Fashionable Fitness

I think an extraordinary amount about what to wear while working out. It's part of what motivates me to get out there, along with all my gadgets. But at the same time, I'm all hyper about not owning too many clothes.  Back in late 2012, I re-did my closet and decided I could only own clothes that fit in my room - no spilling out over the whole house.  I'm at capacity again, and need to decide how to proceed.

When I look back at how I've spent money on clothes in the past year or so, it is almost entirely on workout / casual clothes.  There is some overlap between pure gym clothes and casual hang-out-and-do-chores clothes, especially in the tops. Plus, I generally sleep in sweats and a tee, so shopping at the casual / gym places works for me on many levels.

I've gotten by without buying any work clothes for a couple of reasons. One is that my weight has never been more stable in my adult life.  My weight continues to bounce within a ten-pound range, for what is coming up on four whole years now. And within the last 15 or so years, I've been around this weight range before. So I was able to harvest some good quality classic clothes from my big closet archeology - ten or more years old and they fit and weren't worn out - because I forgot about them when they no longer fit.  For the past summer, my go-to work outfits were dresses (or skirts and tees) and bare legs (we nominally have an all-summer casual dress code which allows a lot of wiggle room, but even in important meetings women have bare legs in DC in summer).

My weight in perspective: since 1988!

I have a closet full of tailored slacks, 15+ pairs, only one pair bought in the last year. They are navy, black, and grey, with one pair of brown.  I have about 10 silk (read dry clean only) knit tops, and an equal number of washable cotton ones, that need upgrading, but I'll probably do that on-line. This is more than I need to own in total, but I want to be ruthless about getting rid of the less-than-perfect ones.

I have bought several pairs of shoes, both casual and for work. I haven't worn heels since and never ever will again since I didn't wear them to meet the President (it was Clinton-that's how long it's been!)  I got a catalogue in the mail from an English company, Hotter, and found cool shoes that are wide enough for my bunions. I've added four pairs to my closet, and I'm out of room.  I'm getting rid of those I don't like, but again there are more that I like and that fit than I seem to wear in regular rotation. How many of those should I hang onto?

So the only "shopping" I do is for casual clothes.Shoes are clearly a fitness tool, and since I'm running and walking I think having a couple of pairs in rotation is good. My Very Hungry Labrador regularly prunes my sock collection, despite all my precautions, so I keep getting more of those.  But I can easily do laundry once a week, and so how many clothes do I need to own?  Not so many.  But I consider it money well spent if the buzz of excitement for dressing in new clothes is some of what pushes me to get moving. And I'm being ruthless about either returning clothes or donating them if they are not perfect for me.

Here are my go-to places for casual and work-out clothes - almost all the shopping I do is on-line, except where noted.

Athleta.  Hands down my favorite, but pricy. Serious workout clothes, and yoga clothes, and fashion.  I've bought dresses and sweaters from them as well as workout clothes. My biggest complaint is they don't have a lot of petites, which I need for full length bottoms - since I'm the ultimate pear shaped woman, needing Large on bottom but Medium on top.
City Sports. They are in my neighborhood, across the street from Whole Foods and almost next door to my new gym. I most often buy bottoms on-line (to find L Petite), but stop in for sales on tops, socks and shoes. This is where I got my running shorts from, in an on-line sale I got lucky.
Title Nine. Serious athletic clothes and fun dresses and tops. Love love love their catalogue, but disappointed that often when I go to order, they don't have my size.  They also have bra-whisperers, and an associated line of fashionable bras called Bounce. Since the pear-shaped thing means bras are not a big issue for me, I've always resented spending real money on them, but those of you more endowed might enjoy what they have.
Fabletics.  This is brand new to me.  I got a blind junk email from them, and whimiscally clicked through, and actually bought.  They are on-line only, and push to sign up to a SUBSCRIPTION FOR OUTFITS - very very nicely priced, but you have to actively opt out if you don't want to buy on a monthly basis. Knowing my history with these kinds of things, I'll have to close my account soon, but I bought their intro offer - complete 3-piece outfit for $29 - and am wearing it now. It fits well with Large and Medium bottom and top, respectively, for me. They seem to carry extensive sizing, and I liked the idea of a coordinated outfit. After one more outfit, though, I think I'll probably declare my workout clothes storage full and just stop.  I notice they fit well, and feel comfortable, but they are not as "technical" as the clothes from City Sports or Athleta or Title Nine.  I mean not necessarily miracle wicking fabrics or reflective.
REI. Long established camping equipment store, also has store brand and other brand outdoor and workout clothes. I love REI - I went there once for a spork for my boy's extensive camping trip the next day, and walked out with $250 total in purchases. Their store brand clothes is not always of the quality of other brands, but I shop the sales there and recently did well on yoga clothes seasonal closeout. I only do in person shopping there because I want to examine the quality. I often buy purses and back packs there.
LL Bean.  Of course. They always have petites and I buy most of my weekend long pants there. And fleece. I have a couple drawers full of LL Bean fleece.