38 SIDELINES APRIL 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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Ride In Style: Show Shirts
By Elizabeth Boylan
F
or the competitors at this year’s Winter Equestrian Festival
(WEF) in Wellington, Florida, as well as shows all across
the country, the selection of show shirts from which to
choose was plentiful and beautiful and the “Italian Invasion” of
equestrian apparel was even more pronounced.
Cavalleria Toscana (CT), an Italian
luxury equestrian apparel line was
introduced this season through a
partnership with Beval Saddlery at WEF.
Paolo Petri, the international salesmanager
of the five-year-old company, is
enthusiastic about the WEF
partnership with Beval. And
good news for those not in
Florida for the show circuit,
the CT line will be available in
all Beval stores and on their
website in the spring.
PaolobelievestheCavalleria
Toscana brand takes classic
high-end Italian style and
blends it to perfection with
high-tech material, superior
cut and workmanship. “Our
look is sophistication and
elegance,” he said. “No
bling, no bright colors. Just
beautifully made, great
fitting riding clothes made
from exceptional fabric.”
The shirts currently
being offered are perhaps
more appropriate for
the jumper and dressage
rings but because CT designs
and manufactures their own
apparel, they will be looking
to the American rider for
additional ideas to suit our various specifications. The CT show
shirts fit snugly but the extremely lightweight stretchy fabrics make
them extremely comfortable. Think Lululemon of riding clothes –
not inexpensive, but worth it for the quality of fabric and comfort.
Another Italian apparel line that has been extremely popular
on the jumper circuit for the last few years is Animo. High style
distinguishes the Animo brand, with a touch of bling for fun.
Again, high-tech fabrics featuring UV protection and antibacterial
qualities put comfort on equal footing with the fashion forward
style. The new line debuted this winter at WEF was the Nations
Cup shirts, featuring the flags of the United States, Canada or
the UK splashed along the bottom portion of the shirt. With the
increasing international contingent at the larger show jumping
events, the addition of the Nations Cup line adds to the fun. These
shirts look great not only in the ring but are stylish enough to wear
out to dinner afterwards.
Relatively new to the American equestrian apparel scene is
Equiline, another Italian riding apparel and equipment company
that has been brought to the United States by Kelly Molinari.
Equiline has been very popular
in Europe for some time now,
and Olympic riders Laura
Kraut and Lauren Hough
wear the line when they
compete. Their favorite
shirt is the “Cindy,” a
more stylized version
of Equiline’s classic
white competition shirt
the “Victory” which is
an all white show shirt
with stand up collar.
Both of these shirts
are made from high-
tech fabric offering
complete
freedom
of movement while
also being extremely
breathable
and
lightweight.
Even
more
feminine
touches are available
in shirts that offer
subtle ruffling near the placket and a rhinestone button on the
collar which doubles as a stock tie pin making it very popular with
dressage riders.
While these Italian apparel companies have certainly upped
the ante in terms of bringing more fashion sense to traditional
equestrian attire, for the hunter and equitation riders tradition is
still front and center. The Italian shirts all have stand-up collars
but they tend to be a little narrower
(approximately 1 1/2”) than the look
most favored with the hunter and
equitation set.
Essex Classics show
shirts in their CoolMax
fabric
have
been
extremely popular for
hunter and equitation
riders for many years.
Their innovative wrap
collar which eliminated
the problem of lost
chokers made them
a trendsetter which
many other shirt
companies adopted,
and the wider collar
( a p p r o x i m a t e l y
2”) gives it a more
elegant look than
the Italian shirts.
R.J. Classics picked
up on this look
and furthered the
innovation of the
wrap collar by using
a magnetic closure
The Ariat Triumph show shirt.
The RJ Classic Magnetic closure shirt.
The Equinline show shirt.
