Fashion advice for a dressage re-rider

[wanderlust]

Hi friends- for the past 15 years I’ve been away from dressage-land, playing at hunter princess. After landing at a dressage barn with my lovely new young import (who was supposed to be a hunter), I’ve rediscovered my love for it.

We are taking him to NEDA fall to do the training level tests, and I need clothes. All I have left from back in the day is my beautiful wool Pikeur Diana coat and I’m pretty sure I don’t fit into it at this point. So please, please, point me in the direction of your favorite coats (preferably any color but black), shirts, breeches and boots!

Bonus points for horse fashion - I’m drooling over some of the super elaborate browbands.

[outerbanks77]

The AA Platinum MotionLite jacket is really popular for those of us who show in hot weather. It is mesh to allow air flow and comes in several colors, and is nice and comfy and stretchy.

Browbands - I really love the ones from equiture.biz I just bought new ones for my girls. There is a long thread on here about browbands if you scroll down a little bit you can see a lot of examples.

Also, the dress rules were just changed, so you no longer need to wear light colored breeches, and the jacket color rules are also loosened up.

[outerbanks77]

My girls in their new Equiture bling, though they weren’t very interested in modeling.

[wanderlust]

Those are soooooo pretty! Thank you!

[hoopoe]

for a young horse and returning rider I would stay away from spotlight bling browbands.

Take a look at the rules and see they have really loosened up , Your hunter ring clothes are likely fine, but if you want to go shopping then know that you have far more choices than black and white.

I personally liked Petrie Dressage dress boots ( no zippers) for their easy break in and comfortable foot bed ( I have big feet)

[SAB]

Yes, given the relaxation in rules, I’ve been thinking about taking a few lovely hunt costs that I still have and putting velvet collars and fancy buttons on. I doubt many people will notice 3 vs 4 buttons.

[Scribbler]

I would think at a training level test you could wear hunter gear.

I have no idea how fast ammies on a budget will adopt the new color possibilities. I bet it varies by area. Also whether everyone needs new bigger breeches after a year of lockdown

If you don’t want to stick out you need to test the local waters somehow. Is there a show you can spectate at or view photos?

It’s possible that everyone will stick with white and black because they already have the gear, or that you will see a rainbow of gorgeous subdued color outfits. Always interesting to see how well colors “read” from the sidelines. Also worth deciding if you like a monochrome look (jacket and breech the same color) or like the breeches lighter, even if not white.

I bet it will vary a lot, based on a combination of how traditional people feel and how much cash they have to spend, and how close they live to good tack stores.

Anyhow I would just go in hunter gear and see what everyone else looks like. But I’m a big fan of not buying too much before I need it, partly out of thrift but also trying to counter act aspirational hoarding which I did feel a tug towards as a young person. Now I worry I jinx aspirations by getting the gear too soon :).

[hoopoe]

velvet collars are not really a thing you see a lot of.

My favorite color is very dark hunter green and I would love to see that in the ring.

I personally like frock coats which have a longer cut over a conventional hunt coat. It may be a bit challenging to find them in anything but black and dark navy. Fit is also pretty specific to the different lines so finding a store where you can try them on is good. The bodice / upper part of the coats tend to be more fitted. If you go to try on, wear a fitted show shirt and your usual athletic bra to try them on. If you are going to spring for new clothes, get with a shop who understands the dressage trends.

If you dont have that, start with your conventional hunter ring style.

overall the dressage show ring trends to less fashion concern than the hunter . People will wear the same clothing line until they fall apart. You dont see the latest yearly must have

[outerbanks77]

@hoopoe

I personally like frock coats which have a longer cut over a conventional hunt coat.

See, I don’t really like those for lower levels where the rider is posting, and especially recommend against if you’re wearing sticky full-seats or have a sticky type leather seat on your saddle that can grab the fabric at all. I have one, but I’m saving it for second level.

[Pezanos]

Just remember that the rule change allowing colored breeches, etc., doesn’t go into effect until December.

[netg]

Fir browbands:

by DancingPonyDesigns

She also has an updated Facebook page with the same name. She has custom made me three now, 1 for myself and 2 for gifts because mine is holding up too well to justify buying myself another

[DLee1]

Thanks for that link, they are beautiful! I just ordered a black sparkly one for my homebred boy, I qualified for regionals in First Level for the first time ever so this makes it extra special.

[outerbanks77]

Fun! Can’t wait to show my girl with the blue one next weekend. Matches my coat.