Discussion: Orienteering Fashion

I'm working on designing some new orienteering jerseys for the local club, and I'm curious to hear what styles, designs, and color schemes you guys like and dislike.

If there are certain o-suits that you love or hate, try to link them up so that we can all see!

I know that orienteering has a bit of an image problem, so I'd like to create something that would appeal to dedicated and casual orienteers, juniors, newbies, etc.

Any advice from clubs who recently purchased new jerseys?

Thanks!

I like the Chicago ones. Someday we'll have some too...

http://www.chicago-orienteering.org/

The stretch type of tops and even bottoms are quite in fashion lately. They look great on the fit young elites but if you go that way please consider the fat old farts like myself that look repulsive in them. Offer an alternate looser style as well.

In terms of a fashion "don't" -- why do the Trimtex pants have those crescent-shaped panels on the inner thighs? Not flattering. I think the panels are mesh, for ventilation, but highlighting them with different colored fabric and/or different colored stitching on the edges is wierd looking.

This is not the answer to your question, but I wanted to vent about that. :-p

Night Battle scares

General battle scares

Top holds up well to extreme training/racing abuse and the washing machine!

Example of two of Sweden's nicest club suits. :-)

http://www.svenskidrott.se/Downloads/29292/pics/Ko...

http://www.svenskidrott.se/Downloads/30159/pics/PA...

Zippered tops for ventilation are always a plus. Alternately, v-necks. I'm with leepback on stretchy suits not necessarily looking good on some of us older devotees. And I'm with bbrooke on the crescent panels -- self-colored ones for a smoother profile are better.

Styles that look fine on wide-shouldered men don't always look good on differently shaped women. One size doesn't fit all.

Personally, I like last year's (?) Team USA suit better than this year's, though I suspect the extra color panels add to the cost.

The curved (red) sections of last year's shirt tend to accentuate wider hips.

I agree with Ioana...the Chicago shirts look pretty good. The style and colors were directly copied from Chicago Bears shirts. We figured that allowing orienteers to look like popular local sports heroes wasn't the worst image we could project...

Janet, not sure when that USA top is from, but I'm pretty sure it's pre-2005. Not sure Trimtex would copy the such a "retro" design. ;-)

Viktoria's wearing the mesh version of this year's top, but there's also an "extreme" version, which more resembles the older top as far as shape/form. The stretchier tops can look good, but I find mesh to be much cooler, temperature-wise, and I think mesh probably looks better on a wider variety of people shapes. Mesh is more versatile, and I find that it lasts longer as it is less likely to run (a la pantyhose).

Haha, well i like the fitted o-tops and i reckon that the different coloured mesh bits are awesome looking. Especiallly on the aus pants for jwoc.

Do any of the clubs that have o' jerseys from AxisGear have any opinions or feedback? I know that a lot of North American clubs have AxisGear tops (Chicago, DVOA, QOC, RMOC, MNOC, OK, BAOC, West Point, + more).

The OK top that I have has served me well, but I was wondering what other folks have experienced?

I tried on several AxisGear tops at the Compass Point booth at JWOC. Even XXL did not fit loosely enough for my taste.

Axis Gear tops are not designed to fit loosely. That is kind of the point.

without a doubt the ShUOC kit is one of the better going around :P Bit pricey though, and whether we can get the same design for cheaper elsewhere is a bit of a worry.

(here's a pretty poor shot of the back of it as well - the only one I could find whilst at work)

Does anyone wear long sleeves these days? I like the added protection even though I do like the comfort of short sleeves. Let's face it, we don't always run in hot weather.

I find that it's rare enough for me to want long sleeves that I just have short sleeve O-tops and wear a tech long sleeve underneath if it's cold enough (below 40F?). A tech short sleeve underneath if it's just a little warmer than that, maybe.

I like the look of the Chicago jerseys. Very clean, very simple with the color blocking. I don't like the current trend of the swoopy, swooshy shapes and excessive color blocking. Though, the Chicago logo is hard to discern. I've seen them in person, so I know what the logo looks like, but from a distance, it's hard to make out what club it is and what the logo shows.

I really like these DVOA jerseys. Simple, yet distinctive, and very legible. Most modern bike jerseys are too "busy" for me. Sometimes less is more.

Similar to Cristina, I wear a short sleeve jersey, and in a few instances where it's been colder, I'll wear a long-sleeve tech shirt underneath.

Thanks for the comments about the ChicagO club jeresys. In the US it does not seem like there are a whole lot of team jeresys going around (if some club members even wear them). Maybe they just don't want to wreck expensive jeresys in tough brambles . Overseas it much bigger with big clubs and maybe even sponsers,.
As far as axis gear, their shirts do run small, so always order a size or 2 bigger. I have been behind the movement of my club to be able to order jeresys, but too few of them actually buy and travel to O meets.

I have been behind the movement of my club to be able to order jerseys, but too few of them actually buy and travel to O meets.

I know AxisGear can do orders as low as 6 jerseys, but they are going to be more expensive if you go full custom because you have to distribute a flat fee over a smaller number of units.

For a cheaper option, you can get screen-printed technical t-shirts in several places. The technical t-shirt selection is pretty thin at Spreadshirt.com, but you can design and order singles there.

I just got home from the Scottish 6 Days, my first overseas event. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in my club O shirt. I wish the writing on the back with the club name was bigger. [The fact that I have gained a bit of weight around the middle, and the shirt does nothing to flatter this addition, didn't help matters. And being a club of one was no fun either...]

So, really, I wanted to be wearing something that showed I was proud to be from the US, so I wore my Team USA Sponsor shirt a couple of days, but I felt a bit like a fraud since I had peeled off the "Sponsor" letters a long time ago, and I was not a team member.

I may be designing and placing my own personal shirt order in the future. That way, I can put whatever I want on it, and I can also get the size I need, which looks to be at least a XXXL or maybe the XXXXL. :)

The russian o tops that were worn this year at EYOC was prettyu damn snazzy. If you could find a pic of them anywhere, prob on the eyoc site, they are well nice. Wouldn't even swap for an irish top!! tut tut :)

The new Irish tops are sweet.

Let's see a photo to prove it!