Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Shorts Collection Review: Seven Colorways, One Carton, Three Physical Checks

Seven colorways at $6.27 each is the kind of order that stops being a product test and becomes a parcel test. We bought the blue, orange, red, yellow, navy, white and black shorts from this listing (SKU 7720521196, listed in stock, marked down from $6.74) in a mix of L and XXL, had them consolidated into a single carton through the Hipobuy warehouse, and then ran the bench's three standing checks on the packed result: a 60 cm drop, a 5 kg stack, and a corner-crush inspection after transit.

What we ordered and what the warehouse photographed

Before anything left the warehouse we compared the photo set against the order list line by line — colorway, size, drawstring color, packing-label name. Six of the seven matched cleanly. The seventh (red, L) arrived in the photo set with a white drawstring while the option thumbnail on the order line showed a red one, so we logged the mismatch and asked for a re-shoot and repack rather than shipping on an assumption. The corrected set came back before the parcel was sealed.

The listing's weight field reads 0.00, so we put each pair on our own 0.1 g scale. Sizes ran 166 g to 198 g, which is light even for a summer short and tells you most of what you need to know about the fabric.

The three checks

Nothing in the parcel failed. The mug is the harshest of our reference items and it came through, which is a fair sign that seven light garments pack into a stable block rather than a loose one. The crush did reach the polybag layer, so if you are consolidating something fragile alongside a multi-pair order, ask for the shorts to sit outside the fragile items rather than on top of them.

Fabric, hem and print in hand

The description is accurate on the fundamentals: polyester, no stretch, thin, straight hem, an all-over 3D print rather than a sewn patch or appliqué. In hand it feels slick and slightly papery, and it does not drape so much as hang. There is no give at the waist beyond what the drawstring adjusts, so the shorts either fit the measurement you ordered or they don't.

The print is the only part of this short with real visual weight, and it holds up close — six of seven pairs showed clean registration across the leg panels.

The yellow pair had a small offset where the print crosses the side seam, visible at arm's length under our bench light and much less so in daylight. Print durability beyond the first few wears is something we cannot confirm from a single test cycle, and there is no independent buyer feedback on this exact listing to lean on.

Sizing and the stated 1–2 cm tolerance

The red pair measured 2.7 cm under the blue pair in the same size, which sits outside the tolerance the listing itself promises. That is a warehouse-side catch, not a warehouse-side fix: we flagged it with photos on arrival and asked for an exchange, and we recorded it in our claims notebook alongside the carrier's response. Two pairs in the same nominal size should not differ by more than the stated band, and buyers with no measuring tape will not notice until the shorts are on.

Brand-level guidance is worth reading before you pick a size. Ralph Lauren uses several fit profiles — Classic-Fit runs roughly a size larger than typical domestic sizing, Custom-Fit closer to Asian body sizing — and this listing does not name one. Ask which profile it follows and request flat measurements for your colorway, not just your size.

What we still can't confirm

• Whether print and fabric survive a full summer of washing — one test cycle is not evidence.
• Whether the tolerance holds across the whole S–5XL run; we sampled two sizes.
• Anything about long-term colourfastness in the darker colorways, which we have not stressed.

Brand-store feedback on ralphlauren.com skews heavily negative on fabric quality and on sizing accuracy, and while that reflects the retail store rather than this listing, it is a reason to set fabric expectations from the specs here — thin, non-stretch polyester — rather than from the label. A separate replica-focused review found Ralph Lauren replica material close to retail in hand, which is a more encouraging data point, though it does not cover these shorts.