In praise of activewear: No need to walk the walk when you look this good
Be it the latest look from Lululemon or a lazy lounge number from Lowes, activewear has its own benefits, writes Phil Brown
Image: Jane Sundried/Unsplash
Can wearing activewear actually make you fitter? Even if you’re not that active?
Well, when I’m wearing it, I certainly feel fitter although maybe it’s all in the mind. Which works for me because I believe in mind over matter.
That is, I don’t mind and it doesn’t matter.
In the last decade or so I have moved into largely wearing tracksuits and runners and other active wear on the weekends, mixing and matching between various brands.
I have a particular appreciation of classic Adidas tracksuits and on my recently holiday in Singapore I bought a pair of bright light blue Adidas track pants from their Originals series – you know, the cool ones with the stripes that make you think you’re a wealthy European soccer player when you wear them.
People seem to appreciate my activewear and I was wearing my red classic Adidas track jacket on a walk around the block recently when a lady stopped me and said her husband would love to get one like that.
“Where did you buy it?” she asked.
“Moscow,” I said and she looked surprised. I think she thought I was trying to be smart.
“No, really, I bought it in Moscow,” I said. “Mind you I don’t think any of us will be going shopping in Moscow anytime soon. Hopefully he can get one here.”
I went to Moscow in early 2019 to interview the Bolshoi Ballet before their Brisbane season that same year. It was pretty mind boggling and the shopping in downtown Moscow is pretty good. Or it was.
There’s an underground shopping centre near Red Square which is where I nabbed that particular item, in case you ever get to Moscow.
Of course, the whole activewear scene is pretty vibrant nowadays with brands like Lorna Jane and Lululemon which has some good stuff for blokes too. I ran into one of my son’s friend’s mums in Lululemon recently and she seemed a bit surprised to see me there, I think.
But I’m no snob and one of my favorite sweatshirts was purchased at Lowes Menswear which has some pretty good and very affordable track daks too. Most weekends I swan around in my activewear and it really puts a spring in my step. Of course, the real benefits of active wear would be if you were also active while wearing it. I guess I need to work on that.
