In general this is a well made effective compression product, and until the stickers wear off they look like batman...cool I think. I am KEEPING them. That said here is the lowdown;

I am a FEMALE, with not much in the way of hips and a bit of a gut...so the thinner version men's shorts fit me perfect in large, but these have a couple problems:

The "insulation" is the thicker cloth which is only on the butt and a thin piece back down the hamstrings then surrounding the calves , with thinner cloth on the hips,front.  Thus, the wind blows right through the front, and I felt cold this morning with 55 degrees and wind.

The extra insulation makes the back less stretchy, thus these do not fit me like the thinner shorts did..I have to keep yanking them up my backside.  They are for men with a really small booty that always run backwards???

The waist band is waaaay too tight and strong.  It is also thick, and rolls down if you have any gut (same as shorts).  Soon it is a circle on the sides, and tangled with the unnecessary string tie. If you have perfect buns, and no gut, these will fit you perfectly. (except they are a bit short  in my opinion...an inch above my ankle bone--I am 5'10.)

AMENDMENT: I am now lowering to 3 stars after wearing about 8 times due to decal on left thigh wearing off on second wearing--DECALS R STUPID, the stretching breaks them ultimately, and they peel up if you dare to put a knee brace over them. Putting on pants without touching the left thigh is difficult, so kiss that decal goodbye.

I ride a bike and bikers need insulation in front more than in back, but compression in back slightly more than front...maybe they should just make them thicker all around, or most of the way around.

I have lots of injuries and, and sometimes use them as recoverey tights.. feels GOOD at the end of a day of abuse.  Pulled calf(jogging), pulled sartorius(karate), crushed knee(soccer plus a bad driver), mangled quadricep,damaged discs...I WANT SOME MORE INSULATION AND SUPPORT FOR MY HIP AREA....it is a hard area to tape up.

So, it depends on your use: these are nice, good price (why I got mens) and fine in general. They are not very warm though, and not designed for BIKING, nor cold wind. tight in the gut. reminds you to hold your core in allllll day long.  not good for eating in, could cut off digestion. They don't have enough cloth over the hip flexors and quads.

Celebrate the joys of commercialism and capitalism this season.  Buy yourself some nice compression tights, it stimulates the economy!