Foreign Trade Black Athletic Shorts Review: Chasing the Knee Break on a Five-Point Cut
We ordered the $7.46 Foreign Trade shorts in M and 3XL, measured both flat, and wore them for a full day. The five-point hem clears the knee, the drawstring does the fitting, and the listing still publishes no size chart.
What works
Functional drawstring gives real waist adjustment.
Slight stretch keeps the straight leg from binding.
M-3XL covers a wide waist range at $7.46.
Watch-outs
No published waist, hip or inseam figures.
Script print is thin and surface-level.
Title and spec sheet name different brands.
Who this suits
Warm-weather street-casual wearers who want a cheap black mid-thigh short and will message the seller for flat measurements before paying.
Who should skip
Anyone who needs documented sizing, verified long-term durability, or a print that survives heavy washing.
Our testing desk ordered the Foreign Trade black athletic shorts in two sizes, M and 3XL, in the same afternoon. At $7.46, marked down from $8.51 and listed as in stock, this is the cheapest short we have put through the two-size protocol this season, and the only one that arrived with nothing resembling a size chart. SKU 7720570468. Polyester. Sizes M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL. Colours white, black, orange and green.
Order, dispatch and what came out of the bag
The agent acknowledged the order within a day, the seller dispatched on day three, and warehouse photos of both pairs appeared two days after that. The parcel reached us twelve days after checkout in a plain grey poly mailer with no tissue, no hangtag and no care label in English. Each pair was folded once, the drawstring was loose in the waistband, and the M pair had a light fold crease across the front that dropped out after a night hanging.
The listing itself is thin in a way that matters for a fit review. The product spec names Chenshida as the brand while the title reads Foreign Trade, the recorded weight is 0.00 kg, and no waist, hip or inseam numbers appear anywhere on the page. That is the central problem with this short: the garment is real and it fits, but you cannot size it from the listing alone.
The flat measurements we logged
We measured both pairs on the mat, waistband relaxed and then drawn tight, before anyone wore them.
| Size | Waist, relaxed | Waist, drawn | Front rise | Inseam | Outseam | Hem opening, flat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | 34.5 cm | 45.0 cm | 30.0 cm | 17.5 cm | 44.5 cm | 30.5 cm |
| 3XL | 42.0 cm | 54.0 cm | 33.5 cm | 19.0 cm | 48.0 cm | 34.0 cm |
The hem sits mid-thigh by design, so the inseam figure is short by nature of the cut, not by fault. Doubled, the leg opening runs about 61 cm on M and 68 cm on 3XL, which is a straight leg rather than a tapered one.
Waist gap and hip drape
With the drawstring loose, M left a two-finger gap at the back waist on a 79 cm waist, and 3XL swallowed a 91 cm waist until the cord was pulled. The drawstring is the only fit control on this garment, and it works: cinched, both pairs sat flat without bunching the fabric into folds at the side seam. Hip drape is generous and slightly boxy, closer to a sport-casual shell than a tailored short, and the slight stretch in the polyester keeps the straight leg from binding when you squat.
Knee break: where a five-point short actually ends
This is the measurement the listing never gives you, so we wore each pair for a full day on two frames. On our 178 cm tester the hem finished roughly 8 cm above the kneecap and stayed there through sitting, stairs and a warm afternoon. On a 165 cm wearer the same cut landed with about 2 cm less clearance, which read as a shorter short. Neither pair climbed during wear, but taller buyers should expect the five-point cut to look deliberately brief.
Script lettering and leg patches after a wear day
The front script and the small lower-leg patches are surface-applied and sit slightly proud of the fabric, so they catch light differently from the black ground. After a wear day, one wash inside out on a cool cycle and a line dry, the lettering showed no lifting at the edges and the patches stayed flat. We would not expect either to outlast several seasons of regular washing, and the print is thin enough that a hot iron would be a mistake.
How we would order it
Message the seller for the flat waist, outseam and hem opening of the size you want, then compare those numbers with a pair you already own. Our two sizes differ by 7.5 cm at the waist and 3.5 cm at the outseam, which is a wide run rather than a smooth one, so guessing between M and 3XL is not advisable. Confirm the colour in writing as well, since the title names black while the listing offers four colourways.