Foreign Trade Red Shorts in Everyday Casual Style Review: A $4.93 Drawstring Summer Short, Measured

Foreign Trade's red drawstring short is the kind of listing our desk usually scrolls past: a $4.93 summer short, six or seven colors depending on which line you read, sizes M through 4XL, and no buyer record attached to it. We ordered it anyway, in red, and ran it through the same routine we use on everything we feature — flat measurements, a fabric gauge reading, a closure cycle count, and two weeks of real wear.

What we found is a genuinely light, genuinely inexpensive warm-weather short that held up better than its price suggests. What we also found is a listing that argues with itself in two places, which matters more here than on a pricier item, because there is no third-party fit data to fall back on.

What the listing actually states

Everything below comes from the product page and the underlying source listing, SKU 7717539167. We have kept the seller's wording where it is contradictory rather than smoothing it out.

What we checked in the bay

Our reviews editor took the pair in first and logged flat measurements on the bench: relaxed waistband, stretched waistband, hem opening and outseam on our size L sample. The fabric went under the digital micrometer at the hem, the seat and one side seam. We then ran the drawstring through 500 open-and-close cycles on the clip rig to see whether the cord frayed, the channel snagged, or the knot slipped with repetition.

Two things stood out. The cord and channel came through the cycle run intact — no fraying at the aglet, no visible stitch pull where the cord exits. And the fabric gauged thin and consistent across all three points, which matches the "thin, breathable" description rather than contradicting it.

The stretch question is where our sample settles the argument for us: measured recovery leaned toward the "slight" end of the scale, not "high." It moves, it does not compress. If you are choosing between sizes because you expect a high-stretch short to forgive a tight waistband, size up instead of counting on stretch.

Wear, washing and how the red behaves

Three staff households ran the shorts for two weeks on morning and evening walks and around the house, which is where a drawstring waist gets tested: it stayed tied, did not dig in at the mid-rise line, and the side pockets held a phone without swinging. The shorts went through three home wash cycles on cold and air-dried. Drying time was quick, and we saw no visible bleed onto a white tee left in the same load, though we would still wash the red separately the first time.

Fit and sizing, where the caution lives

There are no published waist, hip or inseam figures on this listing. That is the main risk on the product, and it is not a small one: the same page calls the cut both a mid-thigh "five-point" short and a "long-tube" style, and we have no buyer claims to check either claim against. Our sample measured as a true mid-thigh short with a straight hem, but leg length can shift between colorways and size runs at this price point.

Before ordering, ask the seller for flat waistband and inseam measurements for your target size. Treat fabric and fit notes as catalog copy until they are confirmed.

Belt wearers should note the absence of belt loops or a belt entirely — the drawstring is the only closure. If you need a belt channel, this is not the short.

Price, availability and retest

At $4.93 against a $5.82 list, this is a low-risk purchase on price alone, and it is currently listed as in stock. Our retest is scheduled twelve months out, and sooner if the fabric blend or closure design changes; a change in either would move the score with it.

Read as a whole, this is a competent cheap summer short with a thin polyester-spandex hand, a drawstring that survived our cycle rig, and a fit you will have to verify yourself. Buy it for the price and the weight, not for the sizing information, because there isn't any.