- Activewear Trends for Spring & Summer - May 12, 2022
- Trending: Crew Grip Socks - January 12, 2022
- Chat with Founder of Ro & Arrows, Colleen Kirtz - May 21, 2021
When we first peeped Life By Lexie on instagram, we knew we needed to carry pieces from their line. How many of you fellow #barregirls have used the excuse “I can’t. I have barre”? We also all understand what it means when you say “My thighs are hungover.” That statement will garner an inner smirk and nod of respect from your barre buddies who know what it’s like to have angry next-day thighs (getting longer and leaner by the day) after a tough class. We love that these Life By Lexie tanks broadcast the truth in barregirl speak, and we’re excited that someone gets what the barre lifestyle is all about! We were lucky to have the chance to chat with Brittany Freeman – creator of Life By Lexie – to ask her a few questions about her line and about life at the barre.
How did you find inspiration to start your line?
I wish I could say I have this great fabulous story of what started this line but unfortunately I don’t. I tend to be a bit of a jokester, which can be pretty inappropriate at certain times, and I tend to be the spontaneous type of person who literally just does things. When I was first married my husband was afraid to leave me at home alone for very long because if he did he would come home to the furniture completely re-arranged or walls painted different colors. Now apply this to working out – when you are dying at the end of thighs in barre and you look around and see a tank that says ‘my thighs are hungover’ you can’t help but let a secret smile cross your lips. To me that is what it’s all about. It’s kind of hard to explain but you toss all that together and Life by Lexie was born!
What do you love about barre?
How many times have you had a girlfriend say ‘omg you have to come try this treadmill at the gym with me!’? Fairly certain that would be never. But then how many times have you said to a friend (if you are a barre-ista type of gal) or had a friend say to you ‘OMG you have to come to barre with me!’? Exactly. There is something truly unique about the mind-body connection established in a barre class that really helps you mentally re-set and can do some serious change to your body. Personally I think some of it comes from poppy music and the rest comes from the focus you need to keep up with the class. The second you let your mind wander back to whatever made your day rotten (if it’s been one of those days) is the moment you end up as that person doing the totally wrong moves on the wrong leg. I think as women we have a lot of pressure to be this perfect person in the real world…from girlfriend to employee to wife to mother to friend…we put a lot of pressure on ourselves 24/7. We all need time to let that pressure producing part of our brain shut off and barre basically forces that to happen. Beyond mentally re-setting who doesn’t want to start to notice positive physical changes from working out? Barre would not be raved about if it didn’t actually change the way you look. Now it isn’t going to happen overnight but there is a reason we all swear by it…if you are doing it right it really, seriously works. Being able to actually see and feel that all that shaking and burning in class is paying off just motivates me even more. Plus butts just happen to be in now and I’ve seen barre do a booty lots of good! 🙂
How would you describe the barre culture?
As long as you don’t wear traitor sticky socks to class (ahem branded socks from another studio) you will be just fine! Just kidding…even if you do no one will take you out. Promise. I think with barre the classes are so freaking hard it naturally bonds everyone in the room. As women we sometimes spend a lot of times tearing ourselves down with negative perceptions of body image, success, perfection, etc., and in reality we sometimes spend a lot of time tearing each other down silently judging one another. When you step through those doors to take a barre class you find a different group of women who are so focused on making it through class that we silently support one another. Just the fact that you made it through something so difficult yet so amazing gives everyone something in common. It also mentally gives you a clean slate so you can’t help but feel rockin’ after class!
What are your favorite ways to style your shirts?
It’s all about the sticky socks! There can’t seriously be a thing of having too many pairs of those bad boys! I tend to be a bit of a brand traitor when it comes to leggings…I mean there are so many fabulous colors and textures of spandex that I really can’t stay committed to just one. There are some fabulous no-slip headbands that I discovered a few years ago that I quickly became obsessed with called Sparkly Soul. Their headbands come in every color imaginable and are the most comfortable, truly non-slip headband I’ve ever found. It’s safe to say sticky socks and a headband are my serious go-to accessories.
What’s in store for Life By Lexie?
We started with my passion for barre classes, but we hope in the future to thrive off the passion everyone has to be happy & healthy. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you sweat – it just matters that you make time to workout and we hope to support all the amazing ways there are to move your body. From dance to yoga to pilates to cross fit to spin we believe there is a physical activity out there for everyone and its all about finding what activity is going to motivate you to stay active.
Special thanks to Brittany Freeman, Creator of Life By Lexie
SHOPPE
