When you don’t like to exercise you may have chosen the wrong activity. If not, may be you don’t like what you wear. When you love fashion, a reason could be that you don’t love your sports Clothes. Read the following as your lack of motivation might root far back into your childhood.
- A German saying about sports
- Sports meant ugly clothes
- Bikinis are chic…
- Why I am not into swimming
- Getting on dance teams meant wearing Sport Clothes I love
- What’s to love about Dance Sport?
- No dance studio, no dancing during lockdown
- What I wore to the first dance practice
- Top of the World Style Linkup party No. 262
A German saying about sports
In elementary school, the doctor recommended to my parents to put me into a ballet class to improve my posture. I was so happy about the recommendation as I wanted to take ballet so much. I just imagined all the nice dresses and tutus I could/would wear. All the beautiful dance clothing! The sparkly dresses! The golden or silver shoes! Glamorous costume jewelry! Dream dresses! Costumes. Dancing seemed like made for me. I love dancing, dance clothes and dance shoes. It’s me and pretty clothes, high heels and dancing makes me happy.
Then sport is fun and no burden at all.
Sports meant ugly clothes
I was so disappointed they made me do sports they liked to do. My Dad was into track and fields sport as well as jogging thru the forest. I didn’t like track and fields sports because you would get dirty jumping into the sand. Your neck would get dirty when shot putting. I found jogging boring and feared the roots of the trees. Second worst, all those horse flies on that sport field in woods that was near old arms, bogs and sloughs of the Rhine River, and the bumpy paths in the forest. Nevertheless, I was forced to take part because my parents were coaches. My Mom even taught sports in a middle school. Worst of all, flat shoes and clothes that weren’t me. Needless to say, I never liked these sports. Thus, I adopted the German saying as my motto “Sport ist Mord.” which means Sport is murder.
Bikinis are chic…
… , at least. However, while you can wear a bikini at 40 below when you want to, you were not allowed to wear a bikini for swim sports. We had to wear swimsuits. I would have preferred wearing a burkini back then as a teenager. But that’s not the reason why I also never liked swimming.
It sounds absurd, but I actually have a lifeguard certificate! I took the training and exam because my parents wanted me to do so. I also successfully completed the Totenkopf – which certifies that you can swim without interruption for an hour. Nevertheless, I can’t stand water that’s deeper than a yard (91.4 cm) since I just turned five.
Why I am not into swimming
Just after my brother was born, my parents sent me away to a children’s home on Langeoog, an island in the North Sea. After a long train ride, the train pulled into a harbor. Two nurses, a bunch of kids and I boarded a boat. While setting over to the island, one of the nurses took three kids outside to the reling. She had one kid on each hand. I was the third kid standing on the boat’s reling all by myself. She said to me “Don’t let your stuffed rabbit fall into the water. You’ll never see it again.” It scared the heck out of me.
Well, in addition, water is wet and cold on the skin when it evaporates. Who likes that?
Getting on dance teams meant wearing Sport Clothes I love
I never considered dancing as a sport, but as art and fun. Thus, I was so happy to get on our high school dance team despite I hadn’t been in ballet like the other gals. In graduate school, I was on the Rock’n Roll dance sport team. You probably know I love elements of this style.
I was particularly proud when I was chosen to be on the Dancing with the Fairbanks Stars fundraiser for the Fairbanks Lathrop High School Dance Team. And I was so happy when we came in third place on dancing with the Fairbanks Stars. … and I love these sports clothes.
What’s to Love about Dance Sport?
What I love about dancing is that it’s an exercise to music in beautiful clothes. You don’t get dirty. You are the center of the arts. Even though the guy is the lead, it’s all about showing the gal off. Thus, I totally understand Honi in the Hägar the Horrible comic. In case you missed it, the story is as follow.
Helga, Hägar’s wife and Honi’s mother, says to him “The King’s son asked Honi to marry him.” “Great. What did she say?” “I think she’s way to picky” Helga replied. “Why would you say that?” “She turned him down cold.” “Why?????” “She said he is not a good dancer.”
No Dance Studio, no Dancing, no Cinderella-like Clothes during Lockdown
When a doctor of mine asked me what I missed the most due to the lockdown my immediate answer was “Dancing with my favorite dance partner.” You can imagine how excited I was when I saw the email this Monday that the dance studio reopened.
I immediately wrote the mandatory safety plan. It was a piece of cake as I had been involved in providing feedback to safety plans drafted for the reopening of labs, etc. for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. My safety plan was accepted without any revisions to make. Thanks goodness! So we were ready to DANCE!
I was really happy when I asked my dance partner whether he would start dancing with me again. He said “Yes.” And we did.
What I wore to the first dance practice
The first dance after shutdown, is a special occasion. I had bought this dress online for exact that day. The photos in this post show my outfit for the first dance practice after not being able to dance for three months. It felt so good wearing the summer-in-the-Provence inspired girly dance dress. I felt so happy being out there dancing again.
Yes, I look quite different when I am on the dance floor. See for instance, what I wore performing at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. Often people who know me either from the university or the dance floor, don’t get that I am the same person. Interestingly, those who know me from the blog recognize me in both settings. Would you have recognized me? I guess so.
When you like the outfit please pin the photos to your Pinterest board or share the post with your friends on facebook or twitter. Thanks.
Top of the World Style linkup No. 262
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Photos of me: G. Kramm
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OMG that German motto is so me! I was put in ballet for my posture too! I did continue and went on to dancing for a long time. I do want to take up maybe ballroom- that would be so fun (as the dresses and sandals…diehard fashionista lol! Please come link up with me if you’d like, my Friday link up party is on! xx
I got a good laugh out of some of your stories, but not the one in the boat!! Yikes! It is very clear that dancing is YOUR sport! You look like a natural–the body, the clothes, the happy look on your face! Dance away, Nicole!
xx Darlene
Hi, Nicole – I love your dress and I love dancing…but I love swimming too! It is my favorite sport, dancing second. My mom never learned to swim so she was afraid of the water. She wanted her children to know how to swim so we would be safe in the water. Out of four children, I’m the one who fell in love with swimming. I was a lifeguard, a swim teacher and the star of my high school synchronized swimming club, doing tricks and the high dive. In water ballet, we wore the most beautiful costumes and makeup that draped in a sparkly way when we lifted out of the water. It was like being a mermaid. What I love about swimming is that you float, you glide, you are weightless and you do things that you cannot do on land. My favorite is an outdoor pool in the sunshine, especially when on my back I can look into the endless blue sky. On June 8th, the outdoor swimming pools are finally allowed to open in Michigan. I’ve been missing the start of swim season. I’m so happy that you can dance again! Thanks for sharing, Angie
Your stories always bring a smile to my face, Nicole!! I am no fan of team sports but oh my, I love the water! Long, glorious hot summers in Australia, waking at 5 in the morning to the beautiful sun shining and the cicadas singing and then into the pool for an hour to swim my laps … beautiful cool water all around me and swimming my cares away! Swimming was very much the culture here – it seems less so in recent years, which I think is a shame. When I grew up and had my children we moved closer to the beach so that we could just walk down and catch a swim in the surf of the Pacific Ocean before and after work and school – they were good times!! I sometimes think that’s why we have a fairly laid back lifestyle here … because of the water …
Donna 🦋❤️🐝
Thank you for the feature! I love that periwinkle color on you Nicole. Lovely dress!
jess xx
Nicole, we are soul sisters! i once answered one of those questions on FB “what would be your ideal job”, and I said competitive ballroom dancer! (it was a tough choice between that and fashion designer)…i was a dancer all my life–never gravitating to traditional ball sports like volleyball, or basketball, or soccer….i too, also not crazy about swimming–nope…people look at me like i am crazy on that topic….and my girls? they also gravitated to dance and gymnastics…and when people asked what ‘sports’ my girls did, and i said Ballet and Gymnastics, would you believe they did not agree those were sports??!!…and i would look a them and say, nicely of course ; ) ‘my girls come home sweating and exhausted, it’s a sport’….
xo Eva
We did a lot of sports in school growing up in France but I never did any outside of school. Now I like walking, hiking, running and biking. Anything that takes me outdoor.
yea that you got to resume some normal activities. We are still in lockdown so its been hard gettign new style motivated. Stay safe my friend
Such a beautiful dress!
Nicole, thanks so much for the feature today! What a lovely surprise. I am loving your blue dress. It is so pretty and the color is absolutely fabulous. I am glad that you will be able to get back to dancing. I was a competitive swimmer for the first half of my life and now I cannot stand anything about it…putting on the swim suit, getting all wet and stinking like chlorine. Just yuck. This was a fun post to read about how you came to be a dancer! Thanks for sharing.
Shelbee