FITS Show Shirts

I know I mentioned that TOTD had my all time favorite FITS Claire show shirts on the site a while back.  They had weird colors I hadn't heard of listed, but I am so obsessed with the FITS Claire shirt that I already have, I didn't really even consider what the color options were, I just bought them.

My Grandmother always said, if you find a pair of fabulous shoes (read: heels) that you can wear for more than 4 hours, buy them in every color, even the green.  (I figure the 4 hour rule also applies to show clothing... if it's comfy all day, go for it).

By that rationale, I figure my two extra show shirts were hardly an extravagant purchase as they wear like iron and have proven themselves to be extremely comfortable in every horrid weather condition that inevitably happens on a show day.

Anyway, since I've already posted on this, I'll spare you my full schpiel, though you can re-read it here.

When the shirts arrived (in relatively quick fashion for TOTD), I really wasn't sure what "dove stripe" or "pink/white" would look like.  There was a very real possibility that had ordered one shirt festooned with birds and that the other would likely make me look more like a candy cane than a polished equestrienne.

Fortunately for me, the people at FITS aren't morons and the colors were lovely.  In fact I'm a little obsessed.  I even thought about asking my trainer if I could go in the leadline class at the next show just so I could wear one before next year.

My photos are a tad off in terms of color balance (damn you camera phone!) but you get the idea.  The pink is a gorgeous salmon with a thin white stripe, and the "dove stripe" turned out to be a white shirt with a grayish-lavanderish stripe.  Both look gorgeous with my dark gray coat and the pink also looks really sharp with my brown coat.  Plus somehow both shirts make it look like I actually have some color in my skin as opposed to the rather charming pale/translucent pallor that most Seattle-ites are rocking after a long gray winter...

beautiful

striping detail

In terms of sizing, my original (blue) shirt is a M.  I typically wear a 30L breech (or 8/10 in normal clothes) and a 12T or 14T hunt coat (depending on how Euro the Euro sizing is..).

This time I ordered another M and an L because I figure I'm not getting skinnier.. and Medium was sold out in the pink :)

Obviously I tried them on (lol) and even 7 (almost 8?) months pregnant, I could hold the M together (given some serious amounts of double stick tape - god bless stretchy fabric!).  The L definitely gained some length in the sleeves (which is good for me), without getting too much extra bulk through the body, so they are definitely cut pretty slim (an L would be fine for me at pre-pregnancy weight too, definitely not too billowy).

In conclusion, even though these things are long gone from TOTD, I really can't sing their praises enough.  Great fabric, great ventilation, great quality.  BUY THEM. Show in them.  Love them.

I assume they ended up on TOTD because FITS is either coming out with new colors or using a new snap vendor on the collars or something.  Regardless, if I was in the market for a show shirt, I wouldn't balk at paying full price for one of these babies.