Polewear vs. Activewear - What's the difference?
There’s nothing like going to brunch with your besties dressed in your fav activewear. What else says ‘I’ve got my morning (and life) together’ like a matching set and puffer vest. Throw on a cute cap, bring your keep cup, and you’ll be giving ‘I can have my avocado and eat it too’ vibes.
There isn’t a single person who doesn’t get sucked into buying more activewear. How many pairs of black leggings or bikes shorts is too many? The limit does not exist. Then you discover pole dancing classes and within weeks, your activewear and polewear are going to battle for the privilege of the top drawer.
If I had a dollar for every time my partner asked what’s the difference between polewear and activewear, I’d be kicking the Kardashians out of their Calabasas homes and moving in myself. There is a difference between polewear and activewear, so allow me to explain.
Booty shorts? For pole class? Groundbreaking.
There’s a famous scene in one the best movies of all time, also known as, the Devil Wears Prada. Poor, clueless Andy wanders into the lion’s den that is her boss’s office and scoffs when one of the fashion assistants holds up two similarly coloured belts saying, “It’s a tough call. They’re so different.”
All eyes on the room suddenly dart Andy's way when she giggles at the seemingly ridiculous question about the colour blue. She’s put back into her place by none other than her boss Miranda Priestly who sharply points out Andy’s sweater “... is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.”
What did we learn from this scene? That we not only need to take our blues seriously, but we need to take the many different types of pole dancing booty shorts seriously. They’re not always the same as activewear shorts, and not always the same as underwear. Pole shorts are a devil of their own.
In beginner pole dancing classes, it’s common to see people arriving at pole class in their bike shorts or yoga shorts. It can be totally daunting to wear anything less! But we start to realise that pole dancing shorts serve a purpose and differ from our brunch classics.
Pole dancing shorts have a few unique characteristics:
- The crotch of pole shorts is usually a bit wider than normal shorts. Why? Because us pole dancers like to do splits. Lots and lots of splits. And no one wants a flap attack to happen mid-trick, so we like the material of our pole short crotches to be a bit wider than usual.
- There is often a supportive waistband which ensures that the pole shorts stay in place as we do tricks, both upright and upside down.
- The scrunch bum. This is another common element of pole dancing shorts to again, help keep everything in place and feeling secure. Without a scrunch bum seam at the back of your shorts, you mind find the material in the crotch areas gapes or shifts. Plus, if you’re going to get a wedgie from all the splits you’re whipping out, you might as well start with a wedgie!
- Pole dancing shorts are also very brief, almost like swimwear. We need the inner thigh exposed so that we can grip the pole with our legs to do tricks. After a while, rolling your bike shorts up and down can become a pain, so hello pole shorts!
So, the next time your partner wants to compare your Calvin Kleins to your AMBR Designs, you can hit them up with this list and explain that pole wear is more than just a pile of ‘stuff’.
Can I wear my activewear as polewear? And my polewear as activewear?
Usually there isn’t much difference between pole dancing crops and activewear crops. We love the support when we pole dance because, well, you’re going upside down a lot, and we need to keep the “girls” contained. Not to mention we dance, flip and do crazy bendy tricks so it’s good to have a well-fitted crop top.
This means activewear crops are more than okay for pole dancing class! However, sometimes when you’re really feelin’ yourself in class and want to unleash your inner Beyonce, the sporty lyrca racerback just doesn’t hit the brief. Enter cute pole crops.
You’ll usually find that polewear comes in sets of pole bottoms and matching pole crops, so that the ‘fit game is on point. Polewear crops still can have support in all the right places, but come in cute prints, colours and have embellishments (*ahem AMBR Hook Crop*) so that you can look as fab as you feel in pole class.
Can you wear your polewear as activewear? Totally! Some polewear is super versatile so you can wear it to the gym, to yoga or to brunch with the gals. You may not get away with your pole booty shorts at the gym, but you can wear your AMBR pole shorts to the beach as swimwear! It’s a win-win (and means more space in your wardrobe!).
Polewear – the one who rules them allUnlike other sports or forms of dance, polewear is super versatile. You may not get away with wearing your netball dress out and about, or your sparkly jazz leotard to the shops, but you can totally get away with wearing AMBR polewear mix and matched casually, to brunch, lunch, the beach, gym, for dates nights and everything else you like to do on the weekends.If Miranda Priestly had known about AMBR designs, we’re almost certain that the Devil would have worn AMBR instead of Prada to SLAY.
That’s all.
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