Friday, February 25, 2011

Not happy with your look in breeches? It could be worse...

D'anton Leather (www.dantonleather.com)
You could be wearing a "bodysuit with glitter." These clothes are gorgeous in their own right, and you can see tons more of this amazing leatherwork at the D'anton Leather web site. A lot of it is lambskin and I imagine the rest of it is lycra. I love the western world's pizazz. And, for the woman who has zero body fat, the look is pretty dramatic/eye-catching. But talk about unforgiving! I am grateful that dressage does not require me (or anyone) to wear a bodysuit.  I am thankful that in dressage there a no sequins...

Another thing I love about the western riding look is the hat, though. Personally I'm not a fan of top hats or bowlers, and helmets just look better. Cowboy hats look good on everyone.


10 comments:

  1. Even though I ride western I still follow your blog, and thankfully can say that we aren't required to wear anything as revealing as this! My more expensive show shirt is a tunic that I don't even have to tuck in. It lays flat, has a flattering cut and hides everything that should be hidden :) It does have a pattern and some sparkle, but not quite this extreme by any means. Check out hobbyhorseinc.com.

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  2. We've seen thes at the local shows my oldest rides in (he's seven) when he first saw these outfits he asked "what's with the sparkly clothes? How about they just try to do their best and not try to look fancy?" Funny boy!

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  3. I am not a fan of skin-tight suits or sparkles, but I've always liked the tooled leather and silver conchos on western tack. I also must confess that I like leather or suede fringe. Most of all I like that some western disciplines allow the horse to wear his mane natural (others band, I know). I just love a long forelock, mane, and tail. I used to pull my horse's mane, but finally I decided to give it up including the bridle path. The look is romantic.

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  4. I see ads on Craigslist for western show saddles and people write that it will help you get noticed in the ring. I personally don't compete but I'd rather be noticed for my horsemanship rather than for how much bling I can afford to buy.

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  5. You know, I think the perfect storm of equestrian fashion is to bring the talent *and* the flamboyant inyourface style. One thing's for sure, you don't want to bling out if you're not going to deliver a real performance.

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  6. I remember those days! I was extremely underweight at the time. Underweight, as in I was a teenager working with doctors to try to figure out how to put on weight. The 30 hours riding/week and 5 dance classes resulted in an inability on my part to get to a healthy weight. I didn't tend to look skinny in those outfits. So yeah, they are definitely NOT flattering to your average person! This may be why I now don't even think twice about if my full seat is the right shape for my butt or how little I like the look of tight breechess (which I wear too tight to be flattering, but which are more comfortable to me that way.)

    My experience in those type of outfits:
    I used to do breed shows (quarter horse and palomino) and my trainer made our clothing. Ranging from sequins, glitter, etc., to colored material patches sewn on tuxedo shirts to match the patterns he sewed onto navajo pads in our colors of choice. He didn't charge to make us stuff, and would randomly show up at shows with something new for us. We tended to win nearly everything we competed in, and a lot of people thought it was because we looked the best turned out (and those who didn't know us thought we were rich because of how many outfits everyone in the barn had). Actually, it was because we knew how to use our seats to ask our horses to soften their bodies, and our horses were adjustable to lengthen or shorten stride and quicken or slow our rhythm depending on preferences of the particular judge of the day. We tended to buy the horses who were built for the job but hadn't been trained well, and hadn't been trained hard - so were therefore sound from not having too much early under saddle time.
    I was showing in a saddle we'd purchased for under $200 from an auction with very little silver for western, and a 20 year old hunt saddle which wasn't "in style" at the time, and was nationally ranked.
    Basically, my trainer rode with the same fundamentals as any dressage trainer helping training level students - no wonder I loved him!

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  7. It is fun to wear a little bling now and then. I think the dressage world is loosening up a bit in that regard.

    But, all that being said, there is no way I'd ever look good in those clothes. I rode a bit of western years and year ago and color coordinated horse tack and my own outfits, but nothing like that!!

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  8. I kinda like the visible underwear showing under the white pantsuit!

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  9. Hey I'd love to see you do a post on stock pin fashion. I've got a plain gold one thats probably been handed down a few too many times. It's so blunt that at the last show I was late getting on b/c I couldn't stab it through my stock tie. Everyone else seems to have super cute little pins and I'd like to know what else is out there.

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  10. I can't stand that! I'm so glad I don't have to wear anything like that. www.timsboots.com

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