Datsusara Hemp Gi

Sorry ladies, but I'm tight on a deadline at work. Wanted to share a review I just wrote though, of the 100% hemp gi made by Datsusara MMA. So I'm just linking to my review and photos, found here.

OTM Women's Gi: Review of 'Supa Star' Kimono

In July, US-based fightwear company, On The Mat, launched a new women's gi, aptly named 'Supa Star'. As soon as I saw this gi, I was in love; one look at the pink star styling and my heart was a flutter. It is the most glamourous gi in my little collection and my first pair of ripstop trousers. OTM's gi are mid priced/headed towards the 'premium' end of the price spectrum ($159 at the time of writing), however you do get what you pay for in this instance; a tough wearing gi with a cut that can flatter a variety of women's shapes.

OTM features

The Supa Star is in the 'girlie' range of feminine styling, but not too cutsie and the attention to detail ensures an overall sophistication. Epaulletts and 'OTM' branding at the back of the jacket are fashioned from pink fabric with an Argyle diamond pattern of white dashed lines, OTM logos and stars. A similar pattern is used inside the jacket, with dark pink on a white background. The slits at the sides of jacket's skirt are reinforced with star-shaped stitching, and a lovely 'On The Mat' in a cursive font is used on the back and sleeves of the jacket to nice effect. The trousers, with thick dark pink cotton drawstrings, are further adorned with stars and 'On The Mat' script. The OTM is a lighter weight gi - it weighs in at 1.4kgs/3.1lbs on my scale - with a pearl weave top and ripstop trousers, however, while the jacket is not 'soft', it is silky and gentle on the skin rather than rough as some pearl weave can be.

OTM fit

If the beautiful Fenom Kimonos are the women's tuxedo of gi, then the Supa Star is the ballgown. The Supa Star has a unique and very feminine cut that creates an A-line silhouette. The shoulders, the best tailored for me that I have found, drop in the perfect place and so avoid a lot of excess material in the upper-body. The jacket, as with other well developed women's gi, flares slightly and is tailored and slim-fitting. The trousers, 'modeled off the fit of a baggy women's jean cut', are very wide across the bottom and legs. On the one hand, for me, if I wear the trousers at the waist I get a huge unfilled balloon effect across the bum, and while this is somewhat reduced when worn more hipster style, they are much bigger through the rear than I would ideally prefer. On the other hand, the generous width of the trousers makes for comfortable and unrestricted wear, accommodates curvier shapes and enhances the A-line design of the gi. While it is great that there are women's gi more sensitive to women's proportions, there seems to be an assumption that all women are curvy. While women do have different waist to hip ratios than men, women too, come in a variety of body shapes and it would be optimal if women's gi could be bought as separates. In this case, while the F3 jacket is perfect for me, I definitely need the F2 and possibly the F1 trousers.[1] This is especially so with the Supa Star as not only is it very generously cut, but, for better or worse, it is extremely resistant to shrinkage.

OTM size

The Supa Star is very resilient to shrinking with no noticeable change after 40°C and 60°C washes. I blasted the trousers with a very hot 90°C wash, but this resulted in only the barest shrinkage. Incidentally, the dark pink fabric used in the design is highly colour fast and did not show significant fading after a very hot wash.

Measurements	Before(in)	60°(in)	90°(in)
collar to cuff	27.4	27.4	n/a
shoulder to skirt bottom	30	30	n/a
front waist to leg bottom	35.4	35.4	35.3
waistband	20.3	20.3	20.3
rear seam to gusset top	11.8	11.8	11.8
pant leg width from half way down rear seam	11	11	10.4
pant leg width from top gusset	11.8	11.8	11.6

Conclusions

The Supa Star is a pleasure to wear. It is lightweight and sensitive on the skin. It is so darn cute and pretty, you can't help but feel like the belle of the ball which, if you're anything like me, can have a positive effect on your jits. It is a very well designed and crafted gi that can survive equally well on the mats or in the washing machine. The styling and the cut are feminine and fun without being over the top and while this gi may be a little over-sized for women slight through the thighs and bum, it does have a superbly attractive and functional tailoring. I only hope that this is the start of a more extensive women's collection from OTM, with the caveat that jackets and trousers be offered as separates.

Big thanks to Coach Dave Birkett and Wayne Rowlands at Dartford BJJ for taking pictures with me and letting me have my way. Check out the OTM product page for close-up views of the gi's detailing.

Check out more gi reviews!
[1] For reference, I am 5'4.5"/163cm, 130lbs/60kgs and have bust, waist and hip measurements of 34"/86.4cm, 27"/68.6cm and 36"/91.4cm; this review is of the F3.

Hsu gi, green, size 3

I'm short and curvy, 5'2", usually about 125-130lbs, 34-27-38ish. I'll edit this post with pictures at a later date. Just feeling guilty about not reviewing my gis.

I got this gi from my sponsor, Mark Severtson at Badgerland Jiu Jitsu in Madison WI. It came in a brilliant emerald green color but has faded (in part because I bleach on occasion) to a bright celery-lime color which is still nice. I am considering re-dyeing it to get the emerald back though.

The Hsu isn't sized on the A1-6 system like other jits gis are-- I wear a 3 in the Hsu. The jacket is a little bit lighter than some, so I'd say it's about a gold weave or a crystal weave, but not as light as a single weave. The pants are uber-silky smooth and a little on the light side. They might be a tad easy to grip for competition, but I did wear them at NAGA and there wasn't a noticeable effect in my eyes. The jacket lapels are nice and thick.

I always wash my gis on hot and machine dry them, so I can say how much they'll shrink. This one didn't shrink much at all... about 1" lengthwise in the pants, maybe 1-1 1/2" in the sleeve length, but both pants and sleeves started a little on the long side so it's still quite roomy. I think the jacket is a little fuller than some so I do get quite a bit of crossover when I belt it.

It does not come with any patches; the stitching is well done and in the year or so I've had the gi, I haven't had any seam unraveling or the like. The pants drawstring is self-fabric and really easy to tighten and loosen.

I really like training with this gi in the hotter months.

I'll post pics soon. Good god, don't think you need to watch the video, but here's me competing in this gi last May. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

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.

Melissa said...

Melissa said...
Hi Everyone,

Seeking a bit of advice here! Im 5'7 and weigh 180 pounds. Being a tits and ass kinda girl I find it really dificult to: a) find a jacket that is roomy enough on the chest area that doesnt flap around my 28 inch waist and b) find pants large enough to get the junk in that dont have the MC Hammer style baggy crotch area (butterfly guard is near impossible in my current Gi!)

I also live in the UK, and it seems that decently priced women's Gis are few and far between here!

Many thanks everyone :)
Mel

Georgette said...

Georgette said...
Oh one more thing... I bought a pair of Krugan's pants in A1 on ebay for $.99 (to practice tiedyeing on... just had to fix a tear at the knee) and ended up falling IN LOVE with them. For ladies with junk in the trunk, these pants are ideal. The fabric is silky soft and light, but sturdy (I don't know what this guy did to rip them, but I've sewn it shut and patched over it and they're lasting really well, despite getting trained in about 4x a week).
August 27, 2009 2:09 PM

Georgette said...

Georgette said...
Some new thoughts:

1. Tailoring! Two guys at my school are short but stocky and they swear it's the way to go, though you will end up paying about $50 (in our area, central Texas) to have the gi top taken in around the waist, sleeves shortened, and pants shortened.

2. For me (5'2" and now walking around at about 135, grr) I'm loving the Lucky gi (Lovato signature version) top in an A1, but the pants are a little tight in the booty.

3. My GTMA pink and purple gis have stretched a bit and now fit perfectly. Also, got a green Hsu gi from badgerlandjiujitsu.com and a 3 (different sizing) fits perfectly too...

4. I have a Kyra Gracie magenta thing in F2; it's barely legal by IBJJF sizing standards (though not in color) so it's great for competition... extremely hard to get a grip on pants or sleeves, and nice slim fit to the top. My Atama female-fit F3 in white also fits well but is a touch looser while not being baggy in any way.
August 27, 2009 2:07 PM

Lynn said...

Lynn said...
If anyone has any suggestions for a gi that would fit me I would appreciate it. I'm 5'4" and I weigh 170lbs. My jeans are 34" waist and 32" inseam. I see a lot of posts by women my height who weigh much less.

I'm having a lot of the same issues as the post by Esther...like I need to mix and match maybe. :(
August 19, 2009 2:11 PM