Confession. I find most activewear boring. Sure, it needs to be comfortable, provide ease of movement, and not be heavy given our warm climate. All that is a given. But if you wear leggings and tops often as I do, going to the gym daily, you want to put on something that’s at least a little jazzy, no? I’ve written about two shops in the past I liked (and still do), but wanted to find more choices so I devoted time to online research, going beyond the international brands we all know that I can’t get excited about. I also made a top discovery when in New York recently, a shop that sells online. Here are some of my picks for fun fashion activewear focusing on leggings. And gentlemen, I looked for you, too, but there’s even less variety, alas.

But first, surprisingly, lists of the top active wear brands by publications like Vogue , InStyle, Elle, and Travel and Leisure featured the quality, but no exciting patterns or colors. On the other end of the spectrum are many of the companies that show up in my facebook feed but many of those are tacky or nothing special. All of these have a wide color palette so I’ve chosen to feature mostly prints.

Made in Brazil brand Equilibrium used to have a shop in Little River and now they sell online. They have special models that are cargo pant style, shorts, and leggings with pockets, plus some attractive colors and prints. I also like their long tops with cool back interest.Many of their pieces are made of Supplex. Supplex® fabrics offer the feel of cotton with the benefits of advanced fiber technology.  When they had the shop I  got the top and legging set above and it has worn like a dream. I wrote them up, click here.

My New York find is Terez on the Upper East Side. There’s a limited selection at the shop, but loads of choices online, and many styles at good sale prices. Find colors galore. In one style there were 21 choices. All kinds of patterns, too, from stripes and abstract designs to stars, multi tone, animal prints and silver haze. Plus sizes, children’s wear and capris are also on the fashion menu and choose from four different kinds of fabrics. Check them out by clicking here.

There was one site I found on Facebook and bought two pair, Fierce Pulse.  My favorite was a marble pattern (love blues) in a polyester and spandex with pockets.  They’re fun, and not pricey.Many of the patterns are pretty wild,  but you’re bound to find something you like if you want a statement. They have a whole section of leggings that tell a story, 38 different stories – Santorini (imagine, wearing them there!), garden, patriotic denim, comic book,  animal kingdom,  holiday inspired like naughty Halloween (wow, wow) and many others. There are also so many leggings categories for capris, mid waisted, high waisted, with pockets, kids leggings, plus size, compression; also swimwear and accessories.

Rounding out the fashion activewear picks: Some wonderful colors (I got a tangerine outfit)  you can find in Beyond Yoga. The styles are conventional, but they fit like a dream and are made of an incredibly soft fabric that you could sleep in, though they have all of the necessary stretch and “workoutability”. An exception to the solid colors is this print , botanical garden.The  brand is also sold at the shop at the Equinox on Brickell Avenue.

There we have it, my picks for fashion activewear. Love to know what you think or if you have other tips.