Ivy Park – Straight size shopping with Beyoncé

I have a thing for Beyoncé. So when I heard that she was about to launch a performance wear clothing line named Ivy Park I got pretty curious. I read a lot of things like ‘it’s a brand inspiring us to stay strong, healthy and happy – no matter what your sporting ability or body shape’. Would my body shape fit into Ivy Park? I figured there was only one way to find out… Here’s what I discovered.

Lees je liever in het Nederlands? No prob, regelen we! 

First things first, I really like the collection. There’s a lot of diversity. Three types of leggings (low rise, medium rise and high rise), different styles of tops, a couple of cool coats, some chill sweaters… The first impression was positive. I also felt like the pricing was okay. Could have been a bit cheaper but if the quality turned out to be good I personally wouldn’t mind paying a slightly higher price.

Ivy Park – Beyonce’s style has a size 
I was happy to see that the Ivy Park sizing went from XXS up to XL. But I got less enthusiastic when I figured out XL was a size 12/14. Euhmmm… Considering that the average woman wears a size 14 this means most of the women are too big to actually wear Ivy Park. Since my size 18 booty is used to shop straight size – push it, push it real good – I decided to try it anyway. Maybe, just maybe, Beyonce left some extra room for her big booty sisters in her designs.

My picks
I ordered the body, a high rise legging, the pink sweater, the mesh parka, the mesh tee and the grey cap. I didn’t even bother to try the short tops and shorts of the Ivy Park collection because I knew that I would have too much boobs and booty to wear them in a, to put it mildly, not improper way. I like to show off but not in a stripper kinda way (although I still think it would be awesome to elegantly slide down a pole just once, you know for the fun of it).

The Ivy Park body
For some reason body suits are appealing to me. Honestly I don’t even really like to wear them in real life -because I actually pee and I’m clumsy- but I always love to wear them for shoots. They make me feels sexy. Since the image of Beyoncé in the Ivy Park body was one of my favorites, I had to try it on. Well… it turned out to be quite the challenge. The body doesn’t have buttons, it’s literally a one piece. And I discovered that it was a pretty ‘short piece’ as well. It was like my upper body was too long. my boobs came out sideways. Ghe. I also had to squeeze my booty into the neck opening (don’t try this at home) and my neck and shoulders are nothing compared to my booty. I made it work for the picture but it really didn’t fit. Buttons on the bottom would have been a much better option, B.

High rise leggings
Long story short: my booty is too big. This legging isn’t high rise enough to completely cover my behind. And if I want to work out in an Ivy Park item a covered booty is required. I can’t blame Beyoncé tho, since the XL is an actual size 12/14. I do think that ladies with a size 16 or 18 can wear this piece if their butt isn’t as big as mine 😉

Ivy Park mesh top
To me this is more of a fashion item than something I would wear during a workout. I hoped it would be oversized enough to fit properly but hips don’t lie… It’s still possible to make this top work with a size 18 if you don’t mind wearing it slightly above the hips.

Light pink sweater
I think this is one of the coolest items in the Ivy Park collection. And I liked it even more in real life than in the campaign. Not sure if I can get away with the colour but the fit is actually great. It’s still a bit oversized, the fabric is nice and it feels supa dupa comfortable. So women with a size 18 on top (I wear a 14/16 US above the hips) can rock this sweater too.

 

The mesh parka
I was very curious about this one! In real life it didn’t disappoint. The parka is really oversized, it fits me easily. Someone with a size 20 can also make this piece work. The only thing is that the fabric is well… the opposite of soft. Personally I don’t mind but I can imagine that some people might not like the way it feels to their skin.

THE VERDICT
It is possible to make some of the Ivy Park items work with a bigger size, but it would have been nice if the collection would go one or two sizes up. I like the materials, I can imagine it’s nice work out gear. I hope the next collection will range higher in sizes so that plus size women get a chance to get in formation in Ivy Park too.

Ivy Park is available at Zalando, Top Shop and Nordstrom.