Baggy But Warm

By Laura Stanley Ranked #1 - Women's Pants December 8, 2010

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.

View Details: Oakley Straight Pant - Women's

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