“What size are you?” the tiny adolescent store clerk asks. She doesn’t blink and the sound of her foot impatiently tapping echoes through out the store. The sound draws the attention of other shoppers as they eagerly await my response. Perhaps my answer can bring some clarity to the other postpartum mamas searching for their missing figure.
My mind is lost for an answer. However numerous follow up questions come to mind. What size was I pre-pregnancy? What size was I this morning before eating? What size do I hope to be in order to pull off this outfit? Or what size I’ll be at the end of the month when I’m bloated?
Shopping after giving birth at any stage of life can be a headache. Though I’m smaller than most mothers of multiple kids. My waistline, hips and thighs did not get the memo that everything else looks fairly back to normal.
Most large name clothing brands don’t get it. Not to mention makers of gym clothes for women. I had one postpartum mom friend that refused to go to the gym until the size of her boobs went down. The clothing available for her size simply did not support the weight she carried from her milk supply. Only a mom understands these unique qualities of the postpartum body.
Creator of Asskicker Activewear, Julie Bateman has created a line of active and casual wear suitable for those Mamas on the go. These pieces include encouraging messages to remind Mamas of their strength and value. Here is Julie to tell us more about Asskicker Activewear :
Years ago, when struggling with depression, I started a notebook of inspiring and motivational quotes. It’s interesting to see how people relate to different sayings in different ways. ‘It never gets easier, you just get stronger’ was originally a quote for a gym shirt but was also very popular at an event for people struggling with mental health.
It was not my plan to create a brand of active wear clothing; it just happened. I’m a graphic designer, so one day I decided to design a few tank tops with sayings that I wanted to wear. After posting mockups of them on Facebook to show some friends, people started sharing the images and suddenly orders started coming in—and I just went with it.
I’m a large person. At 5’11”; I’m tall and certainly don’t have a supermodel’s build, so it’s always been hard for me to find clothing that fits properly.
I believe you should be able to focus on your breathing or your form and not even think about your clothes when you’re trying to get your sweat on at the gym. There’s nothing worse than going for a run and feeling like you need to keep yanking your pants up because they don’t sit properly on your hips. Or doing downward dog during yoga class and worrying that your pants are see through.
We squat test all of our pants and our shirts are long enough that you don’t need to worry about exposing your belly when you’re doing shoulder presses.
I test everything personally and wouldn’t sell anything that wasn’t high quality. Our tank tops, tees and most of our hoodies are made of super soft, lightweight fabric that feels great on your skin and will not shrink.
Our performance pocket capris are also made of high quality compression and yoga knit fabric that is made to last. Many of our customers love them so much, they order new styles and colours as soon as they’re available.
I do my best to supply something for every body type. Our leggings are available in sizes that range from XS-6XL and our performance leggings can even be customized if you need a specific inseam or prefer a different waistband.
Our flowy racerback tanks range from XS-2XL and we have other styles of tanks and tees that go up to 4XL. Thanks to new technology like direct-to-garment printing I can also source different styles of product for anyone who has specific fit or sizing challenges.
We offer seasonal collections that change every few months and ship to 58 different countries including Canada, United States, Mexico, Australia and the United Kingdom.
What are you waiting for? Use discount code maturingmama to get 15% off the entire site! Click here to shop!
