That One Time I Worked Out in a Dress

Left to right: Natalie (Co-Founder, RUNGRL Co.), Christian (Sweater Sipper), ME!, Tikima (Tikima Renee Fitness), and Na’Tasha (Co-Founder, RUNGRL Co.)

A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to participate in The Exercise Dress Tour. I’m going to be honest with you: My initial reaction was WHAT THE %&*?!

While I play tennis every so often, I never wear a dress while doing it. That was the only sport I could think of where you could even consider wearing a dress! How the who?

I got shipped a dress in advance from Morgan, a mutual friend who also happens to run the social media for OV Wash, and that proved to be crucial! I had never worn any items from Outdoor Voices, so I wasn’t familiar with their materials or the cuts. To add on to that, the dress has running shorts built into them – which is great because there are pockets and you feel less exposed but could create a challenge if you are different sizes on the top and bottom. The dress also does not have adjustable straps, and the straps are not especially stretchy, so this is something to note if you are busty like I am.

I’m normally a medium in workout tops and bottoms unless they are cut smaller across in the tops, in which case I will sometimes go up to a large (looking at you, Nike form-fitting tanks).

I took a deep breath and prepared to put on the dress. First, I stupidly thought about putting it over my head, but HELLO, shorts can not go on your head, genius. Then, I regained consciousness and stepped into the dress. I shimmied on the shorts, which fit like a charm. Next, I pulled the dress up to just under my bustline. Still all good. Finally, I attempted to squeeze myself into the top. Note: This is, I’m certain, how sausage is made.

Well, this is awkward.

Noting that there was no way I could possibly go out in public with my current situation without immediately finding myself under arrest, I emailed Morgan to let her know that I wasn’t going to be able to wear the medium dress, and that I would bring it back with me. The next morning, I headed out for the Exercise Dress Tour workout. Of course, I’m a clown, and repackaged it nicely, just to leave the package right in front of my front door so I wouldn’t forget it. And then I forgot it. 😑

Note that I arrived to the event wearing not the Exercise Dress.

Even though Tikima and I arrived at the event super early (she wanted to line up early for a dress since it was a “while supplies last” situation), there was already a long line! Ruh roh.

Fortunately, I was one of the last people in a new dress, and I was able to try on the large, which fit so much better up top!

Click to see me pop out of the pop-up fitting room! 

We got in a warm-up, led by the gorgeous Cynthia Lorena who often teaches yoga classes as one of our longtime Fitbit Local Ambassadors. I originally met her after a Fitbit local event a couple of years ago, and she is EVERYWHERE in the DMV now!

After that, we had a Zumba workout which suffered some technical difficulties but still got us sweating. Speaking of sweating – this material had a bit more nylon than I’m used to, and while I’m not generally a big sweater, I was sweating quite a bit through my dress. It was also hot and sunny outside, so there’s that!

The Exercise Dress is for sure very comfortable. It has no support in the bra, so I wouldn’t recommend wearing it for something where you’re going to be bouncing a lot unless you wear a bra underneath it, but the way it’s cut in the back doesn’t necessarily lend itself to wearing it with a super supportive bra.

How would I recommend wearing it? Probably if you’re going from work to workout, and maybe you are doing some strength training, pilates, barre or the like.

While I love my navy dress, I would love one of the printed dresses. They’re so adorable! I think they look so much better in person than online.

How would I ideally like to wear the dress? Walking down the streets of DC. There’s a yoga class going on in the distance. I walk towards it. When I get there, I start stretching. People think, is she… no she’s not… I grab a nearby empty mat. I move through the flow, people gasp as a prepare for downward dog. But alas! No full moon! Just my shorts underneath. NBD, guys. Chill. I finish my practice with an ommmm and a Namaste, wipe down the mat, throw on my shades, and bounce.

Who was that? They ask. Just the dopest chick they’ve ever seen. 😎