Women’s Activewear Recs - Tried, True, and Not Sponsored 

I get asked about activewear a lot. Probably because I live in it when I’m not working… and sometimes even when I am. Someone at work once told me I dress like a PE teacher…

For context, I’ve tested activewear across a lot of sports and classes: rock climbing, tennis, hiking, HIIT, LISS, Pilates, yoga, lifting, SolidCore, F45, OrangeTheory, Tonehouse, S10…you get the idea.

So here are some favorites.

Breakout Star: Abercrombie. Surprising but true. The quality is equal to—if not better than—Lululemon in some cases. It’s cute, fits well, stays in place, moves with you, and holds up after a lot of washes. Plus they run sales constantly.

Another Surprise: Victoria’s Secret. They used to make the best sports bras ever (I owned ~20). The exact style was discontinued, but some of their newer ones are still solid. Their activewear is also pretty cute. Not the highest performance gear out there, but decent.

Starting from the ground up

Best Socks 

• Obviously the GOALszn socks

• Arcteryx: Pricey but great

• Saucony: No-show socks (Gen Z judgment be damned)

Best Shorts

LNDR: If you haven’t tried working out in shorts instead of leggings, I highly recommend it. Less sweaty, more freedom. These stay in place and compress in the right spots.

Best Leggings

• LNDR: Same as the shorts rec, they stay in place and compress in the right spots.

• Sweaty Betty: Great options and quality

Sports Bras 

• A GOALSzn crowd-sourced list for a variety of boobs and activities.

• If you want more recs check out the Strategist’s list, but I tend to see gaps in their criteria and testing.

Best Tops 

I’m not super picky here because you’re usually wearing a sports bra underneath anyway. My favorites were always high-neck cotton crop tops from random places like  Forever21, Zara, or Abercrombie. I can’t seem to find the exact silhouette anymore, which is weird because they are basics, but I found this one that is similar. Recent purchases were casual tanks or tops (not activewear per se) such as this Abercrombie tank and a generic Amazon tank. Other purchases include ones from Old Navy and Lululemon (but only from the “we made too much” section.

Hats

• Vimhue Ponytail Baseball Cap: I thought this would make me look dorky. Either I stopped caring or it’s actually cool now. Either way—it works.

• HGGE Womens Criss Cross Ponytail Baseball Cap: Cheaper version of the above. Also great.

• Lululemon Fast & Free Running Hat: Love this one. I’ve owned multiple. Great for running, surfing, tennis.

• Lululemon Structured Classic Ball Cap: More for casualwear, but worth mentioning.  

Brands I want to try 

• Oner Active: I’ve seen several women at my gym wear this brand, and it always looks 🔥. Next time I need activewear, this will be my first stop.

• Left on Friday: Also 🔥 

• Monday Active: Curious about some of their more “supportive” looking pieces

• LSKD: Interested specifically in the sports bras 

Organic Activewear (“Made Without Harmful Chemicals”) : 

More brands are marketing activewear made without certain chemicals.

• Mate the Label: Been wanting to try this due to strong designs and the fact that they use organic dyes and yarns, and are plastic free. 

• Reprise Activewear: I have a pair of leggings. Very comfortable but less compressive, so better for casual movement than intense workouts.

Women-Focused Brands by Sport

• Hiking: 

  • Hikerkind

  • Astrid Wild

  • Seniq 

  • Loess

• Running

  • Mileoff

  • Philos

  • Hettas

• Soccer! Female-first soccer brand SOQA

• Basketball! Moolah Kicks