IVY PARK PREVIEW
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"Seven days to go. Arriving 14 April 2016 #IVYPARK"
—article by Bianca Betancourt
By now you’ve probably seen the 30 plus pieces that make up Beyonce’s new athleisure line Ivy Park. The extensive line of leggings, sports bras, leotards and more are obviously going to shine off of our mobile screens as we swipe through outfit to outfit in the digital lookbooks. What is honestly going to look bad on Beyonce and her approved army of models? The answer is nothing.
Me, however? And the rest of of the bootylicious population who may lack a pack of abs? To my surprise, I have to say we look just as good based on me trying on a few pieces at an Ivy Park preview event at Chicago’s Topshop location.
I tried to shop for items that I knew I could get multiple uses out of—pieces like leggings, a classic dad hat and maybe a mesh shirt or two. I’m notorious in my circle of friends that know me—and I mean really know me—that I never work out. Sometimes I’ll do blogilates for four days straight and I walk my dog everyday. That’s the extent of my physical stamina.
I was really hoping I wouldn’t be impressed once I tried on the handful of pieces I had picked but once again, when does Bey truly, ever disappoint?
Bey wasn’t lying when she talked about the lifting and shaping technology built into the leggings in her Elle magazine interview. The leggings are the piece to splurge on in the entire collection—jiggly jogging booty be gone! Ivy Park has got this back end situation handled. Once I managed to pull them up past my hips I called my friend into the dressing room to see the magic that formed before my eyes—”Look how skinny I look!” I exclaimed. (They were also serving complimentary bubbles at this collection viewing which I maybe partook in.)
Combined with my matching black mesh tank top and my new favorite logoed dad hat (yay for 1990s revival fashion!) I felt like I could go run a mile. Maybe I couldn’t actually finish running that mile, but I actually felt like doing it for once. The only piece I tried that didn’t completely work with me were the sports bras—I felt they were a little too short, a little too tight and didn’t cover quite enough of my tummy (again, no four pack here!) but I also haven’t gotten my boobs properly measured in over a year so I probably just needed a size large. (I don’t do well with change.)
With that, I realized what Ivy Park is about. Yes, it’s an athleisure line that’s subtly banking upon the latest style trend taking over girls like me who want more excuses to wear leggings in public—but then it’s a little bit more. Sometimes women need a little nudge to remember the greatness that our own bodies hold, and how much effort we really should put into caring for them. Sometimes we need a reminder that if we want to be a Beyonce in this world, we’ve got to put in those Bey-level hours of work.
And with that, I’m off to bed, with an alarm set to go for a jog tomorrow.
Ivy Park is available for purchase starting tomorrow at Topshop, Nordstrom and more. Learn more about the line at ivypark.com. Peek exclusive pictures from the Chicago event on our Twitter at @circus_mag.
