Reasonably Priced Show Outfit [shopping help!]

[atropa]

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend me some good sites to look at to buy competition clothing from? I'm going to my first ever competition on Saturday and I'm a bit overwhelmed with the choice! Ideally, I'd like to keep costs as low as possible as have already shelled out for the transport, entry fees and BD-legal tack for the horsey!

I'm looking for:
- black leather gaiters
- white jodhpurs or breeches
- a black show jacket
- a suitable shirt and tie/stock to go with the show jacket

Feel free to point me in the general direction of websites, or even recommend particular items! I have looked on eBay for second hand stuff but tbh I'm so clueless I don't know what's a good price and what's a rip off.

 

[pennandh]

In terms of getting nice stuff inexpensively, second hand or clearance/sale is probably the way to go.

I've found Preloved to be decent for finding boots and jackets (my hacking jacket came from there, as did my rather lovely ex-display Hawkins long boots - cost me £20 and £80 respectively, and I was pretty chuffed with that), but being purely a second hand site, they won't necessarily have exactly what you want all the time - it's a bit luck of the draw as to what people happen to be selling at any given point.

As far as comparing pricings on eBay is concerned, if you start out by searching horsey sites (Townfields; Rideaway; Premier Equine; etc.) and find the sort of things you like and what kind of price they cost new (you can check out sales/clearance sections at the same time for end-of-line bargains), that'll give you a sort of baseline to work from. There are some really good bargains on eBay, but also some people who're taking the p***; so shop around a bit and see what you can find.

To be honest, if you set yourself a total budget for the lot and then spend a bit of time scouting around for good prices, you'll do fine. Also, go with shirt-and-tie rather than a stock: you can buy an ordinary plain cotton office shirt and a sober-coloured tie of more or less any variety and it'll look absolutely fine. The only 'proper' riding shirts with standard collars I've ever bought were a pair I found on sale that I used to top up the cost of my order (it was for a new, slightly-thicker saddle-pad) for the sake of free postage, which would otherwise have been more expensive than the shirts themselves.

 

[jewel]

put a wanted ad on facebook page that are local to you. also have a look on page like bsja, showing gear, pampered horses skint owners usually have stuff for sale on, will also give you idea of prices

 

[elliejhb]

Sports direct have some white Requisite breeches for around £20, or perhaps Derby house? They quite often have ones on sale.
Good luck for your show! 😊

 

[atropa]

Thank you all, I have just bought a jacket, jodhs and gaiters from Hope Valley for £75 - will pick up a normal shirt and tie somewhere and hopefully look like I have a clue what I'm doing on the day!