Ariat Women’s Showstopper show shirt: review

Our reviewer liked the style of this shirt and thought it was very practical, however it was too see-through for her

I loved everything about this show shirt. There is a subtle, pretty pattern on the fabric, and it felt really soft and lightweight to the touch. It crossed the tricky bridge of being pretty, but practical — nothing about it screamed “technical fabric”, but it certainly was.

I trialled a medium and it fitted me a (usually, but sometimes optimistic) size 10 perfectly. There was no horrid bagginess; it was not so long that it created unsightly runkles when tucked in, nor too short that it would irritatingly come un-tucked when riding.

The capped sleeves are also long enough that on a very hot day, you could get away with not wearing a jacket (rules permitting, of course). Before trialling it in competition, I wore it a few times to ride in at home to give it a fair test and to justify seeing how it fared in the washing machine.

One of the things I liked about it the most was how lovely and cool it kept me. Despite eventing on a muggy day where the weather varied from drizzle, to downpour, to hot sun, I stayed cool and dry even under a hot tweed jacket followed by a body protector.

Washing wise, I popped it in the machine at 40 degrees and it came out looking as good as new and dried within seconds. If there had to be a downside, it is probably that the lovely breathableness of the fabric was a little *ahem* see-through. As much as I love a jazzy sports bra, I’m not sure everyone else needs to see it. Something to think about if you are competing “shirt-sleeve order” on a hot day.