Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Shorts Collection Review: A Soak-and-Weigh Drying Test on Thin Polyester

The listing for this Polo Ralph Lauren shorts collection makes three claims worth testing: the fabric is thin, it has no stretch, and it is built for the beach. Two of those are easy to confirm with a tape. The third is a question about water, so we treated it as one — we soaked each pair, weighed it, and weighed it again every 30 minutes until it was back near its dry weight.

What we ordered and how the shorts were measured

We ordered three pairs: navy and white in size L, plus one yellow pair in size M for a second body type. Shorts do not have a chest, sleeve or shoulder, so we substituted the four measurements that actually decide whether a beach short fits — relaxed waist, stretched waist, rise and leg opening — and added the inseam and outseam for length. Each was taken twice on a hard table with a tailor's tape, and we averaged the two readings.

Measurement (size L, averaged)	Our reading	Notes
Waist, relaxed, flat	39.5 cm	Within the stated 1–2 cm tolerance of the chart
Waist, pulled firm	42.0 cm	Only 2.5 cm of give before the fabric stops
Rise, front	30.0 cm	Drawstring channel measured 2.8 cm deep
Inseam	17.0 cm	Straight hem, no taper
Outseam	45.5 cm	Second reading differed by 0.3 cm
Leg opening, flat	31.0 cm	Unchanged after washing
Dry weight	214 g	Bench scale, size L navy

That 2.5 cm of waist give is the number that matters most. With no elastane in the fabric, the drawstring is doing all of the work, so the shorts either sit where the flat measurement puts them or they do not. Our 178 cm tester, who normally takes an L, wore them at the loosest setting; the 165 cm tester took the M and found the rise sat 1 cm lower than she prefers.

Wet weight and dry-down, minute by minute

Each pair was submerged for ten minutes, wrung by hand twice in the same way, then hung on an indoor line at 20°C and 55% relative humidity with no sun and no fan. We weighed at 30-minute intervals and stopped when the shorts were within 3% of their dry weight.

Time on the line	Navy, size L	White, size L	Yellow, size M
Dry	214 g	209 g	196 g
Just wrung	389 g	352 g	340 g
30 min	268 g	244 g	239 g
60 min	243 g	224 g	221 g
90 min	226 g	214 g	208 g
120 min	219 g	211 g	201 g
Time to 3% of dry weight	103 min	86 min	98 min

The dark navy pair held more water to begin with — 1.82 times its own dry weight against 1.68 for white — and it stayed ahead of the white pair all the way down the line. Our working explanation is print coverage: the heavier, darker all-over print lays down more ink per square centimetre, and ink is not the part of the short that wicks. We are reporting the pattern, not proving the cause.

The shorts were dry to the touch at 60 minutes but still 6% above dry weight at 90. On a beach with humid air and no line movement, plan for the longer number.

Where the water stayed

Three places lagged behind the main panels:

• The drawstring cord. Removed and weighed on its own, the cord went from 9 g dry to 13 g at the two-hour mark and was still cool to the touch. A braided cord in a thin short is the last thing to dry, and it is the thing you notice first when you put the shorts back on.
• The waistband channel. The doubled fabric around the drawstring held moisture about 20 minutes longer than the leg panels. Rolling the waistband over the line rather than hanging the shorts by it cut that gap in our second run.
• The hem. The straight hem is a simple turned-and-stitched finish with no bulky tape, and it dried at roughly the same rate as the body of the short. This is the one place the thin fabric works in your favour.

What five 30°C washes changed

Following the room's retest routine, we washed each pair five times at 30°C and air-dried them flat between cycles. Dry weight barely moved (214 g to 213 g on the navy pair). The 3D print held: we found no cracking along the hem fold or across the seat after the fifth wash, though the surface hand went from faintly crisp to fully soft. Dry-down time stretched by about 8 minutes on the navy pair, which we put down to the fabric relaxing rather than to any finish washing out.

Two things did not change at all: the waist measurement and the zero stretch. Five washes did not loosen the waistband, which is good news for shape retention and bad news if you were hoping the shorts would break in.

Reading the listing honestly

The seller's own specification states a 1–2 cm measurement tolerance, and our readings landed inside it. What the listing cannot tell you is how the shorts feel, and there is no independent buyer feedback for this exact item to lean on. Brand-level evidence is mixed and should be read as brand context, not as a verdict on this listing: reviews of the Ralph Lauren online store on Trustpilot skew heavily negative (1.6 out of 5 from 131 reviews) with repeated complaints about cheap fabrics and incorrect sizing, while a Reddit r/FashionReps review of Ralph Lauren replica polos found the material close to retail. Separately, buyer-shared sizing guidance notes that Ralph Lauren runs several fit profiles — Classic-Fit roughly a size larger than typical domestic sizing, Custom-Fit closer to Asian sizing — so confirm which profile this listing follows rather than assuming one.

Care notes that follow from the data

Wash cold, skip the dryer, and hang by the hem rather than the waistband so the channel can drain. If you are packing one pair for a beach trip, the white and yellow colorways we tested will be wearable again sooner than the navy. And because there is no stretch to absorb a misjudgement, order from the flat measurements above rather than from the letter on the label.