Pikeur Ciara - regular or long?

[pattnic]

I’ve been wearing Tailored Sportsman Trophy Hunters for a while, but need some new breeches. With the current exchange rate, it actually makes more sense to buy Pikeur Ciaras from Europe right now than it does to invest in more Trophy Hunters, but I’m a bit unsure on the sizing, specifically the length. Waist size-wise, it seems like I should go with my same U.S. size as I wear in Trophy Hunters, but I wear a long in the Trophy Hunters. Should I go with regular or long in the Ciaras? I’ve tried on the regular, but they’re a bit short… I’m not sure whether a long would be too long.

Anyone with experience care to enlighten me? I’m 5’7"-ish with a 33"-ish inseam, but I’m also short-waisted/short in the rise, so low-rise breeches are not actually low-rise on me.

[snaffle82]

Not sure about the length, but I have found that it is best to size down in the Ciaras vs. Trophy Hunters. I ordered my equivalent size in Ciaras and they are too big. Wearable…but large. I ordered another pair a size down and the fit perfectly.

[GreyGirl]

Definitely buy the long. I don’t think that Pikeurs run as long as Tailored Sportsmans, and at least the old style of Pikeurs have the Velcro on in an annoying way so that the outside is the scratchy part. If the breech is not long enough and ends up high up on your leg, the Velcro doesn’t overlap all the way and scratches your leg all day ??. I think they have a sock bottom style now. I am 5’8"ish and wear the same waist size in both brands, am proportioned like you with short waist, and wear long in both. The cheapest I’ve found is on the Amira Equi website, although their speed of shipping can be quite variable, so don’t expect the order Lockett split!

[keatssu]

You sure can get them for a great price now. I’m 5’ 1.5" and got regular which are not too long. Definitely size down, I’m a 24 in TS, and got a 22 which fit with a little room to spare.

[jen-s]

[QUOTE=GreyGirl;8733228]
and at least the old style of Pikeurs have the Velcro on in an annoying way so that the outside is the scratchy part. If the breech is not long enough and ends up high up on your leg, the Velcro doesn’t overlap all the way and scratches your leg all day ??. I think they have a sock bottom style now. [/QUOTE]

They are sock bottoms.

I’m 5’3" and some change. The Ciaras in regular (I have short legs) fit me only about 3/4" too long. But I like my breeches SHORT. As far as sizing, I don’t wear Trophy Hunters so I can’t compare, but the Ciaras do stretch some. So I’d probably size down. I’m at the very top end of Pikeur sizing and mine fit…barely. Best breeches I’ve owned so I’m willing to let them be a tad snug. They are hella forgiving (at least in navy) to any lumps/bumps/etc.

[JenEM]

@jen-s;8733420

They are sock bottoms.

Not necessarily. I ordered Ciaras from Calevo this spring, and they were velcro bottom, not sock It’s really the only thing I dislike about them, so I deal.

If you have a 33" inseam, OP, go with longs, as that’s about the length of my inseam, and the longs fit me great. I found them to be pretty true to the sizing charts, which was helpful, because the European sizing was a little confusing.

[touchstone]

The Ciaras are quite a bit longer than the TS breeches. But with a 33" inseam, I’d think the longs are probably appropriate. I wear the same waist size in each.

[bjd2013]

I’m would order regular…the longs are super long. Regulars come down to my ankle. I don’t know my inseam, but I’m about 5’7" and am leggy.

[pattnic]

So, for anyone interested, I actually had a chance to try on the sizes in question in both lengths. We played a game called, “I’ll Try On Pants Without Telling You The Size, and You Tell Me Which Ones Look The Best Or Whether They Make You Want To Vomit.”

The unanimous decision (5 people) was to go down a size. In addition to being short-waisted, I have a 12" difference between my hip and waist measurements and, uh, no thigh gap. They fit almost at my waist (2 fingers below my waist/1 finger below my belly button), but actually fit really nicely when sitting in a saddle (no massive gap in the waistband like I get with Trophy Hunters). I will admit they are slightly snug, but I’ve been working on trying to drop a few pounds and given that I NEVER dry my breeches, I think it’s the right call. (Besides, getting a wedding dress that was too small was great incentive to lose weight before my wedding… so fancy new breeches should work just as well or better, right?)

My personal preference was to go with the longs. They are slightly too long, but still just above my ankle bone, and I prefer the slightly too long to the slightly too short (I really am in-between!). I figure this gives me some leeway if I manage to shrink them (which I somehow did with one pair of TS, even washing on cold and air-drying), but also if I do gain a little weight in the future (one pair of my TS definitely fit longer when I weigh less!). If the length is ever a problem, I could always have them shortened a smidge.

The fabric is pretty forgiving in darker colors, and kind of “supports” things that might otherwise jiggle, hence the sizing down. My regular size, while fine, was just not as flattering (imperfections, from pockets to personal lumps were just more visible). Lighter colors, however - ick! I’ll be sticking with Trophy Hunters for show breeches, and maybe spring for getting them tailored in the waist.

So there you have it - my very scientific assessment of fit. This may or may not be useful to someone in the future, but I decided to share this just in case it might be.