The New York Times recently reported that athletic wear has hit a setback. This would be the Lulemon/Athleta/Lucy etc. segment of the retail apparel industry aka the Dressing Down of America. I read the news with glee as I am not a fan of never getting dressed.
Sadly the trend is not what's in trouble. The young are still loving that barely disguised athletic wear can be worn to the office, although I'm not sure what office (dot com? start up?). It's pretty clear we as a civilization care less and less about getting dressed, let alone dressed up.
What's happening is that shoppers are realizing Old Navy's $15 yoga pants are really just as good as Lulemon's $98 pants, and that nobody can tell the difference. The high end merchandise isn't selling like it used to, and latecomers entering the market are deciding to divest.
Five years ago when I signed on the dotted line for a gym membership, I picked up 4 t-shirts, 2 pairs of yoga pants and a hoodie at Target. They're not worn out (or worn out).
Does spending the big bucks on workout gear kind of force you to wear it all the time just to get your money's worth? In that case, let's hear it for cheap gym stuff. Save your money so you can buy some real clothes.
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Dang, I was hoping that the death knell had sounded for athleisure wear - it's just awful. I work for an IT company and there is quite a bit of "leggings worn as pants" going on with the women there.
ReplyDeleteIT companies have been sited as being especially guilty of encouraging that. My condolences!
DeleteLOL at that last picture!
ReplyDeleteI swear, the whole thing started with the paps taking pictures of celebrities on their way to the gym. I mean, hell yeah, I wear yoga pants to the gym. And maybe I gas up the car on the way home. Maybe I even go to the grocery store. I still don't consider yoga pants to be real clothes. But show them on Jennifer Aniston and people emulate her.
I love these so much I keep ordering different styles and colors and have doubled up on the basic colors like gray and black. I've been using the work out gear for workouts, lounging around, and even wearing to work.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this great post! I've been looking for some new women's activewear inspiration and this post was perfect timing..
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