Activewear and the Athleisure Trend

12.12.2017 |

Episode #9 of the course Men’s guide to grooming and style by Eddy Larkson

 

Welcome to the ninth day of the course! Time is flying by, but we want to make sure to cover a key topic when it comes to current style trends: athleisure.

 

What’s Athleisure?

Athleisure is a current trend where workout and gym clothing can be worn in places like school, social events, or even at some offices. This can be in the form of hoodies, sweatpants, athletic shirts, etc.

Among the main elements of athleisure, you may also find joggers, which is essentially the more accurate “athleisure” term for sweatpants, meaning that they are more lightweight and slim-fit than traditional sweatpants, making them seem more acceptable for wearing out compared to the traditionally baggier sweatpants.

In addition, there are new stylish elements in athletic shorts. Now they are more design and fabric focused, meaning that newer offerings are of a lighter material that allows for both faster running and more comfort during the day.

 

General Guidelines

So, is there a way to look dressy or stylish even while rocking the athleisure look? Absolutely! Here’s a few easy ways to make your athleisure look be totally acceptable and stylish almost anywhere you go:

• When it comes to sweatpants, try to get ones labeled as either tapered or slim-fit. In other words, avoid wearing saggy or baggy pants, as that can begin to cross into the “pajama” sector.

• The same goes for sweatshirts or hoodies—try to get ones that are slim-cut or not overly bulky. Try to contrast the colors of your shirt and pants, or hoodie and pants if you are wearing some kind of jacket. Basically, don’t wear a grey hoodie, a grey shirt, and grey sweatpants (but we’ll cover colors more in the next lesson!).

• Have your shirts and half-zip jackets be made of breathable and light fabrics, as opposed to heavy, bulky fabrics that can easily swallow you up

• Have fun experimenting with different ways to rock this look. For example, you can use sweatpants as your “athleisure base” and still wear a collared shirt or even a casual sport button-up shirt (you can leave the buttons undone).

 

Athleisure Color Trends

The most common color within this trend is grey. There are many different types of grey, including heather grey, grey marl, charcoal grey, etc., so be sure to check out which shade best fits your style and preference. Usually in the coldest months, many men gravitate toward the darker charcoal look, but you really can’t go wrong—you can easily layer tailored sweatpants with a nice non-athletic t-shirt with a full-zip hoodie and look awesome!

 

Key Takeaways

When it comes to athleisure, you can look and feel confident in a nice pair of tapered joggers, grey or navy, with a cotton t-shirt and half-zip hoodie, topped off with clean sneakers. Light and soft pima cotton shirts and sweatpants will ensure that you feel like you are in pajamas all day without looking like it! In colder months, you can be bold with charcoal pants, navy shirts, and green hoodies, and mix and match as you like. The main key with athleisure is to not wear overly bulky or baggy clothes, as that can really look like you’re just leaving the gym rather than wearing comfortable but trimmed and complementing hoodies/joggers.

Tomorrow, in our last lesson, we will cover the art of mixing and matching colors.

See you there!

 

Recommended reading

A Guy’s Guide to Athleisure

 

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