Fit Files
About the “fit files”
When buying shorts from a running brand I’ve never bought from before, I often find myself wishing there were more resources relating their fit to other brands, with unedited photos so I could understand whether I would like the shorts without trying them on, running in them, and then not being able to return them. A virtual test-run, if you will. How will these shorts fit on my thighs? Are they tighter or looser overall than other shorts? Stretchier? Are these shorts good for racing a marathon? While there are still some active blogs that review shorts, I hope this can serve as a body-neutral resource. I will not mention my weight or the size I wear unless it is impossible to explain an important concept without doing so. If you’re really, really curious what size I wear in order to help you make a more informed estimate at your size when placing an order, slide into my DMs on instagram and we can talk through it.
Thus, the “fit files” was born. The name is a work in progress, the idea is simple: document running shorts and discuss their material, fit, and how they hold up relative to other shorts. The photos may not be pretty, but running isn’t pretty, either.
Nobody is paying me to do this or providing me with free or discounted product, although a girl can dream! I just own a lot of styles of shorts and I’d love to put some of this knowledge to good use.
How you can help
Buy a new pair of shorts lately? How’d they fit? Add to my relative size database here.
About my ideal shorts
I gain muscle easily in my quads and not easily in my glutes, so when I shop for shorts, I look for extra room in the thigh and usually there’s more than enough room for my butt. I’m always on the hunt for the perfect pair of split shorts, and I’ll take a light, breezy fabric that might risk rolling up over a sturdy, warm fabric any day. I don’t use non-zippered pockets on shorts. If you ask me, a without a zipper is just a lost key waiting to happen.
About the photos
These photos are taken at waist-height, in order to give you the best idea of what the fit is actually like (no top-down photos or angle trickery). Differences in angle are because I’m not that good with a tripod and sometimes I don’t get it back to the same height as before. The photos have not been edited, with the exception of blocking out where my shorts show more than I’m comfortable with (I will always do this with emojis or some sort of image overlay, not by smoothing over the image).