Espoir means Hope in French…and I will say I had high hopes/expectations of the brand when they reached out to me this winter to try a couple of their shirt styles. Their prints are incredible. I mean…you know I love prints by now. Kastel. Ronner. I’m all about it. So Espoir Equestrian is in a special spot of being one of those handful of brands that’s REALLY going all in on beautiful, well thought out prints and I’m 100% here for it. Espoir sent me two shirts to try – the Ladies Button Shirt (which is a slimmer fit button up) and a loose fitting button up (which I will review later).
Were those hopes met?
On first impression out of the box I was absolutely in love with the looser fitting button up. The fabric is SUPER lightweight and floaty and the print is gorgeous. The Ladies Button Shirt shirt didn’t catch my eye quite as much…but that was just first impression (less contrast in the print after all). The fabric is also a little thicker and not as soft touch on the skin, so that also took away from the first impression. However…it took just one wear to decide I enjoyed this shirt for several reasons.
It really didn’t dawn on me how good this brand is (and their attention to detail) until I wore the shirt a few times. I honestly didn’t notice this one thing when I first photographed it with tags on. I didn’t notice the first time I wore it either. I only noticed when I looked up in the mirror one day…and I was so surprised that I didn’t notice before. What was so surprising? Well most shirts with prints…the prints don’t line up. Go look in your closet. Only the most expensive brands will have a print that lines up from one side to another on a button up…and even some of those don’t even bother! Not only is the print lined up from one panel to the other in the front…it’s centered in the back as well. It’s maybe not super obvious if you’re not OCD…but it is SO much more pleasant to the eye and more professional looking. A print like this could absolutely come across as busy looking if not lined up so symmetrically. I absolutely appreciate the effort that was taken to make this happen. *clapping* It’s one of those things you don’t appreciate…until you really look at it and go…”wow…well done!”
Another little detail about this shirt is is the special gold button. I absolutely love that there’s just one special button in the row (which really stands out as an eye catching detail). It makes it feel like jewelry and a lovely moment rather than just having a row of gold buttons that might end up looking a bit much. It feels very chic.
The print design and color of this particular shirt is western leaning for sure…which I don’t mind at all. It’s very Hermes style…but not “rip off Hermes style.” What I mean by that is…well we’ve all seen those cheap knock off scarves and shirts with horse bridles and bits and reins on them…they’re usually not correctly put together…the details are usually weird. This print design is a similar feel…but it is well done. Nice details, correct bridle anatomy…but it’s also abstract enough that from afar it doesn’t read as a horse bridle (and I love that it’s a western woven hackamore rather than the typical English style tack). The turquoise and tan color story is very cowgirl…but also very elegant. It pairs great with tan or brown breeches.
It’s a clean, professional look in the saddle and can easily be worn in front a clinician…or for a day out. It’s comfortable and performs great as a piece of athletic-wear, but it’s also very cute. I’ve gotten many compliments on it both at the barn, and out and about doing errands.
This shirt is a thicker material than the other shirt they sent, so it’s likely this one will stay a Fall/Winter/Spring shirt for me. I’m not sure if the material will be light enough for 90+ degrees (but time will tell). It’s also not highly stretchy. It’s fine for fit everywhere except my arms (where it’s a bit too tight for my preferences). If they had been slightly more generous in the sleeve fit or the fabric had slightly more stretch it wouldn’t bother me, but for muscular arms, it’s for sure not as comfortable a fit as others. The body of the shirt fits well with the right balance of fit and a relaxed look. There’s no button gaping for the girls (yay). I do think the collar open feels a bit large for the size of the rest of the shirt, but perhaps they did that to keep the shirt looser for comfort as the material doesn’t have a ton of stretch. It does get a tiny ding for performance in the saddle because of the tight arms as it’s a touch uncomfortable…but I don’t feel like it’s interfering with my riding.
It washes and wears great. Easy wash (cold water, hang dry like I always do). No staining or major issue trapping stink or anything. Looks good as new after washing and wearing several times now. No fading of colors. No lost buttons. No stray stitching. No pilling or pulls. The quality on this is really good.
It is more expensive than many brands of riding shirts…but certainly not all. Comparing it to Ronner…which also has gorgeous prints and less forgiving fabrics…Espoir is more reasonably priced…and the quality is just as good (or in terms of prints lining up perfectly…better!). The quarter zip sunshirt style is much more in line with regular pricing for a sunshirt, so the additional amount on this one is probably due to increase in labor/fabric loss from the smart pattern lining up I mentioned above. I think that for the quality, the price doesn’t concern me. In 5 years I think that this one will look very close to the way it does now vs some of my favorites that tend to wear pretty hard over a couple of years. I also think that the print and fit is so classic…that in any year it will still be stylish which vastly increases its value in my closet.
For sizing, I was sent this one in a large and I’d say it fits pretty true to size. If you want it looser…maybe size up (though I’m not sure if the arms would increase much in size or not).
I’m looking forward to acquiring more Espoir Equestrian for my closet based on my experiences with this shirt so far…and with them regularly releasing new prints I’m going to have a hard time choosing what needs to join my wardrobe! Good problems to have.
