1 Leggings, 85, Salt Gypsy; matchesfashion.com. Air Zoom trainers, 63, Nike; net-a-porter.com. 2 Stripy leggings, 115, No Ka’Oi; net-a-porter.com. Ultra Boost trainers, 170, Adidas By Kolor; matchesfashion.com. 3 Legendary leggings, 85, Nike, and Energy Boost 3 trainers, 120, Adidas; zalando.co.uk. 4 Techfit print leggings, 34, Adidas. TechLoom Pro mesh trainers, 140, Athletic Propulsion Labs; net-a-porter.com. 5 Panelled leggings, 95, Monreal London; net-a-porter.com. Ultra Boost trainers, 185, Stella McCartney For Adidas, from Harrods. Model: An-Magritt at Body London
Budget buns: top, 16, capri leggings, 12, trainers, 22, F&F Active, from Tesco
Black sports bra, 10, and leggings, 20, H&M Thanks a lot for visiting. Just before we carry on I need to say thanks to http://www.recipeweb.co.uk/ for their continued support and the support of their network. Having a service team like this means a lot to us as we continue to grow our community blog.
Magic carpet: yoga matt, 80, Yogi Peace Club; matchesfashion.com
Hip kicks: trainers, from 105, athletic propulsion labs; matchesfashion.com and harveynichols.com
Raising the barre: sports bra, 80. jacket, 263, and leggings, 135, No ka’oi; harveynichols.com.
Pink top, 134, and leggings, 134, Michi, from Harrods
I love my leggings by Edwina Ings-Chambers
Have you seen the YouTube video, the one about getting busy in your active wear while doing anything but actual sporting activity?
Well, that’s me. I live in my Nike sports leggings (which I purchased with the help of some nike coupons!), and I often wear a sports bra instead of some fancy little lace number. The right sports bra can give a great “Hello, boys!” push-up effect – Bodyism’s Lily version is especially good. I wear them to work. I wear them to dinner.
I wear them at weekends. About the only place I don’t wear them is in bed. All this is because I’m a wearer of athleisure (active leisure) gear. And I’m one of an increasingly powerful group – even if you can’t immediately tell from our biceps. Apparently, we’re causing a shift in clothing retail: according to recent statistics, sales of denim are going down, while athleisure sales are on the up. The market-research group NPD reported that jeans sales in America dropped by 8% last year, while sales of athleisure rose 17%.
Denim is going to find it tough to fight off the likes of Kanye West – who has his own line of athleisure wear for Adidas, Yeezy – as well as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner running around town in gym kit, their off-duty wardrobe of choice.
I admit that it can be easy to slide a little too far into athleisure. When I first dipped my toe in, I had less than two months to train for the San Francisco half marathon, so I practically lived in my gym kit. But
I found that active wear had benefits beyond practicality – it made me feel strong and ready for anything. Somehow, I never fully made it back into proper clothes. I did, however, pull myself back from the brink, as I stopped wearing trainers with sports leggings; now I match them with civilised, grown-up footwear. It’s a small thing, but in my mind it divides the woman from the beast.
Mostly, though, I don’t worry about it. Besides, jeans have become such a minefield: so many different cuts and washes, and if you’re not in the most svelte phase of your life, they feel so unforgiving. I can honestly say that, for the first time in my life, I don’t own a pair.
My flesh may now be weaker than it was in my half-marathon days, but my sports leggings forgive me, while also making me feel like my mind is still willing. And if I can just keep engaging in that first step then, any day now, my muscles might follow suit.
