Style meets sport

Seriously need these in my life right now. Nike Free 5.0 training shoes, US$100. Individual product images courtesy of Nike.

Loving the topmost pair. I'm still trying to find a pair of all-black Nike training shoes locally. I'm trying to resist ordering a pair in from the US, via a friend or freight forwarder.

There has been much focus on sportswear style for sometime now, with industry giants like Nike and Adidas constantly reinterpreting what it means to look fashionable while going about your workout. With increased fashion consumption, it isn't at all surprising that sportswear manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon and choosing to acknowledge the fact that people do want to look good even at the gym (I guess if I looked cool enough in my gym attire, I'd probably feel superhuman-like hitting those sumo-squats, heh). Have you seen what the athletes in the recent Nike ads wear? Never knew sports bras, sweats and kicks could make that much sense. Or perhaps that's just me falling for the cool-badass vibes exuding from the ad; I can be a sucker for the upbeat music-meets-athletic-prowess combo sometimes. Anyway, check out following images from Nike.com (apologies in advance for being a little pro-Nike here but their prices really are quite reasonable for such good-looking sportswear; as opposed to a line like Stella McCartney x Adidas, impressive designs nonetheless). 

Really loving the print on the above left leggings. Tried finding them at my neighbourhood mall Nike but I lucked out. 

McQ Alexander McQueen leggings

All above items available on Net-a-Porter.com. Individual product images courtesy of Net-a-Porter.

Chanced upon these beauties on Net-a-Porter's Asia Pacific sale page and at 80% off, they were hard to resist. I've always had a thing for mirrored prints and find that McQueen's offerings have always been cool and eclectic but never too over-the-top. I'd consider myself lucky having enough time to consider such an impulse purchase and still managing to buy the last piece in my size, in time; they were sold out in all sizes in a matter of hours! Hence very, very lucky. At US$59 (plus an additional US$15 for DHL express shipping) no other luxury e-tailer had offered such a bargain. Luisaviaroma was offering the same leggings at US$86 while Revolve had them at US$172; and on Alexander McQueen's McQ online store they were at US$134. Normal retail price would be US$330.

So...impulse buy "justified"! 

A little something I created on Polyvore @ thestyleplume.

Granted, the leggings on the McQ (a wordy "McQ Alexander McQueen" in full) line are at a much lower price point than the eponymous main label, the prints offered at McQ are just as amazing. The print I chose comes from McQ's 2013 pre-fall collection, viewable on Style.com here. This kaleidoscopic beetle print reminded me very much of the prints at Lee McQueen's second last show (the beautiful Plato's Atlantis spring 2010 collection; by far one of my favourite shows) before his untimely passing. It is great to see bits and bobs of Lee's inspirations retranslated by those currently at the helm, Sarah Burton and Alistair Carr (exclusive to McQ).

Are you a fan of McQ leggings?