Saturday, January 30, 2010

Fenom gi, size A1

So-- I'm a 1-stripe blue under Relson Gracie, training in central Texas. Been training about 16 months and I train 7 days a week. I'm short and curvy, too curvy right now.. 34-28-39 (ergh) and 5'2" 140 at the moment. Normally I walk around at 130 and when I'm training hard and regularly, 120-125ish.

Fenom Kimonos is run by Triin Seppel near Dallas. I've had this gi a few months and it's one of my favorites. It's designed for women and I think the cut and material are fantastic. I have a size A1, and I washed it with hot water and machine dried it to see how much it would shrink. The pants lost about 2" in length (from ankle bone to about 2" above) and the gi skirt got about 1" shorter. The sleeves also lost about an inch, but are still IBJJF legal. I like that there isn't excessive fabric in the back of the gi jacket. I would not go so far as to call it a "slim cut" but it is trim and fits smoothly without a bunch of extra fabric bunching up.





Mine is black, obviously, and the color has not faded much at all. The pants are made of very soft, yet relatively thick and sturdy twill. I'm always impressed that they feel so smooth but they're not flimsy (whereas I'd call my Vulkan superlight "nearly-flimsy.") The gi top is likewise soft to the touch, but really thick, with a thick, heavy lapel. I like the pink embroidered cursive "F" on the lower left ankle and the left deltoid area. Other than that, there's no patches.

The stitching has held up really well to frequent use and washing/drying cycles. The drawstring is made of the same fabric as the pants, and is not difficult to pull through and tighten. It doesn't twist much, but when it did (after months) it was pretty simple to untangle and re-insert with a rubberband and a chopstick.

Overall I give it an A. I really like finding gi pants with room for my junk in the trunk, and aside from that, the texture of the fabric made this one of my hands-down favorites.

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