Laura Stanley

These pants are great for the gym or a run. They are slightly shinny and made of a vapor wicking material. The rouching around the waist band is cute, but unless you are super skinny or buy them a size too big it doesn't look like the picture. The material stretches out and there is just a gathering of material on either hip. The length is great. They fit well and are not too tight. I would buy them in every color but all they have left is gray.

These pants are amazing, but don't let the "loose fit" description fool you. They fit like workout pants. Secure around the hip, butt and thigh with a looser flare towards the bottom. They are cut like flare jeans are cut. I wear them to the gym for fitness classes and to run in. I also layer them under jeans on cold days. They are thin and they are not fleece or sweat pant material (I thought they were reading the description and reviews). They are made from vapor wick material and they are super soft. I would definitely recommend them. They do look nice enough to wear to the store or to run errands. The reversible thing is kind of a joke. There is no need to reverse them because they are black on both sides.

I saw the reviews that said order a size down, but I am 5'8" and weigh 215lbs. I have a hard enough time finding any ski pants that fits my butt and waist in men's much less women's sizing. The sizing chart says a XL is a size 14 and 31" waist and a 42" hip. I am a size 14, but I have 45" waist and 47" hips. These pants are large on me. There is room in the butt and the waist sits loose even when I tighten the tabs all the way. If a large were still available I would send these back and exchange them.

That said, I am keeping the XL because the pant design is awesome and there are no L ones left. The material is not the traditional shinny slick material. It is more of a dry touch fabric. They still make tons of swooshing noise when you walk, mostly because the legs are so baggy. The silicone on the waist bands is great - the pants hold up and don't fall down. There are also belt loops, which I will probably use. And there are adjustable velcro tabs on the sides of the waist, but they only adjust about two inches on each side. I already have them as tight as they go. Also the velcro on the pants is so that the sticky side is away from your body, which is good because it won't catch on your base layers.

The pockets are fabulous. There are six of them, even though the description says there are only five. Two front pockets, one has a clip on an elastic cord for gloves and such. The back pockets are zippered and have snaps. The lower leg pockets hit mid shin and are on the outside of the legs. The pockets are all fleece lined. The seeming is nice and attractive. The gators have vents where they attach to the pant. The pant is not fleece lined, but it is a comfortable fabric and the Thinsulate insulation is warm but not too thick. The crotch on the pant is not very low. I was expecting the crotch to have a lot of extra room because of the bigness of the pant and the snowboarder style, but it does not. There are even metal clips on the gators to hold them down around your boots. There are also zipper expansions at the bottom of the legs for extra room.

This pant has so many design features I love. They have thought of everything. Even snaps to pull up the back of the pant when you are wearing regular shoes so they don't get dirty. There is even a metal detail on a front belt loop to attach your lift pass. Lastly there are snaps on the belt loops so if you have a snow skirt in your jacket or a jacket snaps you can attach it to these pants. I have a North Face jacket with the snap in pant-a-lock system and they snap to these pants. The inner leg from the upper thigh to the bottom of the knee zippers open to reveal a mesh vent. This is great for hot days.

The main thing I am worried about is how clean I can keep these looking. They pick up dirt and hair like a magnet, but maybe its because it is so cold out right now and I just took them out of the box. I ordered the white ones and the first thing I noticed was all the hair from the floor clinging to the pants. I'm hoping this is just static electricity and will go away. I don't want to have to lint roll my ski pants.

Bottom line, they are big enough to swim in. They are attractive, but they look like ski pants. They are big in the legs too. I can fit jeans under them. I can fit sweat pants under them. I even tried layering a base layer, jeans and then sweatpants all on under these pants. They still fit and are roomy. I think they are versatile for many types of weather depending on how you layer. For the price I would recommend them to anyone. If you want a better fit, buy a size down.

I bought this bag for a three week trip across Europe. I didn't know at the time there were travel backpack that had detachable daypacks and stowed their straps for checking at the airport. But I decided to stick with this bag anyway because I love the purple color. It worked great packing for a week and doing laundry along the trip. I did end up buying a pack cover to protect in the rain/snow and to check the bag at the airport. Great bag for travel or hiking. One thing to note. There is no way to lock the zippers on the bag because of how they are made. I had to buy plastic zip ties and carry fingernail clippers in my pocket to cut them off every night. I needed to do this to keep pick-pockets out.

I bought this jacket as a shell. I have several zip-in peices (the Sky Trail TKA 100 fleece, the Nupste down vest, the Denali fleece). This is the perfect shell to make the base layers into a full weatherproof jacket. It has a snow skirt which is wonderful should you participate in winter snow sports. (I'm a downhill skier.) The inside of the black jacket has a pretty floral design which makes it more feminine. The jacket comes with a removable hood. It is also surprisingly comfortable as a jacket alone with nothing zipped in. It provides more warmth than I expected. The durable outer fabric seems to be very high quality while still light weight. I would recommend this jacket to anyone who has multiple base layers they want to change in and out. Its great for skiing because on warm days I zip in my light weight fleece, on cold days I zip in my down vest, and on really warm days I dont zip anything in. Its very versatile.