Palm Angels Capri Shorts Review: Hands-On at $3.73

By Priya Nair, Reviews Editor. We ordered the Palm Angels Capri Shorts (SKU 7720603668) through the Kakobuy agent and worked through the pair at our Rotterdam bench: unboxing notes, a flat-lay measure of the waist and outseam, a close look at the printed face motif, and a hardware and trim check on the drawstring. At $3.73 against a $4.40 original price, the bar this short has to clear is not "does it beat retail" — it is "does it hold up as a cheap summer short."

What the listing promises

The spec sheet describes an allover illustrated face print over a solid-colour base, a loose straight-leg cut, five-point (knee-length) hem, mid-rise elastic waist with a drawstring closure, thin polyester with a wrinkle-free finish, no fleece lining and no stretch. Sizes run M to 5XL in two colourways, Cool K344 Yellow and Cool K344 Blue-Black. The listing also marks a belt as present, which on this style usually means the fabric drawstring belt rather than a separate accessory — worth confirming on your order.

Fabric and construction at the bench

The shell reads as a thin, dry-handling polyester with a flat finish rather than the brushed loopback feel you get on heavier Palm Angels shorts. That matches the wrinkle-free claim: the panels fell flat straight out of the bag and stayed flat through a folding test, which is the main practical argument for this fabric in summer. There is no fleece backing and no stretch at all, so the waist is a true drawstring fit rather than an elasticated one with give.

Stitching along the outseam, hem and waistband channel was even and untensioned on our pair. The drawstring tips were cleanly finished and the channel ran unobstructed, so the tie cinches without fighting the fabric. The print sits on a solid base, and registration across the seam joins held up under 10x magnification — no visible drift between panels, which is where budget printed shorts most often give themselves away.

Print and colour: the black question

The listing title on this SKU references black, but the colour field only offers yellow and blue-black. That is a keyword artefact rather than a hidden third colourway, and it is the single most confusing thing about the page. If you want a black-looking pair, Blue-Black is the variant to ask about, and you should see warehouse photos of that specific variant before it ships.

Budget Palm Angels shorts have a documented colour-tone problem. In a QC thread on a sub-$11 pair, the buyer flagged the shade as looking off against retail, and picked at stripe placement, writing:

"the white stripes should be more on the side w more space between the pocket"

That comment is about a different, stripe-heavy Palm Angels short — the evidence thread does not cover this face-print SKU. We treat it as a warning about what to check, not as a verdict on this item: confirm the ground colour and the print position against a retail reference photo before shipping. Brand-level reviews for Palm Angels itself sit around 1.4 / 5 on Trustpilot, with complaints centred on quality for the price and slow support, which is context about the label rather than about this listing.

Fit and sizing

Palm Angels sizing guidance describes the house cut as deliberately loose and skatewear-rooted: your usual waist size gives the baggy look, one size down gives something closer to a regular fit. Buyer reports on Palm Angels shorts are split in a way that matters here — one haul reviewer said a size large fitted perfectly and advised going true to size, while a sizing discussion found the waist acceptable but the leg length exaggerated even in a short cut.

Because there is no stretch in this fabric, the tie does all the work at the waist. There is no way to compensate for a long leg with the drawstring, so ask your agent for flat waist and outseam measurements on the exact size you plan to order rather than relying on the letter grade alone.

Value at $3.73

A thin, non-iron, loose summer short with a full size run to 5XL for under four dollars is not a hard price to justify. We logged it as a value-first purchase: the construction is tidy, the fabric suits hot weather, and the sizing risk is manageable if you spend the two minutes it takes to request measurements. Expect to pay agent fees, domestic shipping and international freight on top of the listed price.

What we could not confirm

• We found no independent, SKU-specific evidence on this exact listing, so our sizing observations lean on Palm Angels guidance and buyer reports on other Palm Angels shorts.
• The title's black reference does not match the two colourways actually offered; treat the colour field as authoritative and verify the variant visually.
• The listed "belt" entry is ambiguous on a drawstring short and should be confirmed with your agent.

Confirm colourway and flat measurements with your agent before ordering, and keep the print care guidance in mind: printed Palm Angels pieces are advised to be hand washed at low temperature and ironed inside out to slow motif fading.