When I was growing up, the idea of buying Nike gym clothes was considered absurd.
What was the point to buy new clothes just so you can sweat in them?
I didn’t know much about functional clothes, nor about the importance of appropriate training shoes.
So, the incredibly misinformed teenage me used whatever old and worn-out sporty clothes (and shoes) I could find in my closet.
How To Buy Nike Gym Clothes
On A Budget
But boy – how things change!
Nowadays 2/3 of my wardrobe consists of gym clothes and it’s the part of it I care about the most. I guess we all know the power of a new piece of sports clothing and the motivational booster it can give us.
So here I am splurging on some new Nike clothes, while in the meantime I’ve been wearing the same 3 T-shirts outside the gym for the whole summer. Oh well, priorities.
One positive from this is that I can share it with you, hopefully, inspire you for your next investment in your workout wardrobe and also share some experience on how I try to save up money when buying gym clothes.
Let’s start with what I recently got.
Although it’s not thaaaat many pieces, I didn’t buy everything from the same shop, nor on the same day. I have to say that I don’t have a bias towards any specific brand and during my many years of training I’ve tried out quite a lot of them.
The thing I like the least about Nike is that they don’t really get the concept of a sale. They will reduce something from 80 Euro to 69 Euro and call that a big sale. If you go to an Adidas store during their sale season, you can easily find prices reduced up to 50% or sometimes even more. Same for Reebok or Under Armour.
For that reason, I avoid buying anything directly from a Nike store. Funnily enough, retailers usually have much bigger discounts on Nike clothing than the brand itself. So that’s my first piece of advice – wait for sales and buy from retailers. Led by that, I got the following two pairs of leggings.
The Power Legend tights have a very nice fit, high waist, that stays put and the length is almost perfect (a bit long, but still wearable) for someone who’s more on the short side like me (165 cm). The crotch seam makes it a little difficult to avoid the camel toe, but I can look past that.
What bothers me more is the fabric choice that Nike made with this model since I tend to prefer a thinner material. But on the positive side, at least they are definitely squat proof and you run no risk on involuntarily flashing your gym buddies (or the gym creeps).
The Leg-A-See tights, another classic from Nike, is a different story. While the Power Legend tights consist entirely of polyester and spandex, these tights are over 60% cotton.
This means – awkward sweat spots all the way. I love the aesthetics of them, as well as how comfy they are, but I would most certainly not wear them on a heavy leg day or any other high-intensity day. A sweaty crotch is not a cute look on anyone.
While I do own quite a few Nike tights, my honest opinion is that there are brands out there that offer a better price-quality ratio, specifically when it comes to bottoms. My two favorite pairs of tights for example are from Adidas and Reebok. T-shirts and tops are a different story though. Check out this baby I fell in love with:
This is Charlie by the way. He doesn’t like it when I take pictures and he’s not in them. Back to the tank – it was love at first sight. From the color combination to the fabric – in my eyes, that’s the prettiest top I’ve seen in a while.
Mesh straps, high neckline, and lower cut in the back – I just love the simple, yet very feminine design of it. The added bonus is that it is very comfy as well. I’ll have all the links below, so you can check it out.
The top is from the new Nike collection, but I got 15% off by showing my gym card at the checkout. My current gym and the sports store that I bought the top from having a collaboration and every gym member gets a 15% discount.
So here is my second piece of advice – check for similar deals that your gym can offer you. This is a very common practice.
The next three items I bought at a Nike factory store and I was really lucky to find them.
Need I say that the dress was another instant crush? I mean – what more can a girl want from a dress? It’s the highest level of comfort, it’s sporty, it’s flattering and IT HAS POCKETS. I was sold in a second.
The t-shirt is something I had my eyes on for a very long time, but even when it was reduced from the original price of 65€ to 45€, I still felt like it was too far from an acceptable price for a t-shirt. Luckily, at the factory store, it was “only” 28€ and I am so happy I got it.
The socks may seem like something too random to put on here, but if you still haven’t invested in socks, created specifically for training/running, consider doing it. It makes a hell of a difference!
If you made it so far through the article, but you still wonder how the clothes actually sit/fit, check out the complete outfits I created out of them.
I hope you managed to derive some helpful hints out of this post and maybe even found a new idea for your next splurge on gym clothes.
How about you?
- On what do you spend the most when it comes to workout clothes?
- Do you have any tips on buying workout clothes on a budget?
Some topics that are related to your health and might help you in the long run:
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