I love sunshirts. I am a pale, pasty white girl, and I'm also chubby, so becoming tan does not magically turn me into a sleek teenager. Also, I really don't want skin cancer and it's suddenly cool to not want skin cancer, so for once in my life I am onto something cool at the right time.
Meanwhile, riders figured out there was even more overpriced apparel that they were not purchasing, and so begins THE SUNSHIRT TREND!
Except at my barn, which exists in its own little corner of the world (that's a rant for another post). Every single time I wear one of these, a parent asks me "Aren't you hot?!?" No, I'm not wearing a goddamn sweatshirt. It is TECHNICAL APPAREL that is PROTECTING MY SKIN. Moving on...
Let me start off by saying that I am actually not nuts about IceFil. It seems like a nice idea, but I don't feel any cooler wearing it. I bought the icefil Kerrits tights thinking that I was going to be so much cooler, when actually I felt like I was wearing fleece lined leggings in August (not a good idea.) So I popped those suckers on ebay and decided to give the shirts a go.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, I will try to get some to fill in this post.
1. Bette and Court Cool Elements
This one is probably my favorite sunshirt. The price is unfortunately kind of gagworthy at $76 per. However, these are lightweight, come in awesome colors, the fit is good and not skintight, and they wash great and are very durable. I wore mine in 98 degree heat in Orlando at Disney World for an entire day and was noticeably cooler and suffered less feeling of sun overexposure. I would like to have more, but I seem to have trouble finding the colors I want - these can be hard to find. The local tack shop here does sell them (for full price, plus absurd CT tax...) so if I get desperate I go there, EquusNow also sells these and so does Dicks Sporting Goods (where I usually buy from). I wear a Large and it is a little loose, but that seems to help the cooling factor.
2. Riding Sport CoolBlast
This one is okay. It's pretty similar to the Bette and Court, the fit is maybe a little closer to the body. Color selection is kind of limited in my opinion (I have the Pomegranate color, which is a hot reddish pink color) and it's not as well finished as the Bette and Court. If these were like $49, I'd buy more of them, but the sale price is now $59, which is just kind of high. I'd rather spend $16 more and get the Bette and Court, personally. For those of you tall folks, this one seems to run short in the body. I'm super short so they're all long on me, this one is the shortest which might be its redeeming property. I don't feel as cool on really hot days wearing this as I do wearing the Bette and Court, possibly due to the slightly looser fit in the B&C. I have this in a Large.
3. Tailored Sportsman IceFil
I wasn't that impressed with these. Price is good, so if you're choosing between the Riding Sport and the TS I'd just spend the money and upgrade, but the mesh under the arms is flimsy and the colors are kind of strange. The apricot color is NOT a good look for pasty white girl with dark hair, just FYI. I returned the one I bought because I couldn't see keeping it when the B&C is $9 more. If you can find a miracle unicorn sale when TS is actually discounted, buy them then. I tried the Large and it fit okay.
4. Smartpak Sunshirt (whatever these are called, I'm too lazy to look them up)
These are okay. These are also overpriced (see my next post below). Color selection is limited and bizarre. These don't have mesh under the sleeves and they aren't the same "perforated" fabric that the B&C, RS, and TS are. I am 99% convinced these are made by NoZone so...
5. NoZone Tuscany Sun Protective Shirt
These are $34 on amazon and as best I can tell are identical to the Smartpak shirts. No mesh under the arms, but the fabric is light and pretty cool, and they have a nice short mock neck that doesn't look like a turtleneck on me. It's not breeze-right-through-it thin but I think it does a good job of keeping me dry and I never feel sun-scorched. The sleeves run absurdly long, for those of you with monkey arms - I have T-Rex arms so for me, I need to cuff these. However, the price is good and the Amazon color selection is better (though still nada compared to B&C) and sizing is randomly available. I bought the L and XL and the XL was huge - I wear a street size 12 (I'm busty) and the XL was probably a 20. The L was more like a 14, but was still bigger than my B&C and RS in the L size. The light gray color is really nice and would make a nice clinic type shirt or even shirt for under a show coat if you were into that type of thing.
6. Vapor Apparel Sun Protective Long Sleeve T
These shirts are the shit. I'm not even making this up. They are $21, lightweight, stretchable, breatheable, FLATTERING, and did I mention they're $21? These fit much closer to the body than the RS and B&C shirts do, but in an athletic sort of way that you have room to move. The colors are nice, they wash super well, and the sizing is much more normal (I wear a L here as well). I own the light pink, light gray, light blue, and white and think they need to make a dozen more colors so I can wear these all summer. They are really breezy to wear, a really nice super lightweight microfiber, and the neck is properly finished so they don't rub anywhere. I LOVE THESE STUPID SHIRTS! If you want a looser fit, the mens ones are also available and they come in a lot more colors. These are $21 with free shipping and free returns from Amazon. Can't beat it with a stick.
A note for those of you this matters to: The NoZone shirts are made in Canada. I do like to support brands that don't manufacture in third world countries, so this is another reason to buy these especially since they're 1/2 the price of other sunshirts. Vapor Apparel is USA made.
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