I joined on as an ambassador/affiliate with May Babes last year after ordering a couple of of their shirts on sale (and loving them). I’d been following the brand on social for a while and was super intrigued by the creativity I was seeing and all of the upcoming projects Emily was revealing in her IG stories. Well…here we are now not even 6 months later and the brand has become a staple in my closet. The tights (which I reviewed in the past) are simply fantastic. I wear them every laundry round and have recently added the new gorgeous burgundy color. I also recently reviewed the Charlie shirt, which is also a favorite (though it will be going into storage for next winter as days are starting to warm up quick and it’s not I think light enough for 80+ degrees). However, that just means I’m going to pull out those initial shirts (called the GG) I bought last year which are incredibly lightweight (I have not reviewed those as the time wasn’t right, but I will soon). However today…I’m talking about the new (and very stylish) Lani Pinstripe! Oh lord…and the new Mariana coming out for spring is…well…I cannot WAIT.
Anyways…back to the Lani! The Lani actually surprised me. It wasn’t all the shirt I was expecting as Emily said it was a winter release…and being winter…and having had the Charlie (which is a heavier material)…I expected the Lani to also be heavy. It’s not at all! It’s super lightweight. It’s a thin material, but also not so thin as to make you cold if it’s not 80 degrees. It’s absolutely a Winter/Spring/Fall (and likely summer) shirt for me. It is black…so it might by it’s nature being that color be too hot in 90 degree sun…but we’ll see. I’m going to try it when it gets really hot and let you know. Point is, it’s not a heavy weight fabric and so is therefore not limited to winter time wear. YAY!
The fit is pretty much spot on to the Charlie and the fabric is quite stretchy (just a touch to tight in the arms for me personally). The length of everything is good. I don’t even notice the shirt exists when I’m riding (which is the way it should be). The quality of the material and zip is nice (and I love the addition of the shiny zipper pull on this one). It does have *gasp* some branding on it with an embroidered MB on the back…but honestly it doesn’t bother me. I love that the May Babes stuff doesn’t have a lot of tacky branding on it…and luckily her adding some this time isn’t at all tacky. It’s also not in a super obvious, scream in your face location…or huge…or in crazy contrasting colors or anything. The branding mark fits and doesn’t take anything away from the shirt.
Style-wise, the Lani is incredible. I mean…I feel VERY cool when I wear it. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever seen at the barn. It feels very sleek and sophisticated. Honestly pinstripes have always been something I loved. It brings me back to when I wore them a lot (and loved them) as a teen in the 90s. When I wore it to a local horse event, I had someone tell me I looked like a model (I wore it with the new burgundy May Babes tights 😉 ). I had a number of people asking for the link to the shop that day. I looked awesome. The look is very 90’s supermodel…and I’ll absolutely rock that!
Even better…it’s super low maintenance (unlike those 90’s supermodels). When you wash it, it stays crisp! The collar stays sharp. It’s easy care (cold wash, line dry). To be clear…I’m not drying this on a hanger…or laying it flat. I literally just clip it to one clip on my drying rack and let it hang slouchy and messy drying…and not a wrinkle or bit out of place once removed. It’s an easy fabric to care for which I love.
Even better, the price is great. I know we’re SO used to paying out some insane prices for horse gear. I mean…I’ve seen some shirts lately going for well over $100…for just a riding shirt. Even the brands that were previously cheaper have used inflation to take their prices up and made their previously affordable products less affordable (while not increasing their quality). May Babes pricing is reasonable. Maybe too reasonable for the amount of effort Emily puts into the designs. Maybe too reasonable for the quality. But I’m not complaining…I swear. I know I’m just saying that from a place of expectation that even hot garbage is expensive these days…and to have something nice for a reasonable price is a bit shocking. I’m telling you that if you’re sleeping on Maybabes…maybe go buy the GG if the pinstripes scare you. Or try the new Mariana which is the most stunning color… Or order the tights. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
On top of the reasonable prices…there’s also coupons! All the affiliates have coupons, so you can use anyone’s for 10% off. I’d love it if you used mine (but you don’t have to…just use somebody’s). DECIDEDLYEQUESTRIAN is my code.
The Lani is another hit for me from May Babes and I’m looking forward to what’s coming next!
