Kastel Riding Legging Review

Kastel Riding Legging Review
Comfort / Performance in the Saddle
10
Fit / Sizing (Runs small, but otherwise fit great)
9
Quality
10
Ease of Care
10
Value / Price
8
9.4

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I’ve been wearing Kastel Denmark for years.  I mean…it’s probably been a decade now since I got my first Kastel sunshirt (and I own DOZENS…it’s kinda a problem actually).  However in all this time I’ve never tried anything else from them.  No jackets.  No vests.  No breeches.  No socks.  Until this last few months when I’ve tried several.  I’m not sure why I’d never ventured into their other items…but here we are.  A decade into my love affair with Kastel’s shirts…and I have something else to talk about.  As evidenced by the title, today I’m going to review the Kastel Riding Legging that came out over the winter.

To be honest…I wasn’t expecting much from them.  I’m not a huge fan of riding tights in general (and these look like all the others on the market from the product shots).  I’m also not a huge fan of this color on my chestnut horse.  A review probably wasn’t going to happen because…I tend not to bother writing reviews anymore for things I don’t like or find mediocre.  I had time for those kinds of reviews years ago…but now…nope.  Too much other things to do.  So here we are…with a review…which you can gather now means…I ended up liking these much more than I thought!

Maybe not obvious from a shot from far back, but these are a knit style fabric rather than a compressive.

First impressions did not bolster my thoughts on if I was going to like these or not…because the fabric is NOT what I was expecting and not at all like most tights these days.  Instead of a super stretchy synthetic that holds all the things in…it’s a knit.  Which immediately made me go “oh no…these are like the old knit type tights from 10 years ago that were not as good.”  Again…wow…Rachel…how are you giving these a decent review?

Warmer than they look…as is this cycling jacket I’m wearing which can easily handle colder days.

Well…hold on.  First impressions aren’t everything.  The second impression…the try on…was an interesting one because the mediums were too big!  What?  LOL.  That’s right.  The sizing on these is a little off…probably because the material is quite different and there’s not so much compression.  I usually wear a large in most breeches (or a 30 or a 32 depending on the brand).  I usually wear a medium in most tights.  These…I needed a small.  I could have gotten away with a medium, but I think they would have moved around too much when riding.  So please be aware, you probably need to size down from your normal size in tights.

 

Now…on to why these tights have become something I’ve worn regularly all winter…when I’m not wearing much in the way of tights because it’s cold!  The fabric is supremely comfortable and surprisingly warm.  Not like winter tights with the fleecy insides warm…you’re not going to get hot in these riding on a 60 degree day…but compared with wearing my regular Free Ride’s in the winter (which is an absolute NO)…these are downright toasty.  I have enjoyed wearing them in the temperate CA winter (temps ranging from 38 to 65) and I imagine when the temps warm up more, they’re going to be fine too.  The fabric…being a knit…is very stretchy…but I wouldn’t say it gives any compression compared with what we’re used to these days.  It’s not going to get rid of your lumps and bumps, but it smooths over them fine and I don’t feel self conscious in them and I have lumpier bumps than most. LOL.

Okay…onto styling.  As I mentioned, the color of these is not my favorite on Jax…but for me and my wardrobe…and the other Kastel items that have come out lately the color is perfect.  I’ve had zero issue finding things to wear with them to look fantastic.  As you can see from the photos…three different outfit choices for these I’ve used lately.  They’re also quite flattering in cut which is greatly appreciated!

The nicest part of these tights is the compete lack of obvious branding on them.  There’s one Kastel crown logo embroidered in the same color thread as the tight on a belt loop.  That’s it.  So many brands these days are throwing their logos in multiple places, in very large surface areas or in contrasting colors.  I SO appreciate that these aren’t screaming “look what brand I’m wearing!” as I’ve never been that kind of girl.  I hated Abercrombie and Fitch for that reason when I was growing up as it was just…too much of a cool kid cult…and I still feel averse to that nonsense as a 40 year old woman.  Ha!  So thanks Kastel for being subtle here.  Appreciated.

The sticky seat…again…is subtle.  It’s not super shiny and high contrast.  It’s minimal in design. It doesn’t stand out against the tight and make it obvious I’m wearing full seats when I’m walking around in the grocery store.  I appreciate that.  It’s also not the stickiest full seat either…which I also appreciate as some of them stick so much to the saddle…you move inside the breech/tight because there’s no ability for the breech to move against the saddle, which can cause rubbing/chafing.  So again, these score for comfort.

In fact, these are so comfortable…that if they didn’t have full seats…I’d probably wear them around running errands/going to the gym/working around the house.  HA!  They perform well in comfort no matter what I’m doing: riding, driving, grocery shopping, chasing my 5 year old child around crawling on the floor.  These have been worn every wash cycle since I got them…which is saying a lot.  They’ve replaced a lot of my old favorites.

Quality wise, I have no issues.  I’ve had no complaints yet on that and have worn the heck out of them this winter.  They wash well and have shown no fading yet (but I also hang them to dry them).   Price wise, they aren’t a bargain…but they’re also not horrific.  I’d like them a bit more for the price if they were around the $100 mark, but using coupons, you can get them close to that.  (In fact you can use mine Rachel10 for 10% your order).

So with much doubt and expectation of NOT loving these…it turns out I absolutely love these! HA! Hoping to see them come out with a Navy or a Brown in the future as I could do with more of both of those colors in my breech pile. <3

Have you tried the Kastel leggings?  What do you think about them?