Do you plan / style / care about your gym / activewear as a wardrobe category?

[Akra]

I have realised that despite being very interested in style and fashion, my gym / running kit is a random assorted collection, acquired or gifted by DH without any consideration other than function. Some if it is so old, it’s cool again. All Nike, and a little Goodmove.

I have done some scrolling for inspiration - I have lived under the rock, there is so much nice stuff - from coords for every kind of activity to complimentary but not matching kit. Not sure if and what I am really going to do to up my game in this section. It maybe nice motivation for dark winter months not to get lazy.

Curious to hear if there is anyone here actively curating their activewear and what that looks like exactly - how much do you have, do you stick to a colour palette, do you mix or match? Brand / high street?

Yes but it’s also my job! Have a mix of brands bought over 20 years that includes alo, Lulu, SB (not much these days, I don’t really rate it), melt (my absolute favourite) and I’ll often use non exercise tops with leggings if they look good. The Alexander wang muscle tees are great as are free people tanks. Hoody or zip up or shirt (in summer) plus good trainers for to / from. I love my ‘athleisure’ wardrobe but if it wasn’t my job I defo wouldn’t care as much.

Not really & never have

I tend to wear loose joggers & short t-shirts for dancing/exercise. Only wear leggings for yoga. Bits from the high street & nike, adidas. Trainers i’m into but always been into them.

Lots of black but maybe a bit of colour on my top

I’ll caveat by saying I don’t have much interest in fashion anyway, but I’m posting for balance.

I wear what is comfortable for gym, and I also don’t pay any attention to what anyone else is wearing - so perhaps people won’t pay attention to what you are wearing (although obviously wear what you find comfortable and what makes you feel good!).

No, i's really odd. I go to the gym every week day but, apart from trainers which I replace regularly, most of my kit is really old. I do keep thinking I need some new stuff but Lululemon and Sweaty Betty which is what I would get seems expensive. But I am willing to buy Me and Em stuff that I wear a lot less. It's weird.

Nothing is worn out or has holes in it but probably newest thing is about 5 years old and before that 7/8. I do though have a really flat chest so don't need to have new tops if the elastic has gone slightly, wonder if that makes a difference. The gym i go to is popular with younger people and a lot of them have loads of co ordinated kit. There has been a young woman there every day this week and she has had a different bra top on every day which matches her shorts, I am on the eliptical which is behind the stair climber so am staring at her back which is why I noticed.

I'm not amazingly turned out at all times but am distinctly less bothered about gym kit than other clothes.

I spend a lot of time at the gym, and doing events, so I have a much better gym wardrobe than my actual going out wardrobe. LSKD, Lululemon mostly and some wit shorts. Shoe wise- I have running shoes, functional fitness shoes and weightlifting shoes. RAD, and Nikes!

I wear the stuff that works for me. Mostly black, some navy, not annoying (too heavy, sweaty, chaffe etc). Good high impact bra, proper running shoes, cheap trainers for not running.
Reflective jacket for road running,
I buy branded clothes but from sports sites, usually previous season.

I have SB. There's usually some sort of discount/sale. I've had mine forever and add to it so much of it does coordinate now. I do spend a lot of time at the gym, so I have more gym stuff that other clothing.

I have 4 ‘sets’ of leggings and tops that go together but aren’t matching if that makes sense. Made up of brands I find offer good support, decent dry tech fabrics and offer suitable coverage for me. I have two gym ‘jackets’ and a fleece that I can wear and two pairs of trainers. All are ideal for the gym but also decent enough to wear out walking or meeting a friend for coffee.
Only really replace socks annually.

I only care about comfort

Nah wear what’s comfortable.

I'll spend money on decent shoes and a good bra but the rest is Amazon, charity shop, hand me downs or Primark. I do have some Llama leisure leggings which I love for the patterns and pockets but they aren't the most squat proof.

I buy good running shoes from Brooks, but I need them. Also shorts with the underlayer that has pockets in the sides.

Like PPs I care about being comfortable and not too hot plus a bra that has no bounce which seems impossible to find in a 32F - I have two old Shock Absorbers (from before Champion bought them and they went shit) and an old M&S one I can run in; the rest are useless, although OK for yoga and weights or whatever.

I think about colours mostly in the context of being seen in dim light, so I keep a few light/brightly coloured running tops and rarely wear black (which I wear a lot of the rest of the time)

I do reformer twice a week rather than gym. I have a couple of pairs of Sweaty Betty leggings, plus one pair of flared Pilates pant things from H&M’s active range. Then three Goodmove mesh t-shirts (white, pink, and black) that I layer over Uniqlo built-in bra vests (white, grey, and black). So it all kind of goes in a mix and match way, but isn’t “a set” as such. I’ve also got loads of grippy socks in different colours, some with “fun” designs on them.

I walk to my classes and tend to wear Birkenstock Boston clogs that are easy to slip off, then just a regular sweatshirt or cardigan and/or coat depending on the weather. I did buy a fleece long-sleeve zip-up from M&S Goodmove recently which I will probably default to as it gets colder.

I have everything black. So it always all matches.

I buy from Gymshark, Nike and Adidas. I’ve got 3 matching sets that I wear regularly. The rest are a mixture of shorts and tops from Gymshark in various colours.

I do,yoga/reformer 5/6 times a week. I have several pairs of Sweaty Betty leggings and several merch T-shirts from bands I follow and about 20 pairs of grippy socks. That's it. I turn up, get sweaty and then go home.

TBF, when I was younger I used to go to great efforts to colour co-ordinate. Those were the glory days of high impact aerobics and 'going for the burn'. I had colour coordinated thong leotards and leggings which I wore with matching leg warmers, belts and scrunchies. There was a lot of neon! And my beloved Nike Hi-Tops.

I'm 65 now and just happy to still be fit and active.

No. I find gym clothes so ugly much like school uniform for my kids I begrudge spending money on it.
I tend to find something that works well for me and buy multiples maybe in different colours. Currently I have tops from M&S but am on the hunt for new leggings.

Yes I do, mostly because my gym / activewear clothing is my most used category of clothing and has to take me more places than just the gym. I do the school run in it, go to the supermarket in it, and often work in it as I work from home. I therefore mostly wear matching adanola or similar leggings and long sleeve tops, because the fit is always the same and works really well for my body shape. I can then add work appropriate stuff on my top half to be Zoom presentable etc.

I wouldn't say I curate my gym wardrobe, but I am definitely picky about what I wear. It needs to feel flattering AND perform well and I know what I do / don't like in terms of materials, cuts, waistband styles etc.

I don't mind paying more for quality, but I personally find Lululemon overpriced for what it is and their leggings just don't do it for me / my type of activity (they don't stay up on me and most of their styles have still have a front seam which I hate).

I buy a lot of Alphalete, and I have a couple of pairs of Buffbunny leggings which I like. I have tried other brands like Oner, Aybl, Women's Best which are OK but not brilliant. I do not get on with GymShark at all, something about their sizing just doesn't work for me.

I have found some really good bras on AliExpress too, but I'll caveat that by saying I don't need a lot of support.

I'm avoiding Sweaty Betty personally because of their values, they have been caught stealing content from female creators and resorting to threats/ online bullying when confronted, it's not a good look imo

News - Sweaty Betty offered Middlesbrough trainer £4k for slogan use and silence - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq50n57e64do?app-referrer=deep-link BBC - Sweaty Betty practices

Yes, yes I do. Pretty, comfortable and appropriate work out clothes make me feel good. But I spend a lot of time in the gym and am in a good shape, so people do look at me.

That's just you looking at yourself in the mirror.

I do try and match to some extent. I often wear leggings with a pattern, so will try and make sure my top matches colourwise. ‘Curation’ is probably too strong a term.

I do the same for my swimming stuff (I swim more than gym): I like my suit, cap and goggles to be somewhat colour coordinated!

I mean, if I’d put this much work into it and didn’t look, that would just be wasteful.

Yep all matching for me, got about 5 outfits. All sweaty Betty - all less than a tenner new on Vinted.

I only buy second hand, all that stuff’s cheap as chips

My priority is exercising and being comfortable. Couldn’t care less what my kit looks like (certainly not “curated” 😂😂😂)