There’s only 1 thing I love more than a local brand, and that’s a local active wear brand! If you haven’t heard of Zest Lifewear, you are already missing out. Started in Brisbane, Sassii (the creator) was fed up with not being able to find attractive active wear in plus sizes (PREACH), so she decided to create some!
The Zest Lifewear brand is an empowering, versatile, sexy machine; and their goals of empowering curvy women, standing up to body shamers and promoting confidence is one that I support whole heartedly! So I was more than excited to be able to try out some of their products and get involved in their brand. On looking through their range you can easily tell that this activewear does not shy away from the curvy shape (yay!), better yet it embraces it! With designs that skim the waist and accentuate the booty, this range offers a nice change from the baggy and unflattering plus size active wear that’s in the main stream market. Personally, I love active wear! Do you remember when all those parody videos hit the internet about females doing everything in their active wear? Yeah, that was me. Active wear to breakfast, on the weekends, to go to the shops – I totally did that phase. So another thing that really appealed to me about Zest was that these designs also count as fab street wear! Not only are they perfect for the gym, but you can definitely rock them out for your morning coffee or onto the street.
The gorgeous ladies at Zest Lifewear sent me 2 items to take to the streets (and the gym), so I chose the ‘Bitch Please‘ top (I love a bit of sass with my morning coffee), and the ‘Werk It‘ leggings. I followed the size guide on the website, which I found really accurate and got a 18/20 in the top and 22/24 in the leggings.
For me, I like to steer away from figure hugging tops in the gym and 18 was a perfect fit. The style and cut meant it was easy to move around in and comfortable to work out in. I also love this cut for every day wear, you could team it with some denim shorts and sneakers for a super chic look!
The leggings were also a perfect fit for me, super comfortable and easy to wear. After a few workouts I did decide that my next pair will probably be a size smaller, but that is just because I prefer my tights to be quite fitted on my little belly pouch. I tested out the tights in all sorts of compromising gym positions, running, squats, lunging. And I am proud to report that they survived (my leg muscles however barely made it through)! The smooth fabric of these tights allowed me to bend, stretch and squat while they felt like a second skin. Best of all, they definitely didn’t go see through. I absolutely love the mesh detailing on the bottom of these tights, as it gives them just a little bit of on edge over a plain black pair. I can’t wait to add these to my street style also as I know they’ll make a great statement.
So after giving my Zest Lifewear a bit of a run around and a serious workout, I’m so excited to have found a new Brisbane brand to add to my wardrobe! You can read more about the Zest story and products on their website, and to add some of their pieces to your wardrobe you can use my code PRETTY15 for a 15% discount!
Love,
itskatejanmaree.com 