Sexier Sportswear

First a disclaimer. The title of this post is 'Sexier Sportswear' and not 'Sexy Sportswear' for a reason. I started researching this piece on a mission: to finally throw out the over-sized years old t-shirts I always go running in and get myself something a little bit nicer. I spend a lot of time picking out a dress I might only wear on special occasions so why not something that probably gets put on at least once a week. And I'd read lots of those articles saying how sports-inspired fashions were 'in'. Surely it would be easy to find something to pretty up my run?

Wrong. I searched high and low but the general standard of sportswear available for women was depressing, and depressingly expensive at that. Also, it appears that if you are a woman who wants to do fitness, you'll only want to do it in pink (I'm not sure of the logic of this - does clothing manufacturers feel your femininity is so compromised by breaking into a sweat you have to dress like a Barbie?).

Anyway, rant over. Here's the best of what I found. Sadly it appears if you are a woman who wants to avoid wearing pink, your other option is grey.

The high point of women's sportswear has got to be the Stella McCartney for Adidas range. It's a shame then that a lot of the range seems to have been designed with golfing in mind. Still this studio top is very nice: the gym would definitely benefit from a few more polka dots. It's £55.

This top from Nike is intended for running. Squint and you could almost pretend it's not a sports top. However, it's made from a fabric to help with the sweating and has flat seams to help reduce chaffing - both things I'd be happy to avoid. More reasonably priced too, at £18. It also gets bonus points for not being either pink or grey.

The excellently named No Balls sell this ballsy leopard print vest which looks perfect for a day when you really need to sweat it all out. It's £33.

More a yoga or pilates fan? I really like the layered look of this Pavana LS top, giving a cropped effect without forcing you to reveal your abs. It's £38 from Sweaty Betty. For the same purpose I like this grey slouch top by Freddy from Next for £42. You could pretend you're all kinds of Flashdance in that.

I've never done any exercise in a jumpsuit but I'm keen to try out this cotton Adidas jumpsuit. After all, a suit made for jumping should work for sport, right? Very currently have this in their sale (as helpfully indicated by the photo) for £37.

By far the cheapest thing I could find was this layered effect vest from H&M. I like the pretty floral design up the side (who says sportswear should be all about the go faster stripes?) and the price of only £7.99. If you're bored of grey by now, you may be pleased to hear that it also comes in pink. Yes pink. Sportswear makers: what about the rest of the colours please? The blues, the greens and the yellows. My workout needs the whole of the colour spectrum.

Seen any nice looking or more unusual sportswear recently? Please let me know in the comments, or I'll still be wearing over-sized early-2000s t-shirts until I keel over on the treadmill.