the agent for the flat waist, outseam and leg-opening figures for your chosen size, then compare them against a short you already own. Our 39.5 cm relaxed waist on size L is the number to test against.

What the evidence base does and does not tell us

There is no independent buyer feedback for this exact item that we could find — no reviews, no fit reports, nothing. The listing facts and our own measurements are the whole basis for this write-up, which is why we have flagged the fabric hand and the fit profile as the two unknowns to resolve before ordering.

Brand-level reviews of the Ralph Lauren online store skew heavily negative — 1.6 / 5 across 131 Trustpilot reviews — with repeated complaints about cheap fabrics, incorrect sizing and items arriving damaged. Those reviews are about the brand's own store, not this listing, but they are a fair warning against assuming consistent quality from the label alone.

On the other side, a buyer review on r/FashionReps of Ralph Lauren replica polo shirts found the material very similar to the genuine article and the logo and collar detailing convincing. It is a single account, it is not about these shorts, and it should not be read as a quality guarantee — only as a signal that RL-branded replicas are not automatically disappointing.

Where it lands

At $6.27 this is a disposable-price summer short that does a specific job well: light, fast-drying, wide-ranging in size, with a printed pattern that needs no embroidery to look finished. It is not a structured short, it has no stretch, and the polyester is thin enough that you will want to see it in hand. If those limits match what you want from a beach short, the value is straightforward. If you need give, weight or a fit you can assume from the size label, keep the expectations low and message the seller first.