GOODE RIDER. (no affiliation, I wish!)
I’m writing about GOODE RIDER because whenever I wear their clothes, people stop me and ask me WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!
Seriously. Every single time.
So, I thought I’d let you in on my secret – which isn’t really a secret – and tell you…
That’s it.
That’s my secret.
And the even bigger secret is that they always have killer sales besides having killer clothes that fit women – well! (They also sell hip mens’ riding clothes and fun but reasonable clothes for girls…)
Not your expected Equestrian wear… GOODE RIDER.
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MY CLOTHING EXPERIENCE
I am not the fashionista rider. In fact, I can never understand why my clothes get so dirty so quickly and none of my fellow riders have a spot on them.
And, to make my silhouette even more challenging, I wear the gear/clothes that work for me – but they don’t always go together, if you know what I mean…
But –
At the Western States Horse Expo a few years ago, Goode Rider had a booth.
I saw a bee hive of shoppers, jammed into the Goode Rider booth, in a frenzy of grabbing and mirror hogging.
The women were obsessed.
My ‘oh they must have something special’ gene kicked in and I had to see what was going on.
So, I ventured in… and it was like entering a jump rope game. I waiting for an open space and I leapt, holding my breath while bobbing and weaving with the rest of the shoppers!
Once the sea of shoppers cleared, the angels started to sing.
OMG! All around me, the riding clothes were real c-l-o-t-h-e-s. They looked like items I could wear to a hipster bar or even a horsey fund raiser with that “I just got off of my perfect horse and arrived here perfectly” look.
For as far as a triple-wide booth could show, there were fabulously designed clothes for the horse woman on a budget. How could this be?! Where has this vendor been all my life?!
So, I asked…
Their technology creedo.
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Even the girls’ line is understated but so comfortable and normal…
THE GOODE RIDER STORY
It just so happened, that one of the women manning the booth was the owner.
I didn’t know this at the time.
But, as I struggled to find my size in anything that I could grab, the woman with a huge presence came up to me and took charge. She said, “Let me help you. I know your shape and you should try this and this. Here are your sizes in each. They will look great on you. Don’t try on that one – it isn’t for you. And here, just try this on for me… ”
Who was this glorious creature helping me?
I jammed myself into the tiny area behind the curtain against the convention hall wall and tried on the first item.
They were pants and they felt really, really good. I wondered how they looked.
So, I ventured out into the sea of flushed and vibrating women who all stopped for that instant to exclaim, “YOU SHOULD BUY THAT!”
I didn’t need a mirror; I could tell this was good.
Next, I tried on a jacket that actually was slimming around the waist and made my short legs look longer.
Sold.
Who were these people who designed these clothes?
So, I asked the lovely lady that had picked 4 perfect items for me. (They all fit and were the correct colors for me.)
LEVI STRAUSS
I grew up in San Francisco and one of our city pride’s is the Levi Strauss factory. If you can believe it, Levis started in SF.
Well, the lady who helped me with the perfect 4 items was from Levi Strauss. She had a huge position there … yet she wanted to merge her love of riding with her love of fashion and mechandising.
So, she did.
Her name is Lorna Goode. She was the one helping me.
Lorna told me that she had worked at Levi but had an itch to design her own riding line. She was tired of the clothes available for riding wear and felt compelled to make cool riding clothes for womens’ shapes – so that any shape of woman would look good while riding.
Amen, sister.
And, to top of the glorious moments in the booth, everything was on SALE.
Yes!
Of course, since they came from Levis, they had to have denim!
And Levi Strauss is in SF, which is freezing all the time so they of course have jackets!
That first year, I bought a ton of Spring stuff for hardly any money – I got every item on sale.
This year, I bought two pair of really fun breeches and two jackets. No matter where I am, if I am wearing any of the aforementioned articles of clothing, someone will stop me and ask where I got them.
On my trip to the R Lazy S Ranch this summer, I could have sold them off of my back, I swear!
I bought this pair and love them! The ladies at the R Lazy S practically begged me to part with them.
This is a self portrait with my breeches.
These are two of my jackets that were very, very reasonably priced and they fit really well – well made, top quality and they make womens’ bodies look right.
So, without further ado…
Here is the link to the GOODE RIDER website.
Here is a link to their FB page
Annnnnndddd, here is a link to their SALE PAGE from their website.
GO FOR IT!
I think these women designers know how to design for women.
OCTOBER BUCKET FUND! Donate to help the heinously orphaned Navajo 12! Click Image!
