There is a new celebrity-endorsed range being launched every five minutes these days, or so it feels. We are, in the main, celeb-obsessed and as a nation, we are regularly,  en-masse, lapping up the chance to buy into a piece of their lifestyles for ourselves.

As someone who regularly talks fitness, when Beyonce’s long awaited, highly hyped Ivy Park range dropped in Topshop on 14.04, I was cynical but happy to be asked to put it through it’s paces for REAL women in REAL gyms, working up a sweat trying to shift the baby weight, the wine wobbles and the life lard.

Lululemon sparked a bit of a backlash on launch day via twitter, throwing some serious shade to Queen Bey! Epic fail on their behalf as the ranges are completely different, so they soon took it down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I actually haven’t met many people who don’t love a bit of Beyonce, because, as role models go, she is pretty much up there with her incredible work ethic, desire (and ability) to achieve and is pretty much the global figurehead for female empowerment to boot!

I expected a lot of Ivy Park, after all, failure isn’t a word recognised often by La Knowles and I doubt she’d have anything but the Midas touch when it comes to product bearing her name. Athleisure  is EVERYWHERE at the moment as more of us are getting with the fit bit and bringing our core to the floor, will this range satisfy the unquenchable thirst of the cool crew? Would it give me the kick-ass confidence I need to kick my butt into her gear at the gym and knock it into shape? Who doesn’t want a bootylicious body like Bey? Hell I know I do, if it’s not too late for me I will give it a right good go! Well, check out my vlog and see how I got on!

I had two options of Ivy Park leggings, a pair of shorts and a sheer mesh hoodie to put through their paces. I gave it welly in the spin studio, (pics taken before I got messy!) an amazing class taken by Jill of the hugely successful Hate It? Change It blog. Now SHE is inspiration for you! Then an hour of personal training. It’s great motivation to get fit when the PT is as gorgeous and toned as Chloe is, all glowing skin and those arms! #goals!!!

 

So the leggings I wore for spin were great. Flexible, ever so comfortable and didn’t leave me feeling sweaty all, even though I worked super hard on those intervals and climbs! I teamed it with the gorgeous sheer mesh hoodie which I’ve been wearing with jeans and everything else possible ever since! I felt very ‘sucked in’ too, which meant I’m even brave enough to include this shot below… not quite Bootylicious but you can see how they look on a 40+ well-worn mum of two as opposed to a global superstar!

 

The other leggings were the reflective ones and with matching shorts, I really liked this look. Rocking reflective fabrics is great for the runners among us, (not me!) check out the after-dark effect in this pic below!

Each piece I tried out was super comfy, and got loads of compliments from my style-savvy gym gal pals. I’d say that at £100, the reflective leggings were unneccessary for me, but I totally get why it’d be an essential piece of kit for runners.

You MUST size up when buying these pieces though as American sized and they also come up really neat.

The standout winner in my eyes was my sheer hoodie. Taking sportsluxe to the next level and into daywear, it felt elegant (a word I’d never usually use in connection with a hoodie!) and I was totally channelling my inner sassy sista wearing that.

I’ve worn and washed each piece and they are easy as you would expect them them to be. Durable, quality, wash like a ribbon and the colour has stayed true. So I’m buying into Ivy Park, I’ve seen some bits online I definitely NEED in my life. I may not end up with a body like Beyonce but I sure will look and feel good on the journey!

You can shop the range here…….

Have you shopped the range yet?what is your fave piece?