Loving Pink Again in My 30s (And Still Doing Combat Sports)

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Hey friends, it’s Lizzie! Something I’ve noticed about myself lately: I’m loving pink again. Not in a quiet, one-accessory way. My newest boxing gloves are pink. A friend handed me a complete set of pink golf clubs and a set of pink balls. The majority of my Amazon page is pink. Somewhere in my 30s, pink stopped feeling like a decision and started feeling like me.

⚡ Short on time? I love pink again in my 30s, I still do the badass sports, and being happy with Brandon is a big part of why I feel free to be a little girlier. See my Amazon storefront →

What pink looks like in my life right now

Let me be specific, because "I love pink" can mean anything. Here is the actual list.

• My newest boxing gloves are pink. I train in them like any other pair, which is the point.
• A complete RAM Axial women's set of pink golf clubs. A friend gave them to me to get started. When I got back to Florida, I picked them up.
• A set of pink golf balls from the same friend.
• The pink gingham golf dress in the photo on this post, with a visor and a bow.
• My Amazon storefront. Most of what is on it is pink, from the things I own to the things I’m still deciding on.

None of that is a costume. It is just the colors I reach for when nobody is telling me what a serious athlete is supposed to look like.

Why pink, why now

I would love to give you a neat answer, but the honest one is a few things landing at once.

The first is that I’m in my 30s, and I’ve written a lot on this blog about how this decade has been the first one where I stopped asking for permission. I wrote about loving my body in my 30s and about the glow-up that has nothing to do with skincare. Wearing the color I like is a small, daily version of the same thing.

The second is Brandon. Being happy with him lets me be a bit girlier. When you feel settled and happy with the person you’re with, there is less of a reason to perform. I don’t have to prove I’m tough by dressing tough, and I don’t have to hide the soft side to be taken seriously. I get to be both in the same outfit.

I think that matters more than it sounds. Plenty of women are in a version of this without saying it out loud: the feeling that girly and capable are opposite ends of one dial. Mine has stopped being a dial.

Pink and the badass sports

Here is the part people don’t expect. I’ve been kickboxing for ten years. It is a male-dominated sport, and at my gym I’m normally one of the few women in the room. Pink gloves don’t change that, and they don’t change what I do with them. The bag doesn’t know what color my hands are.

What I will say is that gear you love is easier to pick up. It’s part of why I’ve written about rotating my gloves and about what’s in my gym bag. When your kit feels like yours, getting out the door is easier. That is a lot of what I mean by gear that fits you, and I’m a fan of anything that lowers the barrier to training.

Golf is the newest part of my life, and pink fits it perfectly. I’m a beginner, I go to the driving range with Brandon, and I’ve started going on my own to practice. If you want the honest story of my first trip, it’s in learning golf in my 30s. A pink set and pink balls take some of the pressure off, because it’s hard to take yourself too seriously with a bright pink club in your hand. That is a feature, not a bug.

And pickleball is already weekly for me. I try to play at least once a week, and if you’re thinking about gear that actually looks like you, my post on building a pickleball set that looks like you is where I put that thinking.

How I wear pink without it taking over

This is what I do, not a rule. Take whatever is useful.

• I let one thing be the loud one. If the gloves are pink, the rest of my kit can be quiet. If I’m in a pink dress, the sneakers are white.
• I pair it with something plain. A bright pink next to black or white looks intentional, and I’m never worried that I overdid it.
• I use small pieces first. A visor with a bow, a hair tie, a pair of balls. Small is a good way to find out how much pink you actually want.
• I buy for the sport first and the color second. If it doesn’t work for what I’m doing, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is.

That last one is the thing that keeps the whole project honest. I’m not trying to turn my training into an aesthetic. I’m trying to enjoy something I already love a little more.

The softer side isn’t a step back

I think a lot of us in our 20s, and I’m including myself, spend years trying to be taken seriously by sanding off anything that reads as soft. I’ve written about that in building confidence in your 30s. What I’m finding now is that the confidence is the thing that lets the softness back in. It’s not a step back. It’s more like finally having enough room.

So if you’ve been quietly wanting the pink thing, the bow, the pretty golf dress, the pastel anything, and you’ve been telling yourself you’re too serious for it, this is your note. You can be serious about your sport and silly about your socks.

Where the pink lives on my Amazon page

If you want to see what I’m actually looking at, my whole Amazon storefront is below. It’s where I keep what I’m using and what I’m thinking about. As you’d guess by now, most of it is pink.

Your Questions, Answered

Can you be girly and still do kickboxing? Yes, and I do both every week. I’ve been kickboxing for ten years and I love pink. The two have never fought each other in my life.

Is it okay to love pink in your 30s? I think it’s more than okay. For me this decade has been about wearing what I like and not apologizing for it, and pink is one of the easiest places to start.

Are your pink golf clubs and balls a set you bought? No, a friend gave me a complete pink RAM Axial women's set of clubs and a set of pink balls to get started, and I picked them up when I got back to Florida. I’m a beginner who goes to the range with Brandon and sometimes on my own.

Related reading

• On Loving Your Body in Your 30s
• How to Build Confidence in Your 30s
• Learning Golf in My 30s
• How to Build a Pickleball Set That Actually Looks Like You
• What’s Actually in My Gym Bag
• The 30s Glow-Up Nobody Talks About