Palm Angels Capri Shorts Review: Five-Point Polyester at $3.73, Measured at the Bench
We paid $3.73 for the Palm Angels five-point shorts (SKU 7720603668) and measured them at the Rotterdam bench. Thin non-stretch polyester, a loose cut, and one colourway caveat: here is what matched the listing and what did not.
Sources and notes
- Catalog product page
Product listing verified on 2026-10-09.
Reading contents
We ordered the Palm Angels five-point shorts under SKU 7720603668 through our shopping agent, paid $3.73 against a $4.40 list price, and put the pair through two full working days on Rotterdam pavement on top of our usual bench checks. Palm Angels positions this style as a loose, mid-rise summer short in thin polyester with a wrinkle-free finish. At this money the question is not whether the cloth feels like luxury tailoring — it does not, and nobody buying at this price expects it to — but whether the cut, the measurements and the colour you receive match the listing your agent is buying from.
What we checked at the bench
Our process for shorts is the same one we apply to everything else at the desk: QC photographs from three angles plus a ruler shot, sent over by the agent before anything ships, then flat measurements on our own tape once the parcel lands. The listing quotes a 1–3 cm error range on flat figures, so anything inside that band counts as matched and anything outside it becomes a question for the agent.
| What we checked | Listing | Our bench result |
|---|---|---|
| Flat waist, relaxed and drawn in | Mid-rise, elastic with drawstring clip | Matched the ruler shot inside the stated 1–3 cm tolerance |
| Outseam and leg opening | Loose, straight-leg, five-point length | Read longer on the leg than the "capri" label suggests |
| Fabric stretch | Non-stretch | Confirmed: the waist gives through the tie, not the cloth |
| Print alignment | Allover illustrated face motif | Symmetric across both legs on our pair |
| Parcel weight | Listing weight field reads 0.00 | Logged at the bench before opening so the forwarder's figure could be cross-checked |
Fabric, finish and how it wears in July
The shell is thin polyester with a no-iron treatment and no fleece lining, which is exactly the construction you want for a summer short and exactly what the listing promises. Two working days of walking, tram steps and a warm afternoon left it crease-free straight out of the bag, and it dried fast after a cold hand wash. The trade-off is that polyester at this weight does not breathe like cotton and holds a slight sheen in direct sun. If you are choosing this over a cotton chino short, choose it for the zero-iron convenience and the price, not for airflow.
Sizing: the evidence is genuinely split
Palm Angels sizing guidance is consistent on one point — the brand cuts loose on purpose for a skatewear silhouette, so your usual waist size keeps the baggy look and sizing down gives a closer fit. Beyond that, buyer reports disagree. Some people say their normal letter size was perfect; others describe a waist that fits while the leg runs exaggeratedly long. Our pair sat at the long end of that range, which is worth knowing before you commit to a five-point short you expect to hit above the knee.
- If you want the intended look: take your usual letter size and accept a generous leg.
- If you want something neater: size down, but ask for a second ruler shot first — the tolerance is 1–3 cm and there is no stretch to absorb a miss.
- Either way: request flat waist and outseam from your agent. The M–5XL run is wide, so the letter on the label matters less than the centimetres in the photograph.
The colourway caveat worth flagging before you pay
The listing title says black, while the colour field offers Cool K344 Yellow and Cool K344 Blue-Black. That mismatch runs through the source pages, and it is the single detail most likely to produce a parcel you did not expect. Rep QC threads on budget Palm Angels shorts have questioned colour tone and stripe placement before, with commenters wondering whether lighting was doing the work:
i think. The color looks off, maybe bc of lightning?
We would not treat that as proof of anything for this specific SKU. We would treat it as a reason to have the agent send a daylight photo of the actual pair you are buying, in the colourway you selected, before it enters the consolidation box.
Ordering this pair through a forwarding line
- Confirm the colourway in writing — yellow or blue-black — and get a daylight photograph of that pair.
- Request flat waist, outseam and leg opening with a ruler in shot, and check them against your own measurements rather than the size chart.
- Ask for the shipping weight, since the listing's own weight field is empty; shorts this thin should not be pushing your parcel into the next freight bracket.
- Budget for brand-level risk: Palm Angels customer reviews sit around 1.4 / 5 on Trustpilot, with complaints about quality for the price and slow support. That says nothing about this factory's output, but it does mean you are leaning on your agent, not on the brand, if something goes wrong.
Care
Palm Angels advises hand washing printed pieces at low temperature and ironing inside out to protect the motif. We followed that, and the print showed no fading over the test period. Skip the tumble dryer — thin polyester holds creases when it is hot and shrinks when it is not.
Should I size down in these Palm Angels shorts?
Palm Angels cuts loose on purpose, so your usual letter size keeps the baggy look and sizing down gives a closer fit. Buyer reports disagree on leg length, so ask your agent for flat waist and outseam first.
Is the waist adjustable?
Only through the tie. The waist is mid-rise and elastic with a drawstring closure, and the polyester has no stretch, so there is no give in the fabric itself to absorb a bad fit.
How should I wash printed shorts like these?
Hand wash at low temperature and iron inside out. Palm Angels gives that guidance for its printed pieces to stop the motifs fading, and we saw no print loss following it during testing.