Review: Ladies' rashguard and spats by Detales

I'm so excited to review this rashie and spats for you ladies!  This rashguard is already my favorite (and I have a fair collection, trust me.)

Kristin is the proprietor of a new company, Detales, focused on making grappling gear for women..  Detales Clothing has two lines for Brazilian jiu jitsu, one for wearing under other clothing called FirstGuard, and a nogi line designed to stand on its own as your outfit.

She very generously invited me to try out whatever I liked, so I picked the short sleeved rashie and capri spats from the nogi line.  Initial impressions right off the bat were awesome.  The material is not the super stretchy thin show-every-bump cling-to-you stuff, but something a bit thicker, very smooth and pleasant feeling, and less stretchy (but still plenty stretchy in a good way.)  It's thin enough for comfortably wearing under a gi but thick enough to wear all on its lonesome (no board shorts over top.)  The material is antimicrobial and 92% polyester/8% spandex.

I liked the seaming (looked like racing stripes to my idiot self) and the fact that if I have a hangnail (or as I later figured out, if I have to bite off a fingernail midroll, don't hate) it didn't seem to catch and snag the fabric as readily as some thinner stuff like Underarmor.  After lots of wear I can report those flat seams don't irritate or rub (I can't even feel them) and they haven't displayed any loose threads or gotten abraded that I can see.

According to Detales, each item in the no gi training section "is designed to maximize comfort, flexibility and durability to enable you to train hard, and often, in style. Each item is constructed with a thicker top-of-the-line high-performance athletic fabric that effectively absorbs sweat without being see-through."  My experience says this is true.

For reference, I am 5'2", 138 lbs, 34C-28-39.  I consulted with Kristin on the sizing, and she sent me a medium rashie.  MY FAVORITE EVER because it is the perfect fit, and more importantly, SHAPE.  Why do I rave so?

Because most rashguards are cut straight up and down (LIKE A MAN'S BODY) which ends up being sort of loose around the mid-body/underboobs/waist, with a tight-feeling hip area (because they're all cut so long, I guess so you could tuck into the pants?)  What happens next?  The tight longer part doesn't like being tight so it migrates upwards to the waist, giving me an obvious flash of fishbelly white skin during every roll no matter how I tuck it in.  Ugh.  Whereas this rashie is cut to flare a bit from waist down and isn't nearly so taut... so it follows my curve there, and stays down amazingly well.  Sorry I don't have better photos, this is selfie-time.  I'll post more if I can remember to get more taken.

I like the plain black, it goes with everything (ba dum bump.)  Am I the only person who occasionally pays attention to pleasing combinations of grapple gear?  Sometimes I will wear Meerkatsu's rainbow unicorn rashie with his peacock spats-- but sometimes it's nice to offset with a solid color.  I do hope Detales comes out with ranked rashies though; I will absolutely buy a purple. :)  The seaming is also very flattering to my shape.  There's no tag inside, just a sublimated, small D logo on the back at the neck and on the front over the chest as seen above.

I also dig the spats tremendously.  They're capri length, with more good seaming.  A nice wide/flat waistband prevents muffin top.  I can't believe I'm calling attention to this, but some ladies will know of what I speak.  Look right below the curve of my tookus.  There's cellulite, in there/on there, and it doesn't look that smooth "in the flesh" so to speak.  But this fabric is very forgiving and kind, in case there's anyone else out there with cellulite.  I usually want craaaaazy patterns on my spats because I'm not a fan of board shorts and I want camouflage, but it's not necessary with these.  Smooth and not excessively tight and not too warm, either.

Fit, for my particular shape, is a little problematic.  Kristin sent me a large, which was perfect (again I have a 28" waist and 39" hips and it's all in the ghetto booty.)  But the waistband of this first version has no drawstring, and it is a bit of a hip-slung, low rise cut.  VERY comfortable, but the first time I squatted down low, I could tell I looked like a plumber from behind, so I did have to wear board shorts on top.  Kristin tells me future production runs will include drawstrings as well as another cut that is higher-waisted.  This is awesome customer responsiveness and amazing investment on the part of a small business.



(Gi patches are only $4.50.)

The FirstGuard line offers compression shorts, an athletic bra, and capri spats, made of 84% polyester/16% spandex (thinner and stretchier).  They're available in royal blue, medium gray and black (except the spats which are gray only.)

The no gi line is black only.  My rashie is $36 (worth every penny, I can tell you my cost-per-wear is headed into the pennies range and I've only had it two months.)  The spats are $53 and again, very worth it especially if you are not so round in the rump.

I have machine washed on hot and machine dried on hot every time, and both nogi and gi training have made no appreciable difference in terms of snags, threads, pilling or anything.  Both spats and rashie still look brand new, with zero shrinkage.  I encourage you to reach out to Kristin for sizing questions, though, so I didn't take measurements.

LOVE! :)  And I love encouraging women-led small business too.