I never truly realized how unstylish sweatpants were considered, until a chilly spring early afternoon in college when I lazily wore them down Main Street. The most public of streets. I saw a friend. I waved and when he didn’t reciprocate, I didn’t think much of it because he was on the phone. Later, a little he-said-she-said action kicked in (which was surprisingly common for a 20,000 student school) and it got back to my BFF (the lovely guest model in Mixed Up & Amused found here) that I was spotted wearing sweatpants, and was I okay? He wasn’t even sure it was me waving.
Whitney, the Associate Editor of UDress magazine, the Visual Merchandiser, and aspiring Buyer (and now Blogger!) seen wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt, and flip flops – because, hi, even those of us who love fashion the most want to be comfortable sometimes. To prove comfort can be cute, my roommate and I return to the place where sweatpants are worn the most, a college campus.
Also connecting these looks to the Spice Girls seemed like the natural thing to do. Omitted Scary Spice ‘cause no one ever wanted to be her (yet 50% of the vocals in Wannabe are her.) Sorry, truth hurts.
The Trendsetter, Posh Spice: The easiest way to make sweatpants look cool? Pair them with your go-to night outfit. For me that looks like an easy cropped tee, a leather jacket, and killer booties. Just pretend your fleece-lined bottoms are black denim and everyone else will go along with it. Afterall, denim was considered too casual for public wear not too long ago and look at it now! Most of us get to wear jeans to the most formal place we frequent, the office. (Does that mean sweatpants will be allowed in corporate places like 100 years from now? Lucky jerks.) In the early 1900s jeans symbolized home. Now fuzzy tattered cotton, that we call sweatpants, are looking to escape their house arrest! Remember, 95% of rocking a new trend is attitude and confidence. You are Posh Spice!
The Modern Prep, Ginger Spice: Ginger is likely the most skeptical of this trend because she only wears dresses with Union Jacks on them she likes her sweats the traditional way: big and baggy. The key to wearing your old high school sweats in public (You know, the ones you high-key sleep in? Or maybe you repainted the kitchen in them?) is balancing the look with a cropped and more form fitting top. This knit sweater is a great option. The hemline stripes make an otherwise girly silhouette active. For jackets, anything goes! I like a cotton zip-up but, a utility denim jacket or rain resistant track jacket will also do the trick.
To somewhat tame a too long pair of sweatpants, double cuff ‘em. Carmen from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants explicitly states “no double cuffing the pants,” and this is why “the pants” lacked shape. But, lowkey: does anyone want to mail sweatpants and diary-style notes to me every month?
The Olympics Fiend, Sporty Spice: You can’t see athletic striped clothing and not think of Sporty Spice. And if you can, you’re not from the ‘90s. Obviously an elongating white Adidas-esque pant is a must in your cute sweatpants arsenal. I have a basic black and white pair that I bought to wear over gym shorts...because they’re sweatpants. But other more fun color combos now on the market are: navy + orange, white + bright pink, and neon + purple.
For double the comfort add a matching sweatshirt with vertical panels or a thick horizontal stripe in the center of the chest. Kendall Kardashian is always down to jump into a leg-lengthening Adidas tracksuit. Meanwhile, Kylie goes more high end with an all gray Dior sweat set designed for dreary weather. I double down on the ‘90s inspo and layered up a silk and lace cami that is simply “so me” (and then made my hot friend wear it.)
For shoes, go with boots or sneaks that give you a lift so, your ‘fit looks anything but frumpy. Unless you want to tell ghost stories and have pillow fights, absolutely no slippers, moccasins, or the like; thank you.
The Country Girly, Baby Spice: So you can actually buy sweatpants that are already cute. You know that right? They’re called printed joggers. In 2014 this slimmer version of a cotton sweatpant spiced up men’s fashion. Joggers have a different build than a stereotypical sweatpant because they have a tighter waistband, a slimmer more shapely leg, and are cinched into a cylinder at the ankle. The jogger design was first created to flex Jordans, Adidas, and other stylish sneaker brands.
Due to the skinny ankle, shoe selection is of the utmost importance here. I don’t hate upping a sneaker to a midi boot because, with the ankle covered your bottoms will look more like a classic knit pant. Or return to roots and go sporty slides. For tops, most people put a jogger with a t-shirt or sweatshirt but, I like to be overdressed so I choose a thick knitted mockneck sweater. And it's even warmer than my worn sweatshirt collection.
In prep for this article I ended up creating a lot more sick sweatpants looks than these four, proving, Childish Gambino was most certainly onto something! “Don’t be mad ‘cause I’m doin’ me better than you doin’ you.”
Coincidence? I was spice girl for Halloween! Great article!!!!