Since I didn’t do any races over the weekend and I’m totally
dreading the Burgers & Beer 5K tonight (only because it’s freaking hot out
and I’m afraid my head is going to explode during the race) I thought I’d do a
little post on my absolute favorite piece of running apparel: the Oiselle Bum
Wrap Skort. If you are a dude and are
reading this (unless you have a wife, girlfriend, sister or mother who run and
are in need of a gift) you might as well go elsewhere and remember to come back
tomorrow to see what I have to say about the Burgers & Beer 5K.
Anyway – I have long had troubles with summer running
bottoms. Shorts are often too short and require copious amount of Glide to keep
the chafing (less pleasantly called Chub Rub) on my thighs to a minimum. And I’m not huge by any means – if they eat, most
women have thighs that touch. I also hate that shorts often creep up between my
thighs – a look that flatters no-one (this includes guys – I see a ton of guys
who will probably need to have their shorts surgically removed when their run
is finished). I also have a couple of pairs of compressions shorts – basically tights
that only go down to about mid-thigh.
These are OK, but if you’re having a fat-day or have any body-issues
they aren’t great. Plus I only really
feel like I can wear these kind of shorts with longer length tops that afford
some ass coverage. Bully for you if you look like a fitness model from the
Athleta catalog, but most of us do not and we prefer to camouflage our lumps
and bumps.
Despite the hate from various bloggers (Angry Runner, I’m
looking at you) running skirts/skorts seem to be the answer. Skorts have either a boy short (not so great
for the chafing) or compressions shorts under the skirt. Over the years I have purchased examples from
many, many of the running skirt purveyors:
Skirt
Sports: Eh. They are OK. The undershort is long, but not the grippiest and it’s
a little see-through for my taste – don’t try wearing this to an exercise class
where you might have to lie on your back or expose your bum because you’ll wind
up exposing more than you’d like. They do have cute patterns and a couple of
lengths to choose from and because they are lighter weight they are good for
hot weather.
Lululemon:
Hands down the cutest skirts around. And,
often the most expensive. But, Lulu seems to assume most of us don’t deal with
chafing because their undershorts tend to be on the short side. You can get around this if they offer the
skirt in tall sizes – the skirt and shorts will be a couple of inches longer. I
love me some Lululemon but I can’t wear most of their skirts on really hot days
unless I load up on the Glide.
Moving
Comfort: I bought one of their Sprint Tech skorts earlier this year and it’s
been a pretty good workhorse. The undershort
is long enough and stays in place. However – it just doesn’t excite me and they
tend to use colors that match well to their own line but don’t lend themselves
to mix/match with other brands. The
skort I bought is black but the undershorts are sort of zebra patterned – eh.
And now, on
to my super-ultimate favorite, the Oiselle Bum Wrap Skort. This skort has it
all – the undershorts are long and they don’t move, the fabric is sturdy (but
doesn’t make me overheat) and mine have held up through multiple wear/wash
cycles (note: I do not put my running gear in the dryer). The skirt isn’t tight
and doesn’t hug so you get some cooling breezes and it’s long enough to cover
your ass but because of the cut it looks fresh and flirty. It has a zip pocket
that has enough room for $, a key, and a gel. It comes in three basic colors:
black, graphite (shown in the picture) and an indigo blue. They go well with
other Oiselle gear, but look equally great with tops & tanks from any other
maker. Are they a little spendy? Yes – they are $56, but at least they back up
the price with quality fabric and construction. My only request would be for an
internal drawstring so I could tighten the waist if I wanted to clip on a pack
and not have it jiggle. I’ve worn one of these skorts for just about every race
I’ve done since the spring and all my longer runs too and it’s really nice to
wear a piece of clothing that I don’t even think about while I’m running. I
bought my first two from the Oiselle website, but in Chicago Fleet Feet carries
Oiselle at both of their stores and that’s where I got my third skort – sizes run
from x-small to x-large and tend to run just a little bit on the small side.
So, if you’re
in the market for a running skort I highly recommend trying out the Oiselle Bum
Wrap skort. They’re a smaller brand but they really make quality gear. I 'borrowed' the image below from the Oiselle website, but I don't think they'll mind since I'm gushing about their product.
No comments:
Post a Comment