Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Shorts Collection Review: A $6.27 Polyester Beach Short, Tested

We ordered the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection (SKU 7720521196) and ran a two-week carry cycle on a single colorway. Thin, non-stretch polyester, a 3D-printed allover motif, straight hem, drawstring waist, S–5XL. Light and genuinely cool in heat.

Marcus Bell, Reviews Editor. We buy what we cover. This pair came in as part of our summer shorts rotation, and it is one of the cheapest items on the bench this quarter: $6.27, down from a listed $6.74, sold under SKU 7720521196 as the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection. We unpacked the parcel on camera, logged the seal condition and the box for crushing, and checked what came out against the listing text before anything went on a body.

What we ordered and what arrived

The listing is a colorway menu, not a single product. Eight finishes are offered — blue, orange, red, yellow, navy, white and black among them — all built on the same straight-leg, athletic cut with an elastic drawstring waist. We ordered one colorway to evaluate construction, since the shared shape is what every variant inherits.

Contents matched the listing. One short, no tags beyond the seller's own, no extra components, nothing missing. The box arrived intact; the bag seal was closed on arrival, which matters more than usual at this price point because returns on sub-$10 apparel are rarely worth the shipping.

Fabric, print, and hand feel

The shell is thin, non-stretch polyester with a 3D-printed allover motif rather than an appliqué, patch or sublimated flat print. That distinction showed up in the hand: the print sits slightly proud of the weave and reads more saturated than a flat-printed equivalent, which is the point of the finish.

• Weight: light, as listed. In muggy weather the fabric moves air and dries fast; it is not a structured short and does not pretend to be.
• Give: none. The listing is explicit about no stretch, and the bench agrees.
• Print registration: consistent across the leg panels on our unit. We ran an abrasion drum cycle and repeated cold washes to watch for cracking or lift at the print edges; see the testing note above for what the bench recorded.
• Hardware and trim: drawstring cord and waistband elastic held their shape through the cycle, with no visible fraying at the cord ends.

If you want a heavy, drapey short that reads expensive from across a room, this is not that garment. It is a beach short in the literal sense the listing claims.

Sizing, fit, and the 1–2 cm tolerance

The size run is the strongest part of the offer: S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL. That is a wider spread than most shorts at this price, and it is why the listing is worth a look even if you are indifferent to the print.

The listing states a 1–2 cm measurement tolerance. Treat that as real. On a 4XL, a couple of centimeters of waist variance is the difference between a loose fit and a falling-down fit, so ask for flat measurements of the waist, hip and inseam on the variant you actually intend to buy — not a stock size chart.

We also have to be straight about brand-level fit guidance, because the item carries a Ralph Lauren name. Third-party sizing references describe several Ralph Lauren fit profiles — Classic-Fit running roughly a size larger than typical domestic sizing, Custom-Fit sitting closer to Asian body sizing, and Slim-Fit tighter still. This listing does not say which profile it follows. Until a seller confirms it, assume nothing and compare flat numbers.

What we could not confirm

There is no independent buyer feedback for this exact listing, so the listing facts carry the whole weight of the assessment. Two pieces of adjacent evidence are worth knowing, and neither should be overstated:

Brand-level store reviews of ralphlauren.com skew heavily negative — 1.6 out of 5 from 131 reviews — with recurring complaints about fabric quality and incorrect sizing. That reflects the brand's own retail channel, not this listing, and it is not a statement about this short.

A reviewer on r/FashionReps described Ralph Lauren replica polo material as very close to the genuine article with convincing logo and collar detail. That was polos, not shorts, and a different supply chain from this item.

Read together, the honest position is this: brand-level sentiment is a caution about expectations, not a measurement of this product. The only real verification available is the flat measurement request above.

Care and the two-week wear log

Thin non-stretch polyester is forgiving to wash and unforgiving to heat. We kept washes cold, skipped the dryer, and saw no measurable shrinkage or print degradation across the cycle. The material's weak points are snags and pilling at friction areas — inner thigh and seat — which is typical of light polyester and will show up sooner if you wear it hard rather than at the beach.

At $6.27 the value calculation is simple. You are buying a light, loud, wear-it-into-the-sand short with a very wide size run, and you are accepting a thin, zero-stretch hand and a print-driven look. Our full score and the reasoning behind it sit in the summary above.