Fitness Fashion for the Plus Size Gal

Five to ten years ago finding functional workout clothes in plus sizes was near impossible. What you could find was far from fashionable. Cotton draw string shorts with pockets that accentuated your hips and puffed up around your butt and belly. Thanks! I'll go work out once I'm done crying in my bowl of barbecue potato chips. Your color choices were black and black  maybe grey. Shopping for sports bras, ha!  If you are over a bra size 38 you can pretty much forget it. 
Incredibly unfair since we have been told so often and in so many painful ways that we should be lose weight. You have such a pretty smile if only you would lose a few pounds . . . and so on.  Walking into a fitness center for the first time is daunting enough without feeling that you look like you don't belong.  Why wouldn't a clothing line fight for the plus size customer. Whomever did finally get into the plus size fitness clothing was going to make a mint cornering the market! Finally in the last few years we are seeing more and more options. Options of the same fashion as our slimmer sisters but tailored for us. We might not be able to find these clothes easily in stores on any given day but the internet and free/fast shipping has made finding fitness clothes in fashion far easier. 

Found at Avenue.com

Today we are still not able to easily find inexpensive fitness clothing, or activewear, in stores such as Walmart or Target. And really, if we did  they would probably be cheaply made and fall apart quickly. 
The Avenue has a decent selection, and quality clothing at reasonable prices (many choices under $30). Their activewear sells out fast so check regularly. So far I have purchased all my work out clothing from Avenue. Lane Bryant is often more expensive and honestly does not offer a lot of options though it seems they have just started to partner with Reebok. So more options are coming but the price is still high. $50 for a pair of fitness capris. Really, $50? This is the home of the $100 maxi dress so we can't be surprised. Love the fashion sense of Lane Bryant but not the prices. At least you are likely to find quality at Lane Bryant so if you like what you see it's a trade off. When you go to the Lane Bryant web site you will see several shops across the top ribbon to choose from. Some have far less expensive options like Catherine's and Fashion Bug so it's worth a peek.
A great resource for all things plus size is a website called www.onestopplus.com. This site allows you to shop many stores at one time on the same screen saving you a lot of time. If I find any great deals I will definitely post them here. 
Working on a post about what to look for in a good pair of shoes. Honestly shoes will make all the difference in the world so they are probably the most important gear and worth the investment in a decent pair. More on that soon. 
Time to gear up and get moving!
Barbara