Fashionably Sweaty

The gym. Alright before any of you who know me decide to judge this topic before reading, refrain. First I will start off by saying, I happen to like clothing, so another use for them such as the gym awesome it’s like another wardrobe. And sneakers, yes I have many of them, yes I am the one who personalize them but mind you I do this because I do NOT want to look like everyone else. Nothing against everyone and your Nike Free’s or your paint splattered Asics, (see visual incase you miss it..) I just like to make things- my own. And no I am not taking credit for being the first NIKEID.COMer.. I am just saying, I like to have my own thing going on.

So as I was saying, the gym. To some such a dreaded word to others a lifestyle. Personally growing up playing tennis I did not think much of joining a Gold’s Gym and learning weight training to better my tennis career — however I was 14. Things have changed. Not to say the muscle tee’s have gotten better, just much smaller. But as I went through high school and routinely went about my after school gym sessions I felt a lot more comfortable, less apt to look in the mirrors and was quite comfortable sweating till my shirt was drenched, my shorts not cute and still walk around and feel good about myself and how I looked. But that was then. The gym was a safe haven, a place you could go in your sweats on a Sunday morning before football or roll out of bed throw on your old t-shirt and younger brother’s shorts and that was it. You went, you worked out and were out of there with that feel good mood of accomplishment in an hour or less.

Not anymore, no no. Now the men are even outdoing the women, forcing the women to not only keep up with each other but also the men. Complicated I know. If fashion keeps going at this rate, attacking places we thought were safe from critique, will we be forced to dress up for bed? (hate to break it to you men, but most women don’t go to bed in their Victoria Secret lingerie wings and wake up looking the same. Will there be a make-up made strictly for sleeping? God knows there probably already is, so perhaps a silly question. But when and where will it stop? Aren’t we supposed to go to the gym and be proud we are doing something good for our bodies and even more proud of someone who is just trying to better themselves? Not ridicule their outfits and out of style sneakers. The gym has become a nightclub, a dating pool, a feeding ground of testosterone driven men surrounded by mirrors. I get it, make sure you are in the correct form during your curls and shoulder press but really do you need to watch the muscle contract while gazing over slightly to your left to see if anyone is catching that pump. So now the dress code? Well my Nike dry fit tops, which don’t stay dry- crock of shit — and Lululemon gear for every activity possible (becareful which spandex you’ve recently bought)… they are all starting to cost as much if not more than my favorite coveted go to Equipment button down shirts (ladies, just buy them in all colors they’re $ but when you’re sweating from trying on your closet and don’ t know what to wear they’re fantastic).

Joining a gym is like joining a cult, especially if you are joining a Crossfit type deal… (I’ll spare my opinions). Everyone piles in, 5 pm on the weekdays and the dedicated ones 9am on the weekends. They walk around, aimlessly. They chat to one another about what they’re working out today or how wild their weekend was, perhaps their Sunday Funday got the best of them. As I mentioned before I am an observer, so what better place other than a mall or an airport than a gym. I usually perch upon the stairmaster for a bird’s eye view. I watch as women walk around in these perfectly matching shoe lace to sports bra strap outfits. I am in fact glad they are concerned about their wardrobe but I would like to hope it is for the right reasons, such as comfort while doing lunges, correct sneakers for ankle support. I know there is a lot of pressure for women to constantly appear perfect but the gym was the one place where we didn’t have to! Now I watch the self-conscious women coated in make-up and self tanner walk around from one machine to the next with eye liner and shadow that somehow hasn’t smudged? But the smudge-less shadow is being over looked as I realize my disbelief is gravitating towards the men. We would think they are trying to create a more masculine self-image but suddenly there is this conflicting shirt passing me by. One after another, studded graphic tee, in public, in a gym, on a man. Do they not see the oxymoron? What is more emasculating then a man wearing a studded bedazzled whatever you want to call it shirt that is ‘fancier’ than the women’s? Perhaps not emasculating more less demoralizing for the girl who spent considerable time to get her outfit together and don’t forget make up and then see the guy whose wife beater looks pricier than her Nike top. Wife beaters… some of them I like to refer to as shoe string tops, because the straps have become so warn out they are almost invisible but then again something tells me… it was on purpose.

I go to the locker room where the women are lined up in the mirrors, rearranging their hair, putting on “stylish” hats, reapplying their lips gloss and fidgeting with their tops leaving no angle forgotten. Now people spend more time at the gym than they do at home, between ever changing daily requirements of cardio, to the time spent between sets to fix your hair and dabbing your sweat from smudging your foundation — it is hard to believe people have time to shed pounds.

We all love fashion, thrive on looking good and let’s be honest we want to out do one another and if you say no, you’re lying. But there comes a point when the rhinestones and your Dior foundation is best kept for special occasions. I am all about looking your best and feeling good about yourself but there is something to be said about taking a little too far. The gym was that one place left for people who couldn’t afford (or hopefully didn’t want to wear) rhinestone shirts and waste make up to workout. It was somewhere to go to not feel like an outcast, for the girl without the trendy Nikes or the not so flawless skin to feel like she fit in. Now we’ve taken that away. And if you truly are there to workout for the right reasons why are you wearing makeup? Not just lip gloss, the full face. The gym is for working out, sweating being your natural self. So Orlando, and the rest of the fitness world, let’s be fashionable and sweaty, but leave the lip gloss and rhinestones at home.

and I am not talking about the women who come straight from work to the gym..

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