I thought I could get away with it. I was so wrong

I LOOKED at myself in the mirror. Hmm... no one will notice, I thought. Of course, I was very, very wrong, writes Amelia Saw.

Is it really that bad? (Pic: iStock)

I THOUGHT I could get away with it.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My thighs and bum were tightly contained in black leggings, the Lycra stretching unforgivingly over each curve and bump.

I turned to the side and noticed a hint of crop-top covered side boob peeping out from beneath my tank top.

Hmm... I’ll just keep my arms down, I thought.

No one will notice.

Little more than two hours later I stood up from my desk and made my way towards the printer.

“Are you wearing activewear in the office?” my colleague shrieked, bursting into cackling fits of laughter.

Heads whipped around to stare at my Lycra-clad legs and aerodynamically appropriate tank top.

Suddenly, I didn’t just feel like I’d been caught out wearing activewear in the office. I felt naked... and all eyes were on me.

“What’s going on?” queried my boss, as she looked me up and down, her bemused smile tinged with a look of concern.

“It’s a public holiday,” I stammered, as I tried to hide myself behind one of the desk partitions. “I thought I could get away with it. I thought everyone would think I was wearing trousers,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush.

My colleagues stared at me blankly for what felt like hours.

“But you’ve got a logo on your leggings?” someone queried.

I launched myself towards the hat rack where I’d hung my jacket and covered myself with my blue fur coat.

Now I was wearing sports gear and trainers with a fur coat. I could be an extra from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

In fact, the only situation my current outfit was now appropriate for would be for running laps around the Met Ball.

Throw a fur coat over yourself, woman! (Pic: iStock)

How was I going to justify this hideous fashion faux pas?

Maybe if I started lunging my way through the desks my colleagues would see just how handy a pair of leggings could be in the workplace and my reputation could be redeemed?

Or perhaps I could hand out notes in my afternoon meeting while simultaneously flexing my biceps?

Or I could do squats in the tearoom and instead of everyone thinking I’d mistakenly tried to get away with wearing activewear in the office, I could fool them into believing I was making a stand for workplace wellbeing?

I wasn’t a fashion flop. I was a pioneer. A poster girl for improving our stationary corporate lives with sporadic bursts of daily exercise.

Not all heroes wear capes... but they do don activewear.

Amelia Saw is a News Corp TV writer.