Lee Macholz is one of our 2018/2019 RErun ambassadors. She is a stud! After work and family time, she still manages to volunteer and/or run many events through Runners Edge and Run Wild Missoula. She just crushed it at the Rut! We asked her to review the new Oiselle O-mazing shorts. Here are her thoughts below…
Fit: There are several things I love about these shorts, but number one is how they fit. Oiselle offers 7 sizes from 2 to 14, not just your standard S-M-L,
so you can find the best fit. They are longer than most and I don’t know about you, but my 42-year-old momma-of-two body can’t comfortably wear booty shorts with 1- or 2-inch inseams. The O-Mazing shorts have a 9” inseam, which sounds long – but who cares when there is NO CHAFING! Did I mention no chafing? How about no riding? These shorts fit so well that they stay where they are supposed to without requiring you to pull them up or push them down mid-stride. They are tight without being compression and the fabric is stretchy and strong but not stiff. The waistband has a crazy-big pocket (which I’ll get to in a minute) but it doesn’t add bulk or weight around your middle. The waistband has enough structure to it that it sits just right with a mid-rise height. 2 thumbs up for neither hitting belly-button nor showing crack!
Function: Ok, back to the crazy-big pocket. The O-Mazing shorts essentially have a built-in carry-all belt. The pocket goes all 
the way around your waist and has several stitch points along the top to keep it closed and keep your stuff from falling out. On my first trial run I had 3 gels, my phone, and my headphones in the waist pocket (with plenty of room for more!). As I moved into the trees and it got cloudy, I took off my sunglasses and stashed them in the pocket too and they fit right in. The same for gloves on another run. I would have had to stop and work a bit to put either of these things into my zippered Nathan or Spi belt and the sunglasses would not have fit. As for carrying my phone, I was pleasantly surprised. My phone is large and the pocket is not secured closed anywhere except at the stitching points, so I didn’t trust that my phone would stay put. I tried running with my phone in the front and in the small of my back. I felt it was more secure in the back, directly under a stitch point, but it really did ride just fine in both positions. It never fell out or even shifted much during a hard and fast descent off of Pengelly Ridge. The only con here is that the pocket is not sweat-proof, which keeps the waistband breathable, but got my phone a bit sweaty.
Bottom Line: I admit, I always assumed that Oiselle was just for skinny-minnies, but no, they make
shorts for ALL of us! If you like longer shorts and pockets, try these out!!
Bonus: Ladies, these are also super awesome on the daily under a tunic-length dress!! (Pictured under a
Nuu Muu dress.)
