Today I am sharing with you a look from none other than Olympia Activewear. Can I tell you that I am OBSESSED. Like so freaking OBSESSED with this brand. Not only do I absolutely love every color, the use of neutrals, the amazing details but it also fits amazing. I am 100% Dominican from the waist down (50% IRL) so I have a hard time finding gym pants that won't turn me into a stripper in one of my classes. It is important not to distract your students with the landscape of your body; you want to inspire, not offend them. I love how this look has an element of class and some serious trompe l'oeil; my boyfriend wanted to be sure I was wearing a top when he saw the results of this shoot. This look is so sexy and surprisingly functional that I would gladly live in it if I had to.
I was doing research on Olympia and kind of praying that she wasn't of Greek descent. See, I grew up in Astoria, Queens and a lot of my very special friends are Greek. I even consider myself partially Greek in many ways. The thing is that Greeks really do think they invented everything so I was waiting for a very special friend to say "of course this brand is Greek, it is the best". That was a total paraphrase and a gross exaggeration; she does not speak that way (you know who you are) but essentially the conversation would have ended with it having to be the ultimate fitness brand in the world if it were Greek. Luckily, Kaili Lickle spared me that conversation and instead she is from Maui, talk about inspiration. And like many other amazing fitness designers today she was a fitness enthusiast who didn't like what was out there so she created what she wanted. Sheesh, I have an endless list of things I wish I could do that with and we just don't have enough time to go through that list today.
I love that she named the brand Olympia (because I AM partially Greek) as it represents strength and femininity. Isn't that such a beautiful description? A light bulb goes off for me; I think that is the essence of a woman's character. It is a balance that we work so hard to achieve; being strong yet uninhibited to own our feminine nature. MY GOODNESS, this gives me goosebumps. I feel like that is a concept that so many women struggle with today. How can you be strong, conclusive, firm in the work place or in more intense life situations but still feel empowered by your femininity? And how do you know when to use which: strength or femininity? I guess the goal is that you combine both for a very impressive cocktail but that remains a challenge. I get the sensation that femininity is oppressed more and more these days as we try and keep up with or even compete with men at times. This is quite the concept. For some of you it may sound like "sheesh what does this have to do with clothes or fashion?" but the truth is, clothing plays a pretty substantial role. I was fortunate to work for fashion/beauty companies before working for myself (now I pretty much wear whatever the heck I want, I'm not even wearing pants while I write this) and it was almost imperative to wear feminine clothes or the extreme man repeller cool stuff. I have so many friends who feel inhibited to show their curves in a manner which makes them feel feminine while remaining respectful to a work environment. They are not asking to go to work like they are going to da club but to feel like a woman. Like WTF? It's as if men were told that their shoulders are too sexy so they should wear an extremely loose jacket to work. Would anyone ever say a man looks to masculine in an outfit? I wonder how that would play out? Well now I digress. You get the idea though, it is so important to still be feminine in-spite of the challenges that we have. Our softness, beauty, grace is so very precious. So I am going to praise Olympia one more time for making women who throw tires around in a Cross Fit class, bike long distances and punch bags like they are going out of style the ability to still feel like a WOMAN <cue Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin>.
I will be quiet now and move on to some pretty amazing photos. Natalie, Diane and I went on location last week to New Jersey and we all made some beautiful magic together, thanks for sweating your butts off with me (one day it will be a beach in the Caribbean...dream big)
This is the T-Bra Nude, I purchased it directly from Olympia and they sent me a very nice hand written post card and that obviously impressed me (I love stationary and hand written stuff). The pants are moto jet bone and I could have sworn that I meant to order these in a different color. I got them on Free People (once again think I meant to order something else but I love them so it doesn't matter) and they are also on BANDIER and Olympia. I absolutely must have these leggings in all black for fall. MUST. I will rock them with cool sneakers, boots a leather jacket, big sweater...the list is endless. I've got my staples on too, Illesteva sunnies (she recently had a sample sale I couldn't make and I am still sad about it) and Stella Adidas by Stella McCartney sneaks (linked to something similar on Net-A-Porter).
I hope you embrace your femininity and fierceness this weekend xoxo
