I'm so lucky I grew up in the era of #GIRLPOWER. The rise of female empowerment is slow building and multi-dimensional. Each era holds its own achievements, and sets foundational steps to those we will overcome in the future. The era specifically I'm referring to is the one that housed the girl band / pop star birth. The 90's. Spice Girls, Shania Twain, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, etc etc. "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends." Not like, literally, don't be dense. "Man! I feel like a woman." I've never seen a more unified group of women than at a Shania Twain concert singing specifically what about men that 'don't impress [them] much.' Sure, Britney and Christina were probably severely exploited, but nothing made me feel more confident as a tween than singing one of their songs in front of the mirror, with a dance routine attached.

Any time I fuse a sporty piece with a sexy or sophisticated partner, I always think of Sporty Spice. Just the two words together embody an aura! This semi-recent athleisure trend begs a reference to Mel C in an almost every Instagram caption. She endorsed women to dress more masculine but somehow lock in all the femininity. I was trying to establish the finishing touches of my own formula consisting of: bell sleeve blazer + color blocked sweatshirt + OTK boots + ??!?!! = 2017 Sporty Spice. I pulled out my (very old) running shorts, tried them on and...