I have an expensive lesson I would like to share with you – one that took me two times to figure out: As a woman, I CANNOT simply follow weight charts when ordering a man’s gi.
My experience:
In March 2011 I decided to buy some gis. I’m 5’4″ and weighed 190lbs. Weight charts for gis give height and weight. All the advice I had read said you should always choose the larger number when choosing a gi. If you are tall and skinny, choose based on height. If you’re short and fat, choose based on weight. I’m the latter, so that’s what I did.
I wanted to buy a Black Eagle gi, and I looked at their size chart:
5’1″-5’5″ 110-140 160cm (A1)
5’5″-5’9″ 140-170 170cm (A2)
5’8″-6’0″ 150-190 175cm (A2.5)
5’9″-6’1″ 170-200 180cm (A3)
6’0″-6’4″ 200-250 190cm (A4)
6’4″ up 225-275 200cm (A5)
I thought – PERFECT – I’ll get an A2.5, even though it will be tall on me, the weight matches. Ordered the gi, paid my money, eagerly awaited it, it arrived, I put it on and…
What happens when a woman orders a man's gi by weight.
Sadly, I looked like I was a kid trying on my daddy’s gi. 🙁 I wanted to cry–the fabric felt AMAZING and I wanted so much to fit it. Then I realized – a 190 lb man is MUCH bigger than a 190 lb woman. DOPE!
Advice
If you’re buying a men’s gi for the first time, contact their customer service department. Tell them your measurements rather than weight, and ask them which size you should order. After my SNAFU I contacted Black Eagle’s customer service and this is what they wrote me back:
“Hi Julia, we are confident the Ladies Gi will be a perfect fit, a sample is on its way to us for testing etc. As soon as we release this, I will let you know. Based on the measurements you emailed me, I would not have recommended you bought an A2.5!!”
Lesson learned. Email first. The price for return shipping from Korea to the UK would have been outrageous, so I just sold mine. However, I had such a good interaction with them that I will absolutely buy a Predadora when I return to the mats.
Hi Julia,
Steve gives me old gis of his once in awhile and they are also pretty long for me. I usually take them to a alterations place and get them shortened. Cheap fix but it works.
Agreed, however, it still ends up being a size 10 person wearing a size 20 outfit that is altered to be shorter. The fit is terrible. If the size is close, it’s not so bad. There was ZERO way I could make that gi even sort of fit me.
Question, though: why did you want to buy a men’s gi in the first place? I’d think because you knew the sizes fit you better, but apparently not… 😛
Talking about gi sizes in general, I usually find this height-weight thing frustrating when I don’t “exist” in it. At one point I considered getting a Vulkan women’s gi and asked the customer’s service for advice; they recommended me the smaller size of the two… Not all brands have the same size charts, however, and in the end I got an Atama in a size that included both my height and weight (though I’m on the higher end for one, and the lower end for the other).
The Predadora (and Raptora) is a perfect fit if you’re a curvy girl. If you’re built like a pencil, you’ll still be comfy, but you could probably also do fine in a boys’ gi.
I’ve been inheriting everyone else’s too-small gis since I was 12, and they have always been too big on me because they are men’s gis. As a result, whenever I put one on that fits properly, it feels restrictive and tight. I actually train in a few gis that have sleeves like the ones in your picture, haha. Back when I started BJJ they didn’t make women’s gis. I’m still trying to get used to the fact that I can buy gis that fit me (I’m smaller than an A0 in most men’s gis).
One thing I don’t like about women’s gis is that so many brands feel it’s necessary to slap flowers and stuff on them to femme ’em up. Dudes, I know I’m a chick. I’ve seen myself naked. I don’t need gender-affirming bling all over my gi.
man i’ve been “window shopping” the predadora for months and i think i’ll cave pretty soon. the mens gis just arent the same, bought the koral after getting a vulkan last year and it simply isn’t cutting it. its wayyy to awkward
Aww lol! You look like you’re drowning in that thing. Buying clothes can be a real pain in the ass when it comes to figuring out sizing, especially when you’re working with men’s sizes. Many congrats on the weight loss though!
[…] Men’s gis are impossible to decipher based on their height/weight chart. When I bought a gi off a chart, I discovered that 190 lb men are FREAKING HUGE. […]
[…] not uncommon for men’s sizing to be completely different for women, such as my Black Eagle A2.5 debacle. I was initially sent an A1, but the top was much too large, despite washing on hot water several […]