When I was learning handstands, I found it easier to keep my body tight in tight clothing. Tight clothing = tight body. When I was first trying to find my line, I found that tight clothing helped remind my body to be tight. If I was wearing loose sweatpants I found it much harder to remember to squeeze my butt.
You want to be able to focus on being upside down rather than your top flipping up over your head.
Crop Top or Tank Top - Keeps you cool and comfortable during your training.
Long Sleeve Raglan - This top comes in crop length or full length and is a great option for training when you want to keep your arms covered for a little more warmth.
Leotard - Love this Leo! It can be ordered without sleeves or with 3/4 sleeves, it's great for keeping everything in place while also being upside down.
For Pants I have find that wearing tight fitted pants is best for beginners, it will help your coach be able to see your line and give you feedback.
High Waist Leggings- These leggings are my go to for training, the Supplex fabrics have great compression and 4 way stretch.
High Waist Booty Shorts or Longer Length Bike Shorts
As I became more comfortable upside down and became more advanced I found that I was able to wear a tight top but with looser pants and that it didn't affect my handstand line so much.
Slouch Pants
Transit Pants
Keep your core engaged with a back warmer, compression/shirt tucked in.
If you have any further questions about what you wear to Handstand class please send me a message. I am also able to take online private handstand lessons and give you an individual training plan.
You can send me an email to fit2flyapparel@gmail.com
or you can find me on Instagram @fit2fly_apparel
Hope you enjoy your day,
Jen
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For me the right fabric is very important. The Bamboo is by far my favorite fabric to wear in the summer.
]]>For me the right fabric is very important. The Bamboo is by far my favorite fabric to wear in the summer. It is very breathable and has a great amount of stretch so I don't feel hot and sweaty like I do if I am wearing a higher polyester based fabric.
All of the online items can be made with the bamboo fabrics. Daily I am wearing a Crop Top, Box Crop Tank, Sleeveless T or a Sports Bra paired with Slouch Pants, Crop Disco Pants or High Waist Booty Shorts.
If you are training certain aerial circus arts such as silks, hoop, trapeze, straps etc. you probably would rather keep certain body areas covered so they are protected from aerial burns and bruises. To stay covered and keep cool I like to wear a Crop Top paired with the high waist booty shorts and then adding some protective accessories such as the Back Warmer, Knee Protectors, Leg Warmers, Wrist Protectors or the Long Sleeve Shrug.
The Back warmer is great because it allows you to train in not a lot of clothing but sill keeping your stomach and back covered.
The Knee Protectors will allow you to do all of your knee hook skills without compromising comfort for bruises. They are also great to help save your leggings during big slack drops.
The Wrist Protectors are a straps favorite and will help keep your wrists/forearms covered so you can feel continue feeling comfortable during reps.
The Tall Leg Warmers are another great way to keep the back of your knees covered while wearing shorts or a bodysuit.
The Long Sleeve Shrug is another great option to keep your arms covered but not fully be wearing a shirt. It's especially perfect to wear overtop of our Crop Top while do any sort of silks/straps roll ups or hoop/trapeze elbow circles.
If you have any questions feel free to message me directly, I am happy to help with any questions.
-
Jen
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My love @storyboardfurniture and I are building our tiny sustainable dream home in Marmora, Ontario, approx. 2.5 hours East of Toronto. There, we will continue our creative work, running our businesses from home, while learning more about growing our own food, living off the land, and ultimately becoming more and more self-sufficient.
My lease here on the Danforth is up at the end of November 2022, and as much as it’s been wonderful being in the heart of the city, and meeting everyone who comes through our doors for a chat and a fitting, I am trusting my instinct to not renew our commercial lease, and live more freely in our own space.
Building a home from the ground up has allowed us to design it with our most important desires and needs in mind, and I give much admiration and praise to my partner, Mike, for turning our wildest dreams into our new reality.
The Fit 2 Fly Shop will continue online as it always has been, with a wide selection of fabrics, sizes, and garment options, as well as be available in a number of various Canadian and International studios. You can check out our satellite studios on our website under the Locations/Content tab to find your closest studio carrying a variety of Fit 2 Fly apparel items.
As well, we will be continuing:
*Online shop www.fit2fly.ca
*Pop up shops at various locations
*Virtual shopping
*A number of Canadian/International studios now carrying Fit 2 Fly Apparel
*Free shipping (within Canada) for orders over $150
*No hassle returns
If you would like to try things on, or look at the fabrics, please come visit me at the studio (457a Danforth Ave) before the end of Nov 2022. I would love to connect!
Much love and gratitude,
Jen
My go to aerial circus training outfit would be:
Base Layer: 3/4 Sleeve Leotard, Crop Top or Tank Top/High Waist Leggings
Added Layer: Back Warmer/Crop Raglan Long Sleeve or Full Length Raglan
Leotards are perfect for keeping your outfit in perfect place so you can focus on your training. Crop Top and Tank Tops have a high neck so you won't have to worry about showing too much during inversions.
Our High Waist Leggings are higher than most which will help keep your stomach protected from silks burns.
A Back Warmer is a must have that will keep your stomach protected and engaged.
Wearing a Crop/Full Length Raglan Long Sleeve will help protect you from arm pit burns.
If you have any questions on what to your to your silks class you can send me an email and I will be happy to help.
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As many of you know, in March of last year, our business model pivoted to help fight the spread of COVID-19 by addressing the shortage of non-medical masks in local communities. Our initiative produced over 5,000 colourful, double-lined face masks for children, youth and adults, which shipped nationally and internationally over the past year, thanks to your support.
Our company continues to pivot in these COVID times and our latest initiative is to support essential health care workers by launching a new line of fitted, breathable, machine washable Stretch Scrubs in a variety of colours, to suit any professional work environment. We hope to support nurses, dental hygienists, reception staff, physiotherapists, veterinarians and many other front line workers with a variety of comfortable and stylish scrubs. You can view our Stretch Scrubs collection by clicking this link: https://www.fit2fly.ca/collections/stretch-scrubs
Fit 2 Fly continues to be committed to low-waste production, and donates all unusable materials to local shelters and art programs to be used for crafting and art supplies. If anyone is looking for artistic outlets during these isolated times, swing by our Danforth shop during operating hours and take what you’d like, free of cost.
Last but not least, don’t worry! We’re still designing and creating new and custom athletic apparel and professional comfort wear for those working from home (available on our website, with some new beautiful summer fabrics in stock (the peach bamboo is our favourite!) So please continue to shop online and feel free to contact us at fit2flyapparel@gmail.com for custom apparel, and inquiries into our economic and environmental practices.
As always, orders are available for safe pick-up at our Toronto location at 457a Danforth Ave, or for shipping around the globe through Canada Post.
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When we first saw the call out for non medical masks from the Michael Garron Hospital looking for 1000 masks per week we knew donating was the right thing to do. We had our sewing machines and a wonderful stock of fabrics which ranged from standard colors, to bright and sparkly. Our first donation was approx. 100 masks, and have since then donated over 1000 masks to hospitals, local shelters and for individuals in need.
At the beginning of the pandemic, wearing a non medical mask was only a recommendation and a brief topic in the community so we were only making them for the hospital and close friends who knew that we were making them.
Then it happened, Blog TO made their first article about where to buy non medical face masks in Toronto and then everything switched. We went from having 2 weeks of no orders, no emails to one day waking up to 50 emails, from customers wondering how they could place their order. We then realized how we could also help the community and we knew what we needed to make...masks!
Overnight, we set up our adult and youth non medical masks as products on our website, www.fit2fly.ca. We had no idea of the surge of demand that was about to come. Within 5 minutes of launching the new mask products we were completely sold out of all of the stock that we had just made. It was unbelievable to say the least! Then we were featured on Elle Canada, Now Toronto plus a few other sites that helped the community find us.
We were already set up to ship world wide and could offer safe curb side pick up since our studio has street access. Sticking with our values to the planet we packaged each mask order in recyclable paper with the customer name/order number and tied with one of our little fabric scraps to hold everything together. One thing we knew was that the world did not need more waste or plastic packaging.
We first had our masks set to a "pay what you can" price because we wanted everyone who wanted one to be able to get one without question. After about 2 months and us needing to pay rent to a landlord who was not into applying for the rental relief program we needed to change our donating pricing to a set price of $15.00 per mask. The non medical masks literally paid the rent for 4 months.
Since then the mask orders have slowed down and have became one of our regular products along with our athletic and comfort apparel.
We are so thankful for the overwhelming support from our community and so happy to have met so many wonderful new customers that did not know that we existed in our little Toronto circus studio.
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1. We create and draft all of our own patterns
2. We source and order our fabrics from locally owned businesses
3. Once the fabric arrives, we trace our patterns and do all our own cutting
4. Every garment is sewn individually, with our own custom size tags that we create in studio
5. We finish each piece by applying our custom logo, also designed and created us in our studio
As one of our customers, you can purchase our pre-made apparel items off the rack in studio, or you can place a custom order online or in person.
If you are looking for a specific colour or fabric, we have hundreds of options available!
All of our fabrics have 4 way stretch and are perfect for training, we carry:
- Supplex
- Prints
- Metallic
- Hologram
- Cracked Ice
- Velvet
- Lace
- Mesh + more
Anyone can pick which items they would like to order, including :
- High Waist Leggings
- Crop Tops
- Tank Tops
- Long Sleeve Shirts
- Slouch Pants
- Back Warmers
and many more
We help determine customers sizing in studio for their order, or we have a sizing chart available on our website for those ordering online.
Once your order is ready, we will notify you and your item of apparel is placed into one of our reusable bags. From there, all you have to do is come to our studio, have a look at our Pick-up Board, and grab your items out of the bag with your name on it! We also offer shipping options for those outside of the pickup area.
All of our garments are sewn in studio by local circus artists and we love to collaborate within the circus community. Our amazing photographer, Kaylens, creates the best photos you could ever imagine. You can find her through her Instagram @kaylens to book for professional shoots and our graphic designer, Joanne Galligan, creates all of our custom promotions with eye popping designs. She is also an amazing coach, and you can find her teaching classes for the Toronto Circus Collective
You can shop online anytime through our webstore: www.fit2fly.ca You can message us and place custom orders by email, Instagram @fit2fly, or through our Facebook page.
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At Fit 2 Fly we purchase our supplies from other locally owned business which helps us strengthen the economic base of the community. All of our fabrics, threads, vinyls and equipment are purchased from other local companies.
Since we control how much waste we produce we can reduce, reuse and recycle all of our own materials. We are also able to schedule our deliveries to other local business who use small cars instead of large transport trucks.
Each member of Fit 2 Fly is a local circus artist, we believe that providing additional jobs to the arts is a fundamental principle of being a community. This also gives us a better understanding of why to make the products the way that we do.
We take the time to get to know our customers and want to know you on a personal level. We want to know what you're working on whether it’s training, shows or what you have on the go in your life. You can visit us in studio anytime, guests are always welcome.
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You can click the product link below for more color and fabric options.
]]>They are great for working flexibility while helping keep your core engaged, they will also cover and protect you during your training. It is my absolute must have while training rope, silks, trapeze, hoop anything with a burn will love the extra layer. On hot days the back warmer will allow you to train in minimal clothing but still covering your mid section and on cold days they help you keep everything tucked in so you don't have any tangled surprises.
For more info click the product picture below.
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