I've seen tons of trends come and go, from shoes, to clothes, to hairstyles. Of course, there's always those trends you're going to love, hate, or not understand. One of the current trends now is one that I just don't understand, and that's athleisure.
Athlesisure is defined by Wikipedia as "A trend in fashion in which clothing designed for workouts and other athletic activities is worn in other settings, such as during work, casual or social occasions."
My confusion with athleisure stems from a lot of different places. My first question would be, do people think it's fashionable just because it's a trend? I decided to create a mission for myself when I went back to school shopping this year, and that mission was to find clothes just as comfortable as athleisure, but cuter. Now, you can ignore this if you don't want to dress nicer, but personally I think my findings were interesting. First of all, who doesn't like a good pair or leggings? Leggings are basically just a more acceptable alternative to yoga pants or workout pants to go out in. There's your first substitution. Second, put on a big sweater. I can guarantee that a big soft and cozy sweater is a lot more comfortable than a tight sports bra and a stretch fabric shirt. So picture this: A warm cozy sweater, leggings, and uggs. Sounds cute but comfortable, right?
Another great alternative to athleisure is jeggings and a cozy shirt. The reason they made jeggings was to give a comfy alternative to jeans, but still give the illusion you put the effort in of putting on actual jeans. Throw on some jeggings and a long sleeve t-shirt, and whatever shoes you want, and you're good to go.
How about t-shirt dresses? I was skeptical of them at first, but now I love them. T-shirt dresses and flip flops is literally the easiest outfit ever, and they're so comfortable. What would you rather do, toss on a cute t-shirt dress and be done? Or over work your hair into a pony tail, squeeze into a sports bra, and have to put effort in to tie your shoes?
My other confusion with athleisure is the guilt factor. Whenever I ever wear work out clothes, it's to force me to work out. If I wake up in the morning and really don't want to go to the gym, I'll throw on some workout pants and sneakers to guilt myself into it later. If I were to follow this athleisure trend, I'd basically be guilting myself into going to the gym every day, therefore ruining that "effortless" athleisure look.
I am in no way hating on athleisure, I just want to understand the appeal. If anyone reading this feels some type of way about athleisure and wants to give me a piece of their mind, please, I welcome it. I'm just on a mission to understand the trend and why it's so popular.