This is just a rant about athletic clothing for women with curves!
I know the horror of finding a bathing suit so you can just lay flat on the beach and hope no one notices your legs or extra rolls in the belly. Now add that horror to running around, having endless people take pictures of you in those clothes during RACES. Add to that, a westuit, which leaves nothing unnoticed!
I'm a woman with curves (probably a few more than necessary) but still CURVES! I'm extremely tired of feeling VERY FAT and UNCOMFORTABLE when I try to find any workout clothing! As someone who spends 10-20 hours a week in those clothes, they should FIT and make me feel good!
My first rant will be to the BIKE SHIRT INDUSTRY! I bought my first bike shirt a few years ago, forget the women's section, those cute shirts? nope.. off to the Men's! NOT ONLY the men's, but XXL MEN! Do manufacturers of bike shirts think that only 80lb women ride bikes? or 100lb men for that matter? Yea these things are supposed to be tight, but I think circulation is required for riding a bike. PLUS, I would love to wear some of the cute colors they have for women. Right now my only option would be to use 2 of them, one on each leg for a leg warmer!
Next rant - TECH SHIRTS! Tech t-shirts have gotten smaller and smaller over the last couple of years. They have 'women's cut' and a 'man's cut. OK GREAT, the woman's cut is cute, I like how it comes in at the waist, EXCEPT I would need a XXXXL to fit my D's! Not to to mention my WRIST barely fits in the armhole, how is my bicep supposed to fit? Are real women not supposed to wear tech shirts? I tell you I know PLENTY of jacked women who would rock a tech shirt, if manufacturers would use REAL MODELS to size them. I'm tired of arguing with race volunteers "yes I need a Man's XL"- they just look at me like I'm crazy.
ONTO ZIPPERS!.. GOOD GOD leave the ZIPPERS out of athletic apparel. There is no point! I've never had one work properly, again onto the D's- if I zip up one of these TIGHT shirts, guess what... zipper either breaks or falls down!
When I first started in Triathlon, I tried a 'tri suit.' They all have a stupid zipper, and all do the same thing FALL DOWN! In hindsight this is ok though, trisuits in my opinion are kinda dumb! You must get naked in a portapotty at races. No Thanks!
I have about 12 of the 'old' Danskin tankini's. They wear out so I have to buy more each year. To my dismay, they were discontinued. They decided to create a new one, WITH A ZIPPER! ugh! Well first one I wore, zipper broke. Second, zipper fell down while riding. Awesome. I emailed them with a total rant and their response was "we'll send this to our product people." I want to know what size their product people are, 2? and no muscles? (or boobs).
So now I'm back on the prowl for a new tankini. Which is very difficult, they make them cut so goofy. Side boob falls out because they they have an "athletic cut." or the bottom rolls up to leave your belly hanging out. I mean leave some material for WOMEN WITH CURVES! I know many women who are athletic and could put those crazy skinny @ss models to shame in FITNESS, so how about you make some CLOTHING for us!?!
So, that's the shirt.. I have been wearing Under Armor compression shorts forever. Guess what, they are discontinued as well! The discontinued ones have stitching down the leg and a seam at the waist. Well the new ones are total flat panel. Seriously WHO LOOKS OK IN FLAT PANEL ANYTHING? To top that off, they're SHORTER! Yea, just what I want! There is a 'point of no return' on shorts. They either stay on your leg, or ride up. I don't know what % of the population can wear the daisy dukes, but seriously can we HAVE A CHOICE? I like 9" shorts, those are NO WHERE To be found anymore, 7" is the longest you can get and most are 2-4. SERIOUSLY?
Can we PLEASE keep WOMEN WITH CURVES on the minds of product people.
My issue is finding a tank, with a shelf bra that will comfortably contain the girls and keep them from moving, that has actual pockets that I can carry things in on the bike. I was at Mellow Johnny's in Austin with my (incredibly fit friend Mike). I held up a tank jersey and said to him, "this is my problem with women's jersey's." "What," says Mike. I put the tips of my fingers in the zip pocket, because that is all that will fit, and say, "could you do a solo 80 mile ride with that pocket?" And I can't go to men's jerseys because I get too hot in anything other than a tank.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even get me started on the new Under Armour compression shorts, with the squeezy top, just what I need around my waist.
Yup! Danskin USED To have a great top, pocket fit credit cards, lipbalm, %, and your keys if you wanted to sweat on them. - new version now is just a waste of material.
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