Fashion for Training

It seems like around here - and possibly in many places - there are a number of athletes who aren’t particularly into fashion. It either doesn’t interest them (ie they are fine with clothing as long as it fits and/or covers them and it doesn’t have any holes), they think it is frivolous, or they feel it isn’t applicable to sports (ie success in sports comes from the inside…how hard you’ve trained, what shape you are in, your mental state etc etc). It is often that I spot a high incidence of mommy jeans paired with white running shoes and a baggy t-shirt while athletes are in non-training attire - whether it’s going out to lunch, at a bar, etc etc. And training attire? that’s a whole other ballgame!

Now, I am **not** a Stacey London from What Not To Wear out to throw people’s “bad fashion” clothing in the garbage pail….if people aren’t interested in fashion, nothing wrong with that as it’s totally up to them. BUT it would be very nice to find more like-minded women (and guys too!) who share a love for sports, fitness AND fashion.

I have always as far as I can remember, been into fashion. I even saved up my allowance in sixth grade for 2 months to be the first girl in school to wear Guess jeans (it was 1983). I have recently gotten into sports/fitness - particularly triathlon and yoga - about 5 years ago. I don’t think my two interests are mutually exclusive.

A lot of workout gear - even some geared towards women - isn’t too attractive. Functional, yes, but fashionable, no. Wearing it, I feel like I look dorky, un-sexy, and not feminine (especially on the bike since you’re wearing shorts padded in the butt and a helmet).

I do have a few female friends (and my husband) who are all great athletes (who take training and racing quite seriously and are successful at it) **and** also happen to like fashion. While I do agree with success in training/racing comes from the inside, I really don’t feel like being fashionable takes away from the seriousness of competition.

Eventually, it would be cool to start a social network site similar to Stylediary or Stylemob, but geared towards athletes. It can be training or non-training attire, but the fashion-related social network sites that exist now either pertain to street fashion, runway, celebrity fashion, or “looks for less”. These are all great, but an athletic one is missing.

I **know** there are others who feel the same way I do because there are some websites that sell fashionable workout clothing…and magazines that feature such clothing, however, I think that a lot of athletes still are “in the closet” about being into workout fashion because they feel the might be perceived as “not serious”. That is why I mentioned my three female friends and my husband (all elite athletes) who appreciate training fashion and also Nicole DeBoom, a pro triathlete, who has made a business - yes a business - out of this! I am sure there are plenty of athletes and fitness buffs of all abilities, shapes, and sizes who share this interests. BE PROUD!

Skirt Sports

The most points definitely goes to Skirt Sports from pro triathlete Nicole DeBoom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Along with most of their products, I love their tough girl skirt. I also love their skorts and wear mine running quite a bit.

Lululemon

Another great - mostly for yoga, but also for running. I love their clothes because you can go have a coffee in them after yoga class and not look ridiculous. I get a lot of compliments about a raincoat I have from them. My friend Mo loves them too and we plan shopping trips there when we feel we “need” cute new workout outfits. Check them out here

Terry

This is a women’s specific cycling company. They make bikes and bike attire for women. On my wishlist is the bike tunic. How cool! If i am wearing cycling knickers, it looks like I am wearing a regular tunic dress with leggings…another outfit that I wouldn’t be ashamed wearing if I stopped for coffee after a bike ride!!!

Others

There are a few others such as Athleta and Title 9 that specialize in women’s and have decent athletic attire from several manufacturers, however, they tend to have a lot of “casual lifestyle” clothing - some of which is cute, but some of it is a bit frumpy.

There are also some European functional brands which, once in a while, have somethign really cute. I have a lot of Craft stuff. They have great functional products, but I feel like they need to get more feminine-fashion-friendly. I do have a great running bra top from them, though, which is a sample but hopefully they’ll make. There is also Skinfit from Austria. This past summer in Germany, they had this very cool technical tee which I regret not getting as it is not available in the U.S.

Anyways, If you’re an athlete who is also into fashion, please get in touch! Maybe sometime soon there’ll be a social network site for us