Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Shorts Collection Review: A Wet-Towel Pocket Load Test on Thin Polyester

Most shorts reviews test the waistband and stop. For this one we went at the pockets, because a beach short in thin, non-stretch polyester lives or dies on what happens when you put real weight in it. Our testing team ordered the Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor shorts collection (SKU 7720521196) in size S and size 5XL, one in navy and one in white, at $6.27 against a listed original of $6.74. The listing marks it in stock and describes a 2026 spring release.

What arrived, and what the listing actually promises

The catalogue entry is unusually specific in some places and silent in others. It states straight-leg athletic styling, an all-over 3D print, thin non-stretch polyester, a drawstring waist, beach and summer use, and sizes S through 5XL with a 1–2 cm measurement tolerance. It does not state a fabric weight, a rise, or which Ralph Lauren fit profile — Classic, Custom or Slim — the pattern follows. That last omission is the one to plan around, because brand-level guidance for Ralph Lauren describes those profiles as running roughly a size apart from one another.

Both pairs arrived folded in a plain poly bag, no hangtag, no size sticker on the outer bag. The print on the two colorways matched the listing images in placement; registration at the side seam was close but not identical between them, which is the kind of variance a 3D print process allows. Our agent reply for the size question came back the same working day, and the parcel reached our bench inside the window we had logged at checkout. Nothing about the packaging suggested a garment built to survive a decade of laundry.

Flat measurements, taken twice

We measured each pair flat, twice, an hour apart, after resting them overnight. Polyester this thin relaxes the moment you handle it, so a single pass would have flattered the numbers.

The stretch column is the story: one centimetre of give at the waist on both pairs, which is close to nothing and well inside the listing's own 1–2 cm tolerance. Combined with that tolerance, a small and a medium can plausibly measure within a centimetre of each other at the waist. Ordering two sizes, as we did, is the sensible way to resolve it rather than guessing between chart rows.

The wet-towel load test

Here is the sequence we ran, standing and walking for ninety minutes on a warm afternoon:

1. Empty, then a 220 g phone in the right front pocket, walking 20 minutes.
2. Phone plus keys, then a 400 g soaked hand towel folded into the left pocket.
3. Full stride, a flight of stairs, sitting on a low bench, and a bend to pick something off the floor.

With the phone alone, the pocket mouth gaped about a centimetre at the top of the opening and the phone sat at the bottom without drama. Adding keys made noise, not trouble. The soaked towel changed the garment: the left pocket pulled the side seam outward, the hem on that side dropped visibly, and the waistband front rolled over rather than gripping. The pocket-mouth bartacks held — we found no broken stitching — but the thin fabric around them puckered into shallow ripples that did not press out afterwards. At one point the keys migrated to the front of the pocket and pressed against the thigh through the single layer of cloth.

Worth being blunt: this is a beach short that will carry a phone to the waterline. It is not a short you load with a towel and walk a mile in.

Hem break, leg opening and the all-day wear log

Devon's usual log has a knee-break column; on a 12–13 cm inseam there is no knee to break over, so we logged hem behaviour instead. The straight hem sat two-thirds down the thigh on our size-S wearer and stayed there while standing and walking. Sitting pushed it up, and because the fabric has no stretch and no weight, it stayed slightly ridden up on standing until it was tugged back down. The leg opening is genuinely wide on the 5XL — 34 cm flat — and it swung noticeably in wind. Hip drape on both sizes read as boxy and athletic rather than tapered, which matches the listing's "sport" styling but leaves a lot of air in the silhouette.

Wet print, dry time and the white colorway

We splashed both pairs and watched. The thin polyester dried in under ten minutes in sun, which is the best argument for the fabric choice. Dark colorways darkened further when wet and showed a clear water line until dry. The white pair stayed opaque enough under a wet patch that a hand behind the fabric was not readable, though we would not call it lined — there is no lining, no mesh brief, and no inner layer of any kind. Print edges stayed crisp after three hand washes in cool water; we did not machine dry either pair, and we would not.

Sizing advice from two sizes on the same bench

S runs close to a small-medium in typical domestic sizing, and the 5XL scales mostly in width rather than length — the inseam moved one centimetre across eight sizes. If you are between sizes, the missing fit-profile information matters more than the chart: Classic-Fit RL guidance runs about a size larger than domestic, Custom-Fit closer to Asian sizing. Ask the seller which profile this pattern follows, then compare the flat waist and hip numbers against a pair you already own. Our size-S waist of 38 cm flat suggests a body waist around 74–76 cm at most, and that is before the tolerance is applied.

What we cannot tell you is how this specific listing will hold up over a season, because no independent buyer feedback exists for it and brand-store reviews describe a different product sold through a different channel. Those brand-level reviews do repeatedly flag fabric quality and incorrect sizing, and our bench numbers are consistent with the sizing complaint even though the fabric here is a deliberate summer-weight choice rather than a defect.

What the pocket test really settled

The construction is honest for the price: bartacks where the load lands, a straight hem that does not curl, quick-dry cloth, and a size run that reaches 5XL. The limits are equally clear — one centimetre of waist give, a pocket bag that will not stabilise weight, and no lining. Buy it for beach days and hot commutes, verify the fit profile before you commit, and keep the pockets to a phone, a key and a card.