The sad sad thread of lost Champion gear days

[BuckeyeBama]

... but ran pretty small.

I definitely agree with you on NB - I have a lot of New Balance stuff and I think the quality is fantastic. But I also find that sometimes the sizing is not super consistent. So there's that.

I agree - everything NB runs small. Essentially, if you buy NB, size up one.

 

[rteetz]

I’ll just add that one of my new style W&D shirts last year didn’t have the park icons printed on the sleeve. I kept it because i didn’t want to go back to the expo after I realized it. Sizes vary, too. Women’s M all fit somewhat, but some are tighter than others. So I don’t care for the fabric and don’t think the company’s quality control is very good.

My first runDisney shirt was the 2013 ToT 10 miler. It was the old Champion “double dry” waffle style. By MW 2014, they had changed to the “slinky” style Champion shirt we’ve become accustomed to, so that style lasted less than 6 years. BTW DH’s first shirt was all cotton -1994 Marathon.

Wine and Dine 2019 didn’t have any icons on the sleeves. I don’t have any on mine. They kept that for marathon weekend but W&D doesn’t have that.

 

[GreatLakes]

The older Champion ones were very good shirts. I still have a few floating around in a drawer somewhere. This year's shirts I'm sending to Mr. @PaDisneyCouple the next time I'm in the US. He'll make better use of them than I will.

The inaugural W&D shirt is one of the nicest I own.

 

[camaker]

I would love to see rD switch over to New Balance for their merchandise. The stuff at the NYC Marathon was absolutely incredible - far and away the best merchandise I have ever seen at an event.

... but ran pretty small.

I definitely agree with you on NB - I have a lot of New Balance stuff and I think the quality is fantastic. But I also find that sometimes the sizing is not super consistent. So there's that.

I can definitely agree with this! I've got several of the NB Ice shirts and they are fantastic hot weather running shirts. I love InkNBurn for their combination of design and performance, but on pure performance NB is my favorite.

 

[sunshine girl]

I guess I'd consider myself a veteran runDisney person as I have done somewhere between 20-30 Disney races, my first in 2007. I like the new shirts. I agree the sizing has been weird.

I've had plenty of quality/size issues with Champion over the years. If given the choice, I'd prefer Brooks race shirts, or New Balance. And runDisney's race jackets (Champion or otherwise) have generally been poor quality in recent years.

The new race shirts are lightweight fabric, while the new "I Did It" shirts have been thicker fabric. I liked both fabrics fine. And the colors were nice this year for Princess, but the sizing varied: in race shirts I needed a large, while for the "I Did It" shirt, the small fit perfectly. As noted below my body type is tall/athletic so YMMV!

Here is what I recently said about the shirts after this year's Princess race:

Circling back on the race shirts since I complained about the yellow ... I retract my complaint! In person, I like it better. I ended up loving the vibrant colors of all the shirts, and seeing them in the parks! I love the "I Did It" half finisher shirt this year with a nice solid color (no weird armpit color panels, yay! I am so tired of the contrasting, heathered panels on everything) and good fit.

After doing this race and the Wine & Dine last fall which both had the new race shirts, I've decided I prefer these new race shirts to the Champion brand. I find the material lighter and more breathable. And my last Champion runDisney shirts pilled badly where the race medal rubbed, after just a few hours of wear. The old Champion Vapor "I Did It" etc. shirts for purchase were unwearable to me — flimsy and super weirdly sized.

And here is what I posted in the Wine and Dine thread for the sizing:

I used to be a perfect size medium in Champion race shirts. In the new race shirts I need a large. The large is roomy on me, but comfy, looks fine and I like it.

I can fit my middle easily in a new shirt size medium, but I'm tall with swimmer's shoulders and longer arms. The new ladies shirts are much narrower in the shoulders and the sleeves were way too short on me. FYI for any ladies like me.

Exchanged my mediums for larges at the last Wine&Dine/Princess but this time I remembered to sign up for large!! Now that i have it figured out, they will probably redo the sizing, LOL.

 

[garneska]

My first runDisney shirt was the 2013 ToT 10 miler. It was the old Champion “double dry” waffle style. By MW 2014, they had changed to the “slinky” style Champion shirt we’ve become accustomed to, so that style lasted less than 6 years. BTW DH’s first shirt was all cotton -1994 Marathon.

My first rundisney marathon shirt is also 100% cotton, it was 2003.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Wine and Dine 2019 didn’t have any icons on the sleeves. I don’t have any on mine. They kept that for marathon weekend but W&D doesn’t have that.

Oops, you are right. It’s the runDisney logo (that’s on the sleeve of all but one shirt) that is missing, not the park icons.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I would love to see rD switch over to New Balance for their merchandise. The stuff at the NYC Marathon was absolutely incredible - far and away the best merchandise I have ever seen at an event.

OMG I WISH!!!!! I’d be so happy if they did!!

 

[steph0808]

I wore my 2020 marathon shirt yesterday, so I feel qualified to give my expert opinion on this!

• The non-Champion shirts are thicker than the Champion shirts. And while this COULD be a perk, the material is also cheaper and rougher than the Champion ones. But it also seems less prone to pricks and loose threads from getting caught on stuff.
• The non-Champion shirts are slightly shorter than the Champion shirts. I am neutral on this, erring slightly on the positive to the non-Champion because, personally, I hate long shirts.
• The non-Champion shirts are tighter across the chest and under the arms. I didn't have any chafing from just wearing it around all day, but I think it would rub my armpits raw if I tried to wear it for running (which I never do, but I know some do wear their runDisney shirts for running).
• The non-Champion shirts are not as clingy/staticy as the Champion shirts, which is a positive during the winter with its dry air.

Overall, I like the feel and cut of the Champion shirts better than the new, non-Champion shirts. But that won't stop me from wearing my 2020 shirt.

 

[MissLiss279]

I was able to switch from medium to large marathon weekend. Yes, the material is not as soft, but I've found the shirts comfortable to run in despite that.

No experience with the jackets

I would agree with this. I have been fine running in these shirts; however, I have been scared to run in them as a base layer for my long runs. I’m just a little worried that it would cause chafing.
One of my new shirts now has a weird spot on the back wear my Noxgear vest was sitting. It tightened the weave of the shirt in that area. I haven’t checked on it after it was washed, so I’m not sure if it fixed itself or not.
I definitely prefer the feel of the old Champion shirts and run in those all the time.

 

[Ponoche]

If I'm being honest, I was kind of ambivalent to the Champion shirts, except for the grey shirts, I hated those with a passion. I got lucky with the Disney branded shirts for marathon weekend, they all fit well. The main drawback for me with the Disney shirts was that the printed section was sticky.

What drove me to comment is that I don't think the switch is entirely Disney's fault. I find it interesting that Champion and Disney parted ways around the same time that Champion is experiencing a major brand resurgence, as well as losing it's contract with Target for the C9 brand. Target has pushed the idea that it was looking to expand it's in house production. Combining the fact that Disney seems to be doing the same thing as Target, and the increase in Champion's brand awareness, seems to indicate that behind the scenes Champion asked for more money, and got refused on both fronts.

As a side note, it was just announced that C9 is now an Amazon exclusive brand.

 

[sunshine girl]

If I'm being honest, I was kind of ambivalent to the Champion shirts, except for the grey shirts, I hated those with a passion. I got lucky with the Disney branded shirts for marathon weekend, they all fit well. The main drawback for me with the Disney shirts was that the printed section was sticky.

What drove me to comment is that I don't think the switch is entirely Disney's fault. I find it interesting that Champion and Disney parted ways around the same time that Champion is experiencing a major brand resurgence, as well as losing it's contract with Target for the C9 brand. Target has pushed the idea that it was looking to expand it's in house production. Combining the fact that Disney seems to be doing the same thing as Target, and the increase in Champion's brand awareness, seems to indicate that behind the scenes Champion asked for more money, and got refused on both fronts.

As a side note, it was just announced that C9 is now an Amazon exclusive brand.

This is super interesting!

Also strong agree on the printed section being sticky -- big solid graphics make the fabric un-breathable/sweaty. My 2014 Tower of Terror 10m shirt (Champion brand) has a giant, solid ToT graphic on the front that sticks to my stomach like a car window cling when I sweat!! 2018 Wine&Dine Challenge "I Did It" shirts too. Quite uncomfortable when sweaty!

 

[Desdemona924]

What drove me to comment is that I don't think the switch is entirely Disney's fault. I find it interesting that Champion and Disney parted ways around the same time that Champion is experiencing a major brand resurgence, as well as losing it's contract with Target for the C9 brand. Target has pushed the idea that it was looking to expand it's in house production. Combining the fact that Disney seems to be doing the same thing as Target, and the increase in Champion's brand awareness, seems to indicate that behind the scenes Champion asked for more money, and got refused on both fronts.

I commented on another thread somewhere that a friend of mine was at a Target when their new brand launched. The employee that she talked to said part of their decision to move away from Champion was also because Champion wasn't updating anything. I have noticed that it was always pretty hard to find pockets in the pants and shorts from Champion, but the new brand all seem to have pockets, or at least a big majority of their offerings. This is big for women's clothes since manufacturers seem to think we don't want or need pockets. Maybe lulu and athleta have more pockets, but, in general, I'm not spending that much on my running clothes. Heck, I don't spend that much on my work clothes.

 

[bumbershoot]

My first runDisney shirt was the 2013 ToT 10 miler.

same.

I’m not going to speak to the size, but the feel.

After TOT, I’ve done events since January 2014 in both coasts. They started very skinny and soft, with professionally done graphics on them that you can’t, or can barely, feel on your skin. They’ve slowly gotten rougher and with graphics that have felt worse and worse. Princess 2017 was the first time I noticed the feeling on the inside of the shirts.

2020 Princess shirts I can’t even touch. They are rough and just feel awful to my fingers, let alone my torso. I’ll say that my cousin’s LOOKED nice on, but she doesn’t have sensory stuff or is fine layering them.

But I can put all the shirts out to feel them, and they feel different. Size aside, they are getting more unpleasant.

 

[ErinC]

I've only done the two princess races, my 1st in 2019, and my 2nd this year. I far prefer my shirt from 2019. I'll pick them up occasionally and think I'm going to put it on, but they are so nasty rough and itchy feeling that I just can't do it. For the amount of money that we pay to run Disney races, they can do better. The merchandise ought to be high quality, just like the price they are charging to run their races. I bought other shirts at the expo that I liked, but I didn't even try on the jackets, so I cannot comment on the fit. My race shirts were medium, just like last years, and they fit fine. Just can't bring myself to actually put them on.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I despise the new race shirts--for my WDW half shirt the sizing was way off, the fabric is horrible (rough), and the sewing is uneven. I miss champion!