Product review: Derriere Designs' Bootay Shorts

If you had sat me down five years ago and told me that by 2011 I'd be single, queer,  and ordering a pair of spandex hotpants to wear whilst playing sports, I'd had laughed at you and then chased you for fifty or so metres before I needed to have a rest and a cake. The subtitle of this blog is "One fresh meat's mission to look good in derby skinz", and whilst the actual Derby Skinz are currently winging their way to me (and the rest of the team), I can now bring you a review of their Kiwi equivalent, Derriere Designs' Bootay shorts. I mentioned Shelz and the team in my write up of the Roller Derby NZ North Island tryouts (and a massive congratulations to all those ladies who made the cut, and commiserations to those who didn't), and got my pair yesterday. Thankfully, training was yesterday too, so I was able to try them out on the track and in proper derby conditions.

The shorts are in a purple and black snakeskin colour and the fabric has stretch without feeling like it's going to go baggy in the arse or elsewhere. I got them out the envelope and my immediate reaction was "THAT is NEVER going to fit over my ass!" However, they fit like a glove and after a few minutes I forgot they were on. Whilst this is a good thing in terms of wearability and comfort, it's a bit, er, disconcerting for those of us unused to spandex hotpants (which is a lot of us I'd imagine). I'm not really used to having the wind whip around my nether regions in quite such a freeing manner, and I spent the first five minutes looking down to check that I was actually wearing something other than my owl underpants on the rink.

After my initial pants paranoia, however, I discovered the Joys of Spandex. It's much more comfortable to be skating in shorts that are so stretchy, instead of my usual denim-type fabrics. They were incredibly comfortable, flattering (not something I ever thought I'd say about hotpants) and the construction and care that's been taken over them is to be commended. I feel pretty confident that these shorts will last a fair amount of time training, scrimmaging and even bouting, and I'm now looking at her online fabric swatches to see what else I can fit my bum into!

I can really recommend the braver among us try out some bootay shorts. They're comfy, fun and actually quite flattering. You're also supporting NZ derby-owned and they're a snip at $25 ($20 if you want them in a plain fabric). Show us your bootay!

PS: It's really, REALLY hard to take pics of them with an ipod camera, without it looking REALLY dodgy. Especially the picture of my actual bootay. Ahem.

Disclaimer: I bought these shorts direct from Derriere Designs and have not received any freebies or extra hotpants from them. All reviews on this site are independent opinion only and I'm far too gobby to make with the politeness if they sucked.