Peek-A-Boo, I See You #fashionfridays

Yesterday I met with my newest client, Lauren Hefez, who funny enough is an amazing fitness instructor in town. She teaches barre and Lean Line (a barre/pilates/dance/stretch fusion workout) at Equinox as well as her class at the studio, Soul Train called Sweat with Lauren Hefez. What I loved about her closet was that exactly half of it was just fitness clothes, hung up with great care, color coordinated and in pristine condition. Out of all the beautiful pieces that she had, my favorite was actually a sports bra that she was wearing. By the end of that day, she had gone to the gym and bought me the exact same one, which got me thinking about a post we wrote last August about sports bras as fashion pieces… and this sports bra is the perfect one to pull this look off…

The one I got has a funky flamingo print on it… This link will bring you to the exact product.

We also really love this one from Splits59~

 

ORIGINAL BLOG POST FROM AUGUST, 2014.

SPORTS BRAS TAKE ON THE STREETS

My thing with sports bras is very simple. They squish my boobs into a mutant uni-boob. The sports bra… Attractive? Not one bit. Practical? Only for running. Fashionable? Are you serious…?

Until now.

This past season we’ve seen a whole slew of fitness clothing punching out its competitors, and taking center stage in the fashion scene. But nothing is as wildly unusual to come out of hiding, as the sports bra. Try it out as an under-cami for a low cut shirt, or as a cami under a sheer top… give that sports bra of yours a new life…take it out of hiding and onto the streets.

Check out these street style stars and how they gave their sports bras a fashionable new life…

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We’d love to hear your take on this trend… Leave us a comment or find us on Instagram and Facebook and comment away!

A Word of Thanks and Love…

One thing that Jessica and I love doing is sending notes of love and gratitude to our favorite people. There is something to be said for that “ancient” art of note writing and sending them off with a kiss. It says so much about how important that person is to you and what’s better than getting a beautiful card in the mail? Nothing really.

Lucky for us, all this snow has trapped us in our cozy little caves and inspired us to write some notes of gratitude and love. Words are the gift you send, but the stationery, the stationery is its vessel. Our favorite is this gorgeous set of thank you cards from Paperchase and the Writing Set that we purchased at Staples.  Simple and oh so elegant!

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If we haven’t inspired you yet, maybe these letters of love and thanks will…

 

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” ~Jean Baptiste Massieu

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To Viscountess Josephine de Beauharnais from Napoleon Bonaparte

December 1795

I awake full of you. Your image and the intoxication of last night give my senses no rest.

Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart. Are you angry? Do I see you sad? Are you worried? My soul breaks with grief, and there is no rest for your lover; but how much the more when I yield to this passion that rules me and drink a burning flame from your lips and your heart? Oh! This night has shown me that your portrait is not you!

You leave at midday; in three hours I shall see you.

Meanwhile, my sweet love, a thousand kisses; but do not give me any, for they set my blood on fire.

~Bonaparte

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To Valeria Arsenev from Count Leo Tolstoy

Saint Petersburg, November 2, 1856

I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love you that which is eternal and ever precious–your heart, your soul.

Beauty one could get to know and fall in love with on one hour and cease to love it as speedily; but the soul one must learn to know.

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To Gabrielle Chanel from Poet Pierre Reverdy, 1920’s

Dear Coco

The time that passes

The weather outside

The time that flies

Of my obscure life I had lost the trace

Here it is found again darker than the night

But what remains clear is that with all my heart I give you my love

And all that follows doesn’t matter.

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Can you even take it? We’d love to give you our favorite set of stationery to help with your love notes!

Go on our INSTAGRAM and tag someone you are grateful for on our STATIONERY PIC and get entered to win Ms Fits’ favorite stationery. It’s that easy!

Thank you to you, our faithful followers for loving what we do…. 

With Love,

A&J

New Ms Fit Feature: Kaity Cimo of Boston’s Newest Fitness and Fashion Brand

Kaity Cimo. Marketing Director of Crane & Lion

Kaity Cimo. Marketing Director of Crane & Lion

What is keeping you busy these days? 

 Since I work for a company, Crane &  Lion,  dedicated to fitness, I’m sure this is where I’m supposed to write I spend most of my time at the gym or studios.  In all honestly though most of my time – and sweat – has gone into the recent launch of Crane & Lion.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love being a part of a fashion start-up and engulfing myself in the entrepreneurial atmosphere.  When I can catch a break from our business, (and after spending QT with my husband and my four-legged furry child) that is when you can find me in the studio!

 

What are you loving in Fitness and Fashion right now? 

I love the continued fusion of fitness wear with fashion.  “Athleisure” is the new buzzword for this style and is becoming a category of it’s own on the runway.  Some outfit examples are a form-fitting workout tank tucked into high-waisted pants or pairing an sport dress with a cropped blazer.  The trend is ideal for us active women who want our clothing to be versatile throughout the whole day.  It allows us to embrace a lifestyle of activity and wellness – all while exuding a great sense of style. In 2015 I am looking forward to seeing more women wearing a variety of pant silhouettes such as wide leg and cuffed joggers.

How can we keep in touch and learn more about you? 

http://www.facebook.com/kaity.cimo

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitymaloneycimo

http://instagram.com/kmcimo

http://www.craneandlion.com

 

 

Can you tell us a little bit more about Crane & Lion? 

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Crane & Lion is a fitness and fashion brand that launched this past November in Boston.  We wanted to design a chic, versatile collection that pulls inspiration and structure from both the fashion and athletic worlds.  We offer a clean, streamlined look through a subtle, on-trend color palette, flattering style lines and thoughtful details.  Our pieces can be seamless additions to every woman’s closet as well as transition from the early morning workout to dinner with friends.  We want to inspire women to look good and feel good all while being comfortable with whom they are.

 

Crane&Lion Team:  left to right Kim Ortengren (director of design and production), Anna Saluti (sales manager), Kaity Cimo (director of marketing), John Udelson (CEO), Leanne Gent (managing partner, operations), Caitriona Taylor (vp, sales), Lauren O'Neill (technical design manager).  Photo credit Brad Romano

Crane&Lion Team: left to right Kim Ortengren (director of design and production), Anna Saluti (sales manager), Kaity Cimo (director of marketing), John Udelson (CEO), Leanne Gent (managing partner, operations), Caitriona Taylor (vp, sales), Lauren O’Neill (technical design manager). Photo credit Brad Romano

Beyond our core business we have a giving back program called Connect & Contribute.  At the end of each year, 5% of our revenue will be divided among three amazing organizations that dedicate themselves to the health, wellness and happiness of others: the one hundred for MGH Cancer Center, Wide Horizons for Children and Big Sisters Association of Greater Boston.  We will also be working side by side with these organizations, helping to raise awareness through events, social media and word of mouth.

 

Cranepic

 

 

A Look Back…and a Big and Bright Look Forward

Before the New Years ball dropped, we were reminiscing about 2014 in our usual format: early morning coffee shop, half listening to one and other, half keeping our kids from causing massive destruction, all while taking “notes” on coffee stained napkins. We decided to take a look back at our very first MsFit post “Freshly Hatched,” (see below). What we loved so much about it is everything we wanted to happen with Ms Fit For Society in 2014… actually did happen! Especially Alisa rocking some short shorts.. whoohooo!!

Who wears short shorts? Me! Finally!

Who wears short shorts? Me! Finally!

I think one of the things we are most proud of is the success of our two big Ms Fit Events in 2014. Our two events raised over $50,000 in sales with a nice portion of that going to the American Heart and American Stroke Association!

Fit Fashion Event at Saks Fifth Avenue

Fit Fashion Event at Saks Fifth Avenue

Fit Fashion Event at Intermix

Fit Fashion Event at Intermix

Ms Fit has become something much bigger than we ever thought it would be when we sat down to write our very first post. A big part of our success is due to all of you, your encouragement, your sharing with us, your helping us inspire through your features and support and suggestions! Our sincerest thank you! Another piece of this, when we started a year ago, the bond between fitness and fashion was just catching on… now the two are inseparable, just look through the pages of any fashion magazine.

We are filled with excitement and anticipation for what 2015 will bring, whom we will get to feature, and how many new amazing Ms Fits we will meet. We have some big plans and we are going to be working our butts off to see 2015 be even bigger and brighter!

Read our “Freshly Hatched” article below…

Here’s to a fit and extremely fabulous 2015!

 

FRESHLY HATCHED      Posted March, 2014 

So now that I have your undivided attention, I wanted to announce some breaking news to you guys. I am super excited about the new addition to my life, it’s still early on, but I just couldn’t wait to tell everyone that I am…. launching a new venture in fashion!!! Oh, did you think it was something else? I’m still trying to get my pre-preggo body back… that is definitely not in the cards for me right now.

Which brings me to this venture… Before I had LL, I had no clue, not even a fascination of how hard it is to bounce back, drop all the baby weight and feel 100% normal (body wise… brain wise, I’m still working on it). I think it took me about 14 months to get back to my exact weight before getting pregnant which is understandable, but much too long for me. It was too long to wait to fit into all of my skin tight dresses, it took too long to see my cellulite disappear for my short shorts and silk pants, too long to tone up my legs and ass to even fathom sporting a bikini, never mind my poor 5 inch heels that suffered the brunt of it supporting my overweight ass. You get the [overweight] picture.

This time around, I’m not messing around, especially with spring right around the corner. One of my favorite days of the year is when I spend hours taking out all of my spring and summer clothing out of storage (which I conveniently and cruelly labeled “skinny bitch clothes”), and I just know that I won’t be able to mentally handle not fitting into everything again.

Luckily, I have my best friend, my partner in crime and my greatest motivator in my arsenal this time around. I bestow an enormous token of gratitude to the ex-196-pounder Jessica Diaz, into kicking my ass into full gear and helping me to drop almost all of my baby #2 weight. As a professional barre instructor, she challenged me to take one of her barre classes and I was immediately obsessed. If you’ve never done barre, you should. That’s all I have to say. Combine ballet + pilates + embarrassing leg shaking + can’t move the next 3 days, that = how you get your body back.

2010 - Pre 1st baby bod

2010 – Pre 1st baby bod

 

2011- 6 months post baby #1

2011- 6 months post baby #1

2012- 16 months post baby #1

2012- 16 months post baby #1

2013- Weeks after having baby #2, I couldn't wait to get out and play!

2013- Weeks after having baby #2, I couldn’t wait to get out and play!

January 2014- Work in progress at Jessica's barre class with baby in tow

January 2014- Work in progress at Jessica’s barre class with baby in tow

My partner in crime showing baby Maxi some barre moves

My partner in crime showing baby Maxi some barre moves

 

And now you ask about this new venture that I was so excited to tell you about… Jessica and I always talk about the affects of how both of our professions profoundly increase our clients’ self confidence, sex appeal and energy level, not to mention how it opens their eyes to new possibilities in fashion trends and risk taking. Putting the obvious aside, we thought about how amazingly well fitness and fashion go together, and more so than anyone really likes to talk about. Our new baby is this venture together; bringing our clients, readers, mamas, instagram and Facebook followers all of the greatest and newest in what fitness and fashion have to challenge us with every season.

My short shorts have nothing on me this year because I’ve been doing my barre squats, along with my seat work. I’ve resurrected my crop tops and stocked up on some new ones (can you have too many?) because I’ve been doing my core work and planks (cheated a few times, for sure), and I have confidence that my booty will be as close to bootilicious as the had-two-babies excuse can allow by summer because I’ve been painstakingly doing my legs lifts with a ball, with a strap, with weights and with every last ounce of energy I have!

We’ve starting slowly, as every new project does, but hope that you guys love what we have to say and share and hopefully together we can change and inspire even more mamas out there that think that their temple of a body went out with the bag full of dirty diapers.

Birth Announcement:

Ms. Fit for Society

Born: 2014 Weight: touchy subject Height: the top of the world

Both mamas and baby are healthy and doing just great!

Whether you’re a new mama or someone craving a boost of motivation for the new year, we really hope that we can inspire you with not just how you see yourself on the outside, but more importantly how you feel on the inside. For some it’s bouncing back after baby, or motivation to run a marathon, maybe even take on that career they’ve always wanted, or travel to a far off land, perhaps it’s writing a book or getting back in the dating scene and finding their one true love. Whatever it may be, to each his own, leave all judgements on the table and just go out and do it… and maybe we’ll even be lucky enough to hear about it from you!

Love,

Ms Fit For Society

J&A

New Ms Fit Feature: NECN Meteorologist, Nelly Carreno

Nelly Carreño, three time Emmy Award winning Meteorologist.

“I hope 2015 brings you lots of sunshine, or whatever weather makes you happy….for now get ready for a quick storm this Saturday night into Sunday that could bring us a wintry mix & some rain…oh yeah & watch NECN”.

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What is keeping you busy these days? 

Winter is the busiest time of the year for a Meteorologist (especially in New England) so my work keeps me busy. Broadcasting for New England Cable News, I forecast for six states… so even if it is quiet in Boston, it is snowing somewhere in New England!

I’m very excited about 2015 because I’ve been asked to do some weather reporting for our sister station-Telemundo -here in Boston. I’ll be able to forecast all types of weather for New Englanders now in English AND Spanish!

I hope 2015 brings you lots of sunshine, or whatever weather makes you happy….for now get ready for a quick storm this Saturday night into Sunday that could bring us a wintry mix & some rain…oh yeah & watch NECN.

 

What are you loving in fitness and fashion right now? 

My new health obsession is “Juicing”. My family got me a NutriBullet for Christmas and I just about throw anything I can get my hands on in there…Every morning I make a new concoction with different fruits & vegetables and it actually tastes good! I’m also trying to be better with my workouts. HD Television can be very unforgiving & it really adds ten pounds, so I try to stay active as much as I can. My favorite fashion APP on my IPhone is called “Wardrobe Journal” . Every day I log what I wore, with the name, description and picture. The App let me know how long it has been since I wore each outfit so I don’t repeat it too often. I usually don’t wear the same thing for about 2 months ( I have a few favorites that I rotate in a few more times).

 

How can we keep in touch and learn more about you? 

http://www.facebook.com/NellyCarreno.Meteorologist
http://twitter.com/nellyNECN

Instagram: nellycarreno