If you didn’t already know, athleisure = athletic + leisure.
Photo courtesy of @athleta on Instagram
In the 1980s, there was an aerobics craze that inspired people to wear sweatbands, bodysuits, and leg warmers in all of the brightest colors outside of the gym. This, however, only lasted a decade and was quickly replaced with the new fads of the 1990s.
Photo courtesy of @80s_renegade on Instagram
Today, the rise of athleisure doesn’t seem to just be a fad. It reflects a more fundamental shift in people’s mindsets. Not only has it become a fashion trend, it is also a lifestyle trend.
College students today often schedule going to the gym in their daily routine. Just 10 years ago, when my sister was in college, she said that eating healthy and working out didn’t even cross their minds.
The athleisure trend is part of the larger pervading culture of wellness and self-improvement. Whether it be juice cleanses, weekly workout classes, eating kale (ew), or any of the other newest and coolest health fads, people want to be healthy. It’s considered “hip.”
Photo courtesy of @athleta on Instagram
Sky high stilettos have been replaced with sneakers on many runways and gossip blogs. Even the uber fashionable Vogue website has begun to incorporate the do’s and dont’s of wearing athletic clothes on a daily basis.
Photo courtesy of @galetskyofficial on Instagram
It isn’t cheap either. The median price for yoga pants is $87.29. Yet, people still splurge. Athleisure has become a fashion statement with high scale designers and even celebrities coming up with their own lines.
Photo courtesy of @fabletics on Instagram
While athletic clothes are still often being bought with the intention of running on the treadmill, women are simply wearing them because they’re comfortable, cute and makes us feel good about ourselves.
If we put on a pair of Lulu leggings and Nike sneakers, it at least looks like we have the intention to hit the gym, and that’s what counts, right? Not only do we want to live a healthy lifestyle, we want others to think we are living a healthy lifestyle.
Photo courtesy of @fabletics on Instagram
Women used to wear work out clothes only to work out. Wearing them to class or to brunch was hardly thought of fashionable or even acceptable. Today, that notion has changed. Who knows how much longer this athleisure trend will stick around? But while it does, we all might as well enjoy being comfortable and still fashionable while not wearing “real” clothes.