Athleisure: Let’s Talk About It

If there’s one thing you’ve probably learned by now, it’s that I’m not very big on trends. There’s a big difference between being on-trend/in-style and having style. A focus on trends as a form of personal style ensures that you’re always chasing the next thing and will undoubtedly amass a collection of clothes that, after one season, will sit in your closet in perpetuity and leave you to ponder, “What was I thinking?” when you do finally get around to cleaning out said closet.

| WEARING | Al Bazar shirt, Oliver Peoples sunglasses, Miansai screw cuff, Moccasins c/o Tod’s | PHOTOGRAPHY | by Rob McIver Photo

Among the more egregious trends of late – and one that I’ve identified as one that needs to die – is the ridiculously named athleisure trend. It’s the one that has grown men actually thinking that dressy sweatpants are a good idea. The one that uses high-tech fabrics to create a hybrid athletic-leisure style and has actually spawned terms like aprés-sport and gym-to-office. Somewhere, someone is having a laugh. Maybe that’s you right now.

I would hope that now since athleisure is reaching something of a fever pitch as evidenced by it’s availability from mainstream retailers like J.Crew, that it will begin to fade into the annals of fashion misses and become one of those things we keep hidden better than our seventh grade yearbook photo. I hypothesized previously that the short suit was dead when it transitioned from a cool oddity worn by a few fashion forward sartorial boundary pushers into a mild form of bro-couture. Nothing kills cool like mainstream attention, after all. At least for hipsters-at-heart. And have you heard much about the short suit this season? Right.

I’ve been thinking about athleisure a bit recently as we are fresh off styling a shoot for a very large online publication. I was excited by the idea to partner with the publisher because it was a way to 1) start a conversation, 2) stretch my styling creativity, and 3) see what all the fuss is about. Am I going to be an athleisure convert? No. Will I wear (and do I wear) these pieces around the apartment and running errands on the weekend? You bet. For the athleisure weary, I would say that there are options that work with personal styles that aren’t focused on being “on trend.”

Now it’s your turn: share your thoughts and opinions on athleisure in the comments.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Stylishly Yours,

Brian Sacawa
He Spoke Style