Ladies! Do you want to look your best at the gym? Is it important that you have a good line, and look sexy while sweating?*
Well! Spanx has an athletic line now! Here’s the catch: you may not fit into it.
While I will contend that there is a considerable market of people who could use some serious compression wear for athletics — particularly plus-size women who are annoyed/hindered by their stomachs/thighs, etc. when it comes to working out comfortably — Spanx’s athletic line is not actually for these people. The largest size is XL, which claims to be a 14/16, but based on their measurement chart, my hips wouldn’t fit (I’m just above — though on top, it’s a fit).
So we end up with more of the same problem: bigger women who WANT to exercise and need compression wear, don’t get it. Smaller/normative women (I won’t say thin and cast aspersions) who have their pick of compression athletic wear (should they desire it) get a superfluous and expensive product line from Spanx. ($118 for a pair of pants?!?!?!) If I want expensive compression wear (which actually comes in my size, thanks), I’ll go to Athleta.
I guess it’s just slightly ridiculous because it’s coming from Spanx, which is in the business of “smoothing lines” so ladies can be sexy and confident in their power suits & dresses. Thus, the assumption is that these pieces aren’t really for working out in/sweating in, but for making you LOOK BETTER doing it. Fail.
Also, they’re called SPANX. Double fail.
(bitter tall woman disclosure: Spanx generally don’t fit me because they don’t make decent products for tall women, so they never come up high enough. Panty hose hanging two inches from your crotch = FAIL. Also, the one pair I bought once ripped the first time I wore it)
Conclusion: Spanx is a FASHION product, so that they’re branching out into “athletic wear” for a limited subset of sizes (and heights) is slightly ridiculous.
* LOL kidding — you can’t sweat in these! They’re not even moisture wicking!
As someone who wears Spanx, I was thrilled to hear that they are making athletic clothing now. I even gushed about the idea of having Spanx support to help me do jump squats more efficiently….
Now, instead of being thrilled, I am utterly disgusted…pissed off that companies like Spanx don’t think that they should even bother catering to women like me either because a) we’re too fat to bother working out (which I do daily so screw you Spanx) or b) because we shouldn’t even bother trying to look good when we work out.
I am so utterly disappointed with Spanx…..I’m going to go let off some steam by working out NOT in Spanx because they seem to think I’m too fat to bother with it….
Screw you Spanx….s-c-r-e-w you. You just lost one customer.
Wearing non-wicking tight clothing to the gym seems like the clothes equivalent of wearing makeup to the gym. Ugh.
Also an excellent way to acquire unhappy skin and/or related conditions.
Ha. I just came back from my local sporting goods store where I was looking for new non-underwire sports bras or support tops. Their sizing only went from XS-L, which I assumed meant that everyone who wears an XL or larger had already purchased what had been on the rack.
When I asked a sales associate if they had any more plus-size activewear in stock, she sort of blinked at me and asked, “What do you mean, ‘plus-size activewear’?” As if she genuinely could not comprehend such a concept.
But… what do you MEAN, fat people EXERCISE? *sales associate’s head explodes*
Yeah… I’ve purposely not tried super hard to buy a lot of athletic wear, just so I don’t have to deal with the frustration. I got my sports bra from Intimacy, so it was $70 but it is perfect for my size (40 DD, though I’m now a 38) and it provides excellent support. I will look up my brand when I get home and let you know what it is — it’s not underwire
For my workout clothes, I have a pair of Champion capris from Target in XL & a pair of Fila capris from Kohl’s in XL. Champion goes up to XXL, but it’s the only “mainstream” accessible brand I’ve seen go up that far. That said, I haven’t looked very hard, as I found something I could wear and RAN lol. For my running top, I “wung” it on Athleta, which does carry larger sizes. The sucky thing is you can’t try anything on.
Much as I am not a fan of Walmart (I tried to go to my local, independent business — they didn’t want me), the Danskin Now line they carry goes up to a 4x, and I think they tend to size generously. (My Danskin XLs fit more loosely than do my Champion XXLs.)
For bras, I’m looking at this Freya. (I’ve given up on the days when I can buy a bra that retails for less than that.) I have the same model in underwire, and it fits fine. It’s just that in the summer, when I swear a *lot,* there is additional rubbing.
You can buy Danskin straight from the company’s website, if you know your size.
The weird thing is, activewear is basically Spanx. The reason I loved Spanx (and by Spanx I mean the $15 Target brand version of Spanx) was because it was like wearing gym shorts underneath my clothes…
There are some really great places to get plus-size activewear actually! Land’s End is the brand I originally bought my workout clothes in. Sort of expensive but a lifetime/satisfaction guarantee and they not only come in petite/regular/plus but also TALL. Land’s End usually gets my vote but they definitely do when it comes to options (and that return policy!)
Like you said, Champion and some bigger chain stores do. And Nike goes up to 3x! A lot of women-specific sport places carry larger sizes too. Athleta, Moving Comfort, etc.
Dear Spanx, I will continue to use you for weddings and such because the whole experience makes me laugh, especially if I have to try and get you off before someone notices buuuuuuut Imma get my activewear from folks who specialize in…sports.
And I thought that the name was the most offensive part of the brand. *sigh*