4 Tips To Looking Stylish And Feeling Comfortable At The Gym

Alarna Hope, Editorial Stylist and Founder of That Effortless Bitch shares how you can look stylish and feel comfortable at the gym.

Active wear is everywhere; I even see people wearing it as day wear. As a Stylist, it’s not my cup of tea to wear highly elasticised garments out of the gym but each to their own. This week, I’m covering what active wear you can wear to the gym that not only is practical but looks good.

When shopping for gym clothes, we’re spoiled for choice with different lengths, prints and colours – but we’re often stuck with the inevitable issue that majority of active wear clings to you and can sometimes show off every little lump and bump we’re trying to tame. It’s unfortunate, particularly if we don’t feel comfortable in tight-fitting clothing – but there are ways to make it more flattering.

image via pinterest

DISGUISE YOUR PROBLEM AREAS

If you’ve got parts of your body that you’d rather not draw attention to, you can learn to disguise them – just like you would with regular clothing. Picking darker colours for your problem areas and even purchasing panelled contouring active wear can help you achieve this look.

Panelled contouring active wear is a piece of clothing that has darker panels stitched along the edges of the item, i.e., the sides of the thighs and calves may be a black fabric, and the front of the thighs and calves may be a grey.

PICK THE RIGHT FIT

Often when we buy gym clothes, we want them to be a little tighter to allow for the elastic in them to stretch out and also for our weight to fluctuate with them. This doesn’t mean you need to buy a size so small that creates bulges in areas there weren’t any bulges. You want to feel like your active wear is hugging you, not strangling you.

These days you can choose all sorts of lengths in tights and rises to suit. I think the most flattering rise for all shapes is a mid-rise or high rise when it comes to active wear. It holds everything in place and smooths your silhouette. Pair a well-fitted waist with an ankle length or 3/4 tight, and you’ve got yourself a flattering set of tights.

DON’T FORGET YOUR LADY LUMPS

I watched that episode of Kath and Kim last night where Sharon signs up for river dancing and isn’t wearing a sports bra, and her breasts are doing a dance of their own. For the sake of your posture and your fabulous silhouette – get fitted for a sports bra. They’ll need some proper support for all those “Okay ladies; I promise this is the last burpee!” moments.

STOP GOING ON ACTIVEWEAR RAMPAGES

Sometimes when we’re on a health kick, we head into Lorna Jane or Lululemon and go a little nuts buying the brightest top and a whole bunch of patterns that are great alone, but when added to the rest of your active wear, don’t match.

Like everything else in your wardrobe, try capsulising your active wear. Pick a colour scheme of four colours, stick to them and you’ll not only find your active wear matches, but every piece you own will get more wear. Rather than leaving that geometric pair of tights in the bottom of your drawer and always opting for your other pair, working with a colour scheme will help you get more bang for your buck.

Remember to pick a colour scheme you really love; it doesn’t have to reflect the current trends, shop around to find those colours you feel great in – even when you are covered in sweat and feel like passing out.