sweat style
Work it out: How to dress for the gym without obsessing too much over what towear
Getting dressed in the morning is a favorite past — er, current — time of mine. All the possible combinations of shirts, shorts, tops, skirts, dresses and accessories help make that horrible alarm clock sound much less nauseating in the wee hours of the morning.
But getting dressed for the gym? Now that’s a whole other ball game.
It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was the only human being in that class wearing a dumpy T-shirt and wind shorts and I instantly became very ashamed about my workout attire.
Likely because on most days I’m not terribly excited to arrive at that particular destination. But also likely because I hail from the school of thought that makeup and cute workout clothes are not required when paying homage to the exercise gods confined within four walls.
I’m there to get my sweat on and heart rate up, work out so hard I can barely roll out of bed the next morning and cruise on outta there. The mingling and ogling that sometimes take place at the gym is just not my cup o’ tea.
However the other week as I sleepily stood waiting for a pre-6 a.m. class to start, my thoughts suddenly strayed from the delightful hot cup of coffee I was dreaming about. I began to survey the class of 30 other women also waiting for our perky instructor to bounce in with horrible remixes of Top 40 tracks in hand.
It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was the only human being in that class wearing a dumpy T-shirt and wind shorts and I instantly became very ashamed about my workout attire.
I was the worst dressed in the class and probably have been since I graduated from college years ago.
This revelation especially disturbed me because of my love for fashion and what I would like to think of as my somewhat sensible sense of style. But my gym clothes, consisting of a lovely variety of old college T-shirts (complete with toothpaste stains and weird bleach patterns showing up after I got suckered in to buying Proactiv based on Katy Perry’s moving testimonial), logo shirts collected at various work events, and oversized men’s v-necks, were far from a sensible sense of style.
Apparently, wind shorts are equally as atrocious (although I still maintain that they're appropriate for running) and make me look like my life status is more in line with sorority rush instead of climbing the corporate ladder.
Although I’m not logging hours at the gym to socialize, I certainly don’t want to look like a doofus while gasping for air during a death-defying spin class. How on earth have I been so blind thinking my current gym clothes met a socially acceptable bar?
Time for an intervention. Here are a few preliminary ideas I drummed up to help jumpstart the transition from my childish workout clothes to a simple step up into adulthood. (Note: I have major issues with my arms, hence the lack of sleeveless options. Although this apparently really limits your choices.)
1. The North Face Reaxion Tee
2. Adidas by Stella McCartney Run Performance Short
3. C9 by Champion® Womens Short-Sleeve Athletic Tee
4. Old Navy Active Compression Shorts
5. Lululemon Every Yogi Tee
6.. GapFit gFast colorblock leggings
What are your favorite spots to shop for workout clothes? Share below!
New colorways Beurre, Sable, and Transformative Teal bring depth and shine to the Maggie Patent lineup.Photo courtesy of Miron Crosby
