Aging & Wisdom Quote by Cheryl Tiegs

Tiegs is selling a feeling before she sells a fabric: the idea that motivation is, at least partly, a costume. Coming from a model whose career was built on the authority of appearance, the line lands as more than a bland fitness tip. It’s an assertion that self-discipline can be manufactured through styling, that the right outfit doesn’t just reflect a “workout identity” but helps produce it.

The specific intent is pragmatic and promotional at once. “Very important” and “right clothing” frame exercise as a performance with gear as its enabling prop. The phrase “not inspiring” is the tell: she’s not talking about biomechanics or temperature regulation; she’s talking about aspiration. An old T-shirt becomes shorthand for neglect, for the version of yourself that’s going through the motions. “Inspiring” implies an audience, even if it’s just the mirror. The workout, in this worldview, is a mini runway where you audition for your future self.

Context matters. Tiegs rose during decades when women were increasingly targeted as consumers of self-improvement: aerobics culture, glossy magazine wellness, and the steady merging of health with beauty standards. Her quote sits comfortably inside that continuum, where “fitness” is both personal virtue and purchasable lifestyle.

The subtext is double-edged: it validates the very real psychology of ritual and presentation (dress the part, do the thing) while quietly reinforcing a familiar pressure, especially on women, to look good even while getting healthy. The workout becomes another site where aesthetics get to call the shots.