outdoor girl  

The Outdoor Girl on Skirt Sports
A review of the Tough Girl line from Skirt Sports
©Outdoor Adventure Canada

I was just getting into trail running and decided to test the Tough Girl line, which consisted of the Tough Girl Skirt with built-in, boot cut pants, as well as the top, vest and the Sweetest Tee.

Not only do I run, I do yoga, and I hike. This gives me several different perspectives on the performance of the clothing.

Let's start with when the package arrived at the office. I was surprised at the weight or should I say lack of weight to the parcel. When I opened the box I noticed how small the Sweetest Tee packed up and thought immediately at how great that would be for backpacking. I carefully examined each garment and, with a very strong background in sewing, I am probably more critical than your average gear tester. I was impressed with the quality of the stitching along with the attention to detail.

I have to admit, being the plus-sized outdoor girl; I was a little hesitant about the fit. I'm tall at just slightly under six feet, I have a fairly slender leg, a flat butt and I am also chesty. I had also just lost a substantial amount of weight and because of that, tend to wear things a little baggy because I am a little self-conscious about fitted clothing. So I put the Tough Girl ensemble on and the fit was beautiful. There was ample length for my long legs, the skirt hid the fact that I don't have a curvy behind, although there was plenty of room if I did. The Tough Girl top was ever-so-slimming and I looked like I lost another ten pounds. It looked cute on me and, like most other women; I am my own worst critic.

Now to test it out. I started with pilates and yoga. The garments moved nicely as I worked through the exercises and poses. I loved the long sleeves with the thumb-holes because they didn't creep up while I was exercising. One of my biggest complaints with clothing is when it wedgies me—the skirt never rode up. I've worn this on hikes and on warmer winter days above freezing. It performed as well as the company boasted and I found that the layering provided by the combination was just what I needed. The coldest I have worn it in was -6°C.

The seams do not dig in at all. I love the pockets in the pants for electronic devices and the earphone ports. My little BlackBerry fits well.

The garments washed up well. I use the "handwash" cycle on my washing machine and then hang the clothing to dry. The fabric also dried very quickly. There has not been any visible fading.

I adore the clothing from Skirt Sports and I've received many compliments. It is cute enough to wear to the grocery store. In fact, the only downfall I could see is that the pants would definitely need hemmed if you were not long in the leg. The only other little thing I noticed was that the thumb-holes are a tiny bit snug at first but they loosened up after a few wears.

The Tough Girl line is quite versatile as it works well for yoga, trail walking or running and it comes with a high recommendation from OAC's Outdoor "Tough" Girl.

For more information please visit www.skirtsports.com. Mountain Equipment Coop also carries some of the Skirt Sports offerings.

Update: November 2012. Being a plus-sized girl running also means weightloss. The Tough Girl clothing was replaced with smaller sizes of the same because after over a year and a half I still love the products.

Written by Outdoor Girl Laurie March