A Smartpak Order

Thanks to Sprinklerbandit's last post about show shirts, I ordered some new ones from Smartpak this morning. I'm super pumped, people had really good ideas in the comments, so I took a look. I'm hoping one of the ones I ordered will be right, and then I'll send the others back.

I currently have a long sleeve cool max Romfh shirt with mesh on the underside of the sleeves. I love it- its stretchy but see through, so I wear a white tank top under it, but it stops my very sweaty self from sticking to the inside of my coat. To be honest, I feel cooler riding with long sleeves under my coat than I have with any of my short sleeve shirts. But, it's not very flattering without the coat.

Behold! The white whale (not a dig at my weight, just the sheer amount of white!).
Not helped by my too low boots and hair coming out of my hairnet! Both have been updated.

Even small amounts of striping and a thin black sparkle belt don't work. I still need a wide sparkle belt!
Can I also say that this is one of my favorite counter canter pictures of Mikey?

So at one person's recommendation, I looked at the Essex Classics Talent Yarn Shirt - Shortsleeve shirt. They recommended the long sleeve, but I have a long sleeve shirt that I like, so I ordered this shortsleeve version with a blue/tan grid pattern inside (now sold out).

A Plain Jane White Shirt. But not see through and it has short sleeves.

I think it'll fit me alright, but it's not really what I'm going for. I don't want to look like a white whale on my horse. This just doesn't have anything to break up the white, but it'll serve in a pinch if it's a bazillion degrees and I have a 2pm ride time. I melt in the sun and heat. It was something Mikey and I excelled at together: melting.

I continued my search on Smartpak's website since I'm already going to be ordering one shirt, may as well order another, and came across this beauty, the Equine Couture Sportif Technical Shortsleeve Shirt.

Love love love! No white whales!

I love it. It comes with Navy or Tan side panels, and it comes in sizes bigger than I need! Holla! Sorry, big boobs and riding don't mix well. I ordered this in two sizes, both with Navy panels because it will match my ear bonnet:

Mikey got to sport his fancy ear bonnet once in public.

I know if you show without a coat at a recognized show, it has to be a solid colored shirt... so I'm hoping this shirt will be ok. It is only white and navy, but it's color blocked, but the color is under the arm, so I feel like it's still conservative enough. I think I've seen similar shirts at recognized shows without coats. And I think it will be very flattering on me. Plus if someone at the in gate deems it inappropriate, I can just toss my coat on over it, no bigger. Thoughts?

I also ordered Penn his customized show halter, the SmartPak Soft Padded Leather Halter. I wasn't going to take the plate off Mikey's, and Penn is already using Mikey's every day leather halter. Smartpak is having a 25% all Smartpak brand tack, so the $97ish padded halter became $75ish. Not a huge win on price there, but enough to make me order it.

I ordered the Havana/Havana color, with a plate, in Cob size.
Penn might be able to wear a horse size on the smallest settings, so I decided to try cob instead.

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Ohhhhhhhh I found a vest I like! And it comes in a size I can wear! And is PRETTY!!!! So, anyone have $190 laying around? And does anyone know if vests like these are legal in USDF/USEF competitions? If they are... well, umm, I'm sending back all the shirts and buying this.

ARISTA MODERN DRESSAGE VEST

I want the vest. It has a bit on the lower back where it "pulls" the fitted shape. Drool.