Sports Fabrics - The Myth of being Breathable

We all have seen a fantastic change in equestrian clothing - sunshirts! 

To me personally one of the best changes in the recent few years, especially for those countries with a high skin cancer and melanoma rate.

New businesses are popping up everywhere with technical shirts in all sorts of designs and styles. And I think that's fantastic! The more the better! 

But there is a big difference between a thin fabric and an actually breathable fabric. In a world where thousands of manufacturers offshore can manufacture shirts fast and cheap, there are a few things to consider when choosing your perfect sunshirt. 

For us as a brand, creating our own equestrian sunshirts, we develop our own fabric. When i started to create our signature sunshirts I tried and tested different fabrics available from manufacturers and to be honest, when in extreme conditions, I liked none of them.... I am lucky that some parts of Australia give me the best grounds to test a truly breathable fabric. I spend hours in a sand arena with no cover during summer coaching and riding and I had the perfect riders and temperatures to test different fabrics. And I just wasn't convinced. 

So I spent months and months developing new fabrics and swatches and believe me, it was a long, frustrating and very expensive process... But in the end it was all worth it!!! 

LET ME EXPLAIN:

Testing and talking to other overseas brands proved that it is not the very thin fabrics who keep you cool. This has been tested with Olympic athletes in pressure chambers and thermal cameras and we are lucky to nowadays have the technology to prove it. 

It is now proven that it is absolute rubbish that thin fabrics are the most breathable and simply just good marketing, but not the truth. 

The reason this is not true is because a lightweight fabric has to have its fibers woven very tightly to be so thin, otherwise it would just fall apart. This makes shirts like that very hot with no air coming through and creates that sticky feel to your skin when you sweat, which in hot weather can almost feel like a panic attack and not being able to cope with the heat.

This is why here at Wilmont Equestrian I have developed a fabric that is very soft and has little micro holes through its woven fibers. Although it leaves you feeling like you are wearing a second skin, it does NOT cling to your body when you are hot and it is soft and allows airflow. 

HOW TO CHOOSE:

First of all, covering up to avoid skin cancer is always good! So regardless of the brand, I think this is a positive step in the right direction!

But if you are looking for the best option, make sure you buy from brands who have put some testing and fabric development into their products. And some science! 

Our fabrics at Wilmont Equestrian are proven to keep you cool and our range of equestrian sunshirts can be found online.

Keep an eye out for our new release on the 1st October with lots of beautiful new styles coming out this year!

 

And as always:

HAPPY RIDING

Jana xxx