To The Girl Telling Me Nike Shorts And Leggings Are Just For the Gym,

Honestly, I just feel bad for you.

Not only do you feel like you have to judge other women’s intelligence and worth based on what they choose to wear, but you’ll also never know the comfort of rolling out of bed and throwing on your comfiest Nike shorts to wear to class.

No one “needs” to do anything that you say, especially when it comes to clothing choices.

If you want to dress nicely to class then, by all means, go ahead and put on your pantsuit and work it- I'm all for it, girl! But class is not a formal event that I will be underdressed for if I choose to wear leggings and a T-shirt.

Are you going to look a college athlete in the face and tell them they're lazy or not going to be successful because they just came from a three hour practice and didn’t have time to change into a dress for class? They're more hardworking than anyone. Even if a person is not an athlete, some people wear gym clothes to class because they plan to go to the gym afterwords, or maybe they even just came from the gym! Some people wear gym clothes simply because they're stretchy and breathable. No matter the reason: wearing sweats doesn’t equal laziness the same way that wearing a suit doesn’t equal success.

Clothing is not an indicator of status or intelligence, and people don’t need an excuse to wear what they want to wear.

Class isn't a space where it’s necessary to put on your nicest clothes and dress to impress. That 500 person lecture hall wouldn’t even miss you if you weren’t there- sorry to break it to you. No one is even going to look at what you're wearing; you could show up with all of your clothes inside out and backwards.

Obviously the professor is going to dress nicely seeing as they’re at work, but as a student that is not a responsibility. The days of wearing a uniform to school are over once you leave your private school bubble, and in public schools the dress code just comes down to comfort. Being comfortable in class is conducive to learning, and if I'm more comfortable in leggings than jeans then that is what I’m going to choose to wear.

This doesn’t make me any less of a productive student in the class than anyone else.

You say it’s time for us to grow up? Attacking other women for their choice of clothing that you don’t agree with sounds pretty childish to me. Adult women are those who don’t put other women down, and those who would rather focus on building each other up than judging them on trivial manners such as this one.

I’ll just be over here in my yoga pants waking up an hour later than you, being comfortable, and still looking good.