Compression Short Trouser

Compression shorts are the layer most people ignore until they have worn a decent pair. These go under shorts or leggings, or on their own, and they do what the name suggests: hold the leg close instead of letting everything move about under loose fabric. The fabric is polyamide with a stretch fibre. Some options are recorded as spandex and some as elastane, which are two names for the same thing, so there is no practical difference between them. Polyamide is a smooth, hard-wearing fibre from the nylon family that takes stretch well and returns to shape after it. The elastane is what gives the shorts their hold. Black and pink are the two colours. Black is the obvious pick if these are going under something else. The pink is for when they are the outer layer and you want them seen. The size run is a full one, XS through to XXL, which is more than we can offer on some lines. A compression short is meant to fit closely, so take your normal size rather than sizing up. Bought a size big, it is just a short. Wash them cool and inside out, keep fabric softener well away since it builds up on synthetic fibres and takes the life out of the stretch, and dry them naturally. Heat is what eventually finishes off elastane, so no hot wash and no hot tumble. £19.99, in our Compression & Base-Layer Shorts section. UK delivery, and returns are handled by SyncShip if the fit is not right for you.