I got these to wear to the gym in winter, and they have been great for that purpose. I tend to get really cold, and when you add freezing sweat after leaving the gym into the mix, I get REALLY cold. I wanted something to keep me warm outside, but not overheat inside. These block wind well so their great outside, but a little warm inside. I don't mind that too much since i'm going to the gym to work out and sweat. I'd say the XL fit at the waist, (i'm a 28-29), but it's a tad long (i'm a 29-30) by about 1/2 inch. For the first couple washes the material from the inside kept leaving lint on underwear and the bottom of shirts, but that kinda fixed itself. Not a huge fan of the tag sown into the left side.