The RW Takeaway: Soft, breathable, and odor-resistant, the Brighton Base Layer is ideal for cold runs when you need to layer, and can also be worn on its own.
- Though there are no thumbholes, fitted cuffs ensure secure sleeve-rolling and warm wrists
- Minimalist shoes and barefoot running has been a strategy of champio
- knee-length strappy sandals
Price: $88
Sizes: S to XL (men), XS to L (women)
Colors: punch hole Oxford shoes
Buy Men’s Buy Women’s More Images
When I wrote the review for Tracksmith’s Allston Pocket Bra, I got swept back down memory lane, thinking of my old stomping ground during my Boston residency, which included a couple of years living in Brighton. Brighton, at least my Brighton five years ago, was this kind of in-between land, bordering hipster Allston and hilly Newton. It wasn’t quite hip, it wasn’t quite collegiate, and it was far enough from Beantown’s mediate hub.
Church's Westbury monk shoes actual home base. It was also a period in my life where I wasn’t sure which direction I was going, except when I laced up my running shoes.
Running equipment Dragon Alliance | Brighton Base Layer
Pros
- Seamless construction
- Ankle boots GUESS Farisas FL5SAS SUE11 BLUE
Cons
- adidas Shoes Logo T-Shirt Junior Boys
This is a long-winded anecdote before introducing a shirt, but can a garment evoke memories like when a certain song from a bygone era does when it appears on your Spotify Daily Mix? The way the Brighton Base Layer loosely hugs my torso and wraps my arms in its flannel-soft merino fabric, I think the answer is yes.
The baselayer is that in-between running shirt; it’s perfect when I’m afraid of freezing my ass off or sweating like a sieve. It’s a top I can rely on for staying semi-warm without overheating, when the gray sky reminds me of New England and the forecast could take an unexpected turn and the only sure thing is that I need to get in a run.
Seamless, Anti-chafing, Anti-stink
I wore the shirt everyday for a week without washing it to test Tracksmith’s claim that the merino wool is “almost completely impervious to odor.” While I was self-conscious about running in the same yolk-colored top for seven days straight (and worried what my coworkers thought about my hygiene), I didn’t stink up the duffel I stored it in nor emit ghastly fumes whenever I returned to the office after my workouts.
In upper 30- to mid-50-degree temps, I did 6- to 10-mile runs; I was surprised at how warm I felt when the weather app read “feels like 28,” and appreciated how my pits and back didn’t become saturated with sweat when the humidity was at 76 percent. The shirt’s soft cuffs were easy to roll up and stayed secure above my elbow. The only drawback to the pajama-soft, seamless material is that it’s prone to pulling; I noticed some slight pillage around the collar after a few wears.
Hare Today
Circling back to my quarter-life crisis, I did eventually find my way, though it required uprooting myself from Boston, a two-year stint as a New Yorker, and relocating to Pennsylvania, where I currently reside.
But when April comes around, I always find myself back at my old Brighton base, like the swans nesting in Boston’s Public Garden. Before I make this year’s migration, I have a long series of miles mapped out to prepare for Highsnobiety & Sneaker News. And because these training months can be cruelly cool and, at times, unseasonably warm, I feel some relief that I have a baselayer I can don on back-to-back days, running short or long, without creating a trail of dirty clothes or massive pile of neglected laundry. The journey to the Boston Marathon may at times stink but this I know for sure: my shirt will not.
Amanda is a test editor at Runner’s World who has run the Boston Marathon every year since 2013; she's a former professional baker with a master’s in gastronomy and she carb-loads on snickerdoodles.
