EXACTLY!!!
I still have and wear wool show coats, and a few cotton show shirts. There really is an appreciable difference when I get to swap out my wool sidesaddle jacket for a new softshell or mesh jacket, both in temperature comfort and ease of motion comfort.
You don’t have to spend a fortune anymore to get the “in” thing, because as others have mentioned, there’s a lot available at a lot of price points, and more brands mean things actually go on sale sometimes, unlike TS. It helps if you’re somewhere that you have access to a wide variety of brands to try things on, even if it’s at a consignment shop, just to see what fits. I think that’s why a lot of stuff ends up looking bad–so many of the technical materials are not forgiving, even if they’re comfortable, so fit is even more important than with wool, for instance, which can hide a bit more.
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For jumpers, I am seeing and selling: gray and burgundy coats, coats with piping, wide brim helmets, helmets with a bit of chrome or rose gold trim, silicon grip breeches, short sleeve show shirts with some detailing or mesh. A bit of conservative coordination is very popular too - you can match the piping on your bonnet, saddle pad and coat, for example.
It seems to me that a lot of the old unspoken ‘rules’ are relaxing. Wear the helmet or the breeches that fit you best, not a GPA and Tailoreds because it’s what you have to have. Dress boots or field, three button coat or four… it’s what you prefer and what works with your body and budget!
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I’ll chime in with something I hate! Those breeches with the black marks on the thighs. So distracting and ugly. Why are they there!!!
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I first saw these when I went to see a friend compete at Washington this year. I hadn’t been to a rated show in over a season. I thought the same thing! Worst idea ever. I guess if you pay $400 for your breeches, you want to be sure everyone knows it.
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I saw a burgundy jacket at a local hunter show this weekend. I, actually, walked up to the ring to get a better look at it to see if it was one of the AA mesh jackets. It wasn’t. I thought it looked nice. Maybe they will make their way into the hunter ring. I would never be fashion forward enough to do it. I am not confident enough in my riding to be the one that stands out! It would look smashing on my grey horse.
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The rules would have to change first. Unfortunately burgundy is not one of the allowed colors listed in the rules (black, navy, grey, green, and brown).
I also quite like them!
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Someone should make a brown coat, with a hint of reddish. I bet that could be done really pretty!
There are plenty of French blue jackets going around.
LOL, have one - Grand Prix circa 2005 with a gorgeous pale pink lining. 100% wool and like wearing a sweat suit - I wish current hunter style would go back towards the gorgeous windowpane plaids and lovely wool patterns and linings…in the new tech fabric of course!
You will be happy to hear that CO is now offering removable liners in some of their helmets. The “Plus” designation means the liner is removable. Right now, the AYR8 and the Pro II skullcap come with the removable liners but I bet there will be more coming soon.
Oh good! I’ve had CO helmets I’ve really liked but man once they stunk, they stunk real bad and there was no undoing it since the liner didn’t come out.
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I’m really happy to hear about CO helmets with removable linings! That is the exact reason I went with Samshield. I do think the rounder shape looks better on my head, but I was so tired of my helmet smelling that I just decided it was time to break up with CO. I love the leather look and it is now back on my list of “wishes” to buy if it has a removable lining!
Also - for fashion trends. Ruespari belts are really popular on social media right now. Really cool idea - I do not have one but I think they look great. I actually do have a knock off one, but the only thing I do not like, due to the stretch, they don’t hold up your breeches as well as leather belts do! Love the fun colors and patterns for schooling.
Oh! And CO now makes a Round Fit version of their helmets, too! It’s the “R” designation. Very helpful for those who want the CO look but have a round head.
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I know Dover and SmartPak carry them. I don’t see a way to order the round fit on the Dover website but if you call the 800 number, they are definitely in the stores. SmartPak has a drop down box online that you can select Regular or Round fit. I don’t know about the other big retailers.
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Of course, the high end brands have gotten much more expensive! 10 years ago a $500+ Grand Prix was the upper end, and now they are several brands pricing at $600-1000!
Does anyone know if we are seeing a shift away fromP Parlantis? I’ve seen a lot of used ones for sale recently, but not clear on what people are replacing them with.
I have Parlantis it seems like I still see a lot of Parlantis.
And
Yeah it’s always hard to judge from the resale market.
Our local second hand saddle market is suddenly flooded with CWD and Voltaire because we have local reps for those brands. I am wondering if this represents people who are switching horses or growing taller, and plan to buy a new CWD? Or if this represents people who bought but couldn’t make the CWD work for them, and have found another brand?
If it’s teen sizes (16 inch seats in saddles, super skinny shafts in boots, size 24 breeches) and only lightly used, I’d say tweens in a growth spurt.
With semi custom boots and saddles there’s always a certain percentage that never fit and get sold on. When Schleese started aggressively marketing here a few years back there was an uptick in secondhand nearly new saddles “owned 3 months does not fit horse.” That seems to have levelled out.
And of course going to a show and watching isn’t that useful because it all looks the same from the rail unless the brand has a distinct design feature (like giant visible logos).
That might be a new thread, the specific question “are Parlantis still the ultimate boot or is something coming along that’s replacing them?”
I expect the answer would vary by region and level.
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