Nikovian Equestrian Standard Breech Review

Nikovian Equestrian Standard Breech Review
Quality
10
Performance in the Saddle
10
Style
10
Ease of Care / Holds Up Washing
10
Comfort
10
Fit
10
Value
9.5
9.9

So you may be confused here…didn’t you already review these Rachel?  Why yes I did…sorta!  The Invictus line of Nikovian was a LE line with the Invictus branding.  These new ones?  These are the Nikovian branded ones with some of the changes I suggested in my other reviews!  Really?  Changes already?  Oh yeah.  This company is really out to be the BEST on the market.

Saying that…I also feel that I should mention that everyone I’ve convinced to buy a pair now thinks these are the best and most comfortable breeches they own.  Yup.  Seriously.  If you try them…you’ll never want to buy another brand again.  So be warned.  They’re that good.  I mean…they sent me the first pairs free to review…but I’ve gone back and bought more…  So that shows you how good they are I think.

 

The same, but a little different!

 

Everything good about these from previous reviews still stands (you can read that full blog here)…

  1.  They’re stupid comfortable.  Like…I would just wear these around the house… Typically with breeches they’re off the moment I get home…these I tend to putter around in…eat lunch…do chores…etc.
  2.  They’re very cute both on and off…aka the fit is attractive and the details and styling are beautiful.
  3.  Their performance is excellent.  They’re very stretchy and yet hold everything in place well.
  4.  The quality is excellent. They’re holding up to heavy wear.
  5.  They wash super easy and line dry very fast.

But I am doing this review to talk about two notable changes to the breeches.  If you want more info about any of the above, go read the old review.

 

The ones on top are the old versions, the lower ones are the new version. That slight adjustment in hardware has helped fix the zipper gap quite a lot.

 

In my previous review on these and the summer weight breeches I noted a couple of issues.  One was that the zipper gaped (it also had a tendency of unzipping sometimes).  Well Nikovian took those issues to heart and made a change.  As you can see in these photos, the hardware used on the inside of the closure…the previous one actually spun and moved a lot, this one is solid.  Because it’s a solid attachment and also maybe a hair adjusted out, it puts less pressure on the zipper and so the gaping is much reduced.  There’s still a little bit and if they moved that internal closure over even another cm it would probably completely eliminate it (though they may then have to change the waist measurement (even though these are incredibly stretchy).  I also think they may have either changed out the zipper, or the adjustment on the closure fixed the issue, but the new pair I have no issues with the zipper sliding down any more.

 

The zipper looks similar, but as you can see even not being worn and zipped up the newer one seems to lock in better (the old one on the right slides down as soon as I zip it up), so I think the zipper is a little different too.

 

Another big change, which I’d also brought up, was they changed the lower leg material.  The calf used to be the same super compressive material as the rest of the breech and I had issues with that causing my breeches to want to ride down in the older ones because they were a bit too compressive.  They’ve now changed that material to a more standard compression sock calf type situation, so my breeches never ride down now.

 

Old version on top, new version of the calf on the bottom. As you can see, the material is less aggressively compressive on the new ones.

 

I know there’s one more thing they’re looking to do in a future run that I look forward to, but I’ll leave that as surprise. 😉

I don’t know about you, but on top of top quality product…the the thing that has impressed me the most about Nikovian is that they’re listening to their customers!  And quickly too!  It’s not taking years of redevelopment to make adjustments.  They took two little things that made a big difference on the fit and feel of these and changed in them a few months!!

The originals. As you can see the pulling on the waist attachments cause a little bulging in the zipper area.

Nikovian is going to be my go to for breeches for a long time.  Looking forward to them hopefully eventually releasing some more colors!  I’d love a light gray pair to show in…or brown ones…or …yeah you see where I’m going.  I’d be happy to replace my entire closet of breeches with Nikovian.  The only thing I can really say is I wish they were $40 cheaper or so for my bank account…but…they’re so good they’re worth it.  And if they continue to hold up as they have they’re certainly going to be worth it. I’ve had the first two pairs since September of last year and they still look new.  I’ve worn out other breeches in 6 months.

The new ones. The waist attachment is more secure and smoother. Still a little peek of the zipper (which as mentioned above I think could be solved by simply moving the inner waist attachment over another CM to release even a touch more pressure on the zipper. But so much better right?

 

One note on sizing if you’re buying (which I noticed when I got the new ones).  I was scared when I first pulled them out and put them on because I thought…oh no!  The sizing is different.  These are smaller!  They aren’t.  If you can zip and snap them…they’re not too small.  There is a bit of a stretch out period…and because you don’t dry them in the dryer, they don’t ever really go back to the itty bitty size they look when you first pull them out of the box.  So if you’re worried you need to size up…you probably don’t.  My new ones are now exactly the same as the old ones…so just go with it…unless you like less compression, and then size up.

If you have the flex in your budget to give the Nikovian Breeches a try, I know you won’t regret it!  They’re so good! The standard breeches come in black and green.  The summer weight ones come in burgundy and black.