Monday, January 25, 2016

My eyes are bleeding! (ROOD fail)

There are some folks out there who are always turned out in lovely matching riding sets - polos or boots, saddle pads, browbands, and bonnets for the horses, complimentary clothing for themselves. They always look so tidy and professional, I admit I'm a bit jealous.

Then there's me.

It's not that I TRY to look bad, per se. It's not even that I don't have clothes that would be complimentary with certain saddle pads and browbands (I don't do boots/polos or bonnets, that would just be more things for me to mismatch). It's just that sometimes I make poor life decisions.

Take this lovely ensemble I wore for yesterday's lesson. I love this saddle pad, and I think the fleece is pretty awesome too. However, when combined, they make for a somewhat unsavory set:

Admit it, you WISH you could pull together an outfit this awesome. I'm pretty sure Taran was so embarrassed by my poor choices that he simply couldn't concentrate during yesterday's lesson.

Then there's the scenario when I come in from riding and change into my favorite comfy fleece lounge pants but leave my riding shirt on. This can either be nominally OK (if I'm wearing a solid blue or green shirt) or horribly scarring for anyone who sees me. 

Hubby was too traumatized to let me actually put this set back on for pictures. And this is a man who is partially colorblind!

This show season, I'm looking forward even more truly appalling outfits. You see, if you're wearing a coat and stock tie, it doesn't matter what sort of shirt you have on underneath - nobody can see it. And I got several Kerrits Icefil shirts for Christmas (these are awesome, btw) with some really wild patterns. With a coat, stock, and white breeches, you'll never know about my fabulously loud shirt. BUT... when I'm just walking around between rides, I'll be sporting these shirts along with my favorite pair of coveralls over my white breeches. The result will be something like this:

I am fairly sure this is what dressage princess wannabes are all wearing. 

Are you more the type to have lovely matching ensembles? Or do your outfit choices suggest a certain lack of je ne sais quoi?

26 comments:

  1. Uhhhh I actually like the first outfit, but I generally leave the house looking like a giant blueberry. There's no accounting for taste.

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    1. Hahaha... well, it's blue, that's about all it has going for it.

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  2. I see no issues. Valid reasons for everything- comfy, protecting white breeches, etc. :-)

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    1. Oh the reasoning is solid, just not the color/pattern choices.

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  3. hahaha this is great. Luckily for my trainer, I am mostly terrified of patterns in general. I do pretty consistently push the limits on color combinations though. I really do like to match, but I also get a good chuckle out of not matching at all.

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    1. I'm trying to expand my horizons into something slightly more interesting than solids. I think I may have gone a bit too far here.

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  4. lol though your fashion sense is not for me, I'm sure some of mine is not for you, but it feels like you :) so go with it! Work it girl.

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    1. If I had any fashion "sense", I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to come up with these pairings - either accidentally or on purpose!

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  5. My outfits generally match, but they're really likely to be dirty. In the winter, I will wear the same breeches/shirt for as many rides as possible and then wash them, stack them, and start on a new pair. Then repeat that cycle. In the summer I actually change more often because stuff gets sweaty. At shows I don't have coverall pants and I certainly don't have a groom so my breeches and shirt are likely dirty as well.

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    1. I don't even know how you live without coveralls. I literally take mine off the moment before I get on, and they go back on the moment I get off. There's just no other way for me to keep white breeches any kind of clean!

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  6. I love all the wild Kerrits patterns, too!! I generally try to match when I ride, but that's mostly because I go to work from the barn and want to look semi-presentable to anyone who happens to see me in the office. (Not that it matters THAT much, since I am in tack store.)

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    1. Oh I try to make my shirts and breeches not clash... but other pieces of fabric don't get the same treatment!

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  7. hahahahaha I am matching everything and everyone! Everyday I change handbag, shoes, coat and everything else that needs to be matched with skirt and shirt. And then there comes Hafl who has to take part in this matching contest, too :D

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    1. I need you to come organize my life, please...

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  8. I love matching stuff, but I admit I've gotten boring lately and most of my stuff is brown or burgundy so pretty easy not to clash, haha!

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    1. Making it easy on yourself to not clash is definitely helpful!

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  9. Lol I kinda get a sick twisted pleasure from intensely loud and clashing patterns...

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  10. I like that last outfit! Those pants are adorable.

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  11. For conditioning/training rides I will just throw on my riding tights and grab whatever shirt I don't mind getting dirty, sweaty and slobbered on. Usually ride t-shirts or running shirts. For an actual competition, I match like crazy. Gem goes in red and black and I wear black riding tights and a red shirt. In winter I have a red and black vest too. Red gloves. You can't mistake that I do endurance :)

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    1. Oh man, you endurance folks look AMAZING with all the matchy-matchy! I thought eventers were the matchingest, but I was definitely mistaken.

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  12. I look like a hobo when I ride at home. A complete and total hobo. And then sometimes I go off property to school and STILL look like a complete hobo. Here is me, with my stupidly expensive saddle and stupidly expensive horse, wearing britches that have holes in them, schooling tall boots that are basically just crappy plastic, and probably a wifebeater tank top wit holes in it. That may or may not also have stains.
    Cause I'm classy like that.

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    1. I have been informed that those shirts, when worn by a woman, are called "husband hitters" instead of "wife beaters". Just FYI. ;)

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  13. Dude. I see lots of people dressed like that at shows. I say own it. And get real drunk when you do. That ups the class factor by 1000%.

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    1. My only option is to own it, because actually trying to be coordinated is clearly just too difficult for me!

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