The yoga pants
Go shopping and you will see : yoga pants / leggings with sneakers everywhere. This commitment to yoga impressed me… until I found out.
Let's dig a bit
From Levi’s and PJ’s to ‘athleisure’
Guess what piece of clothes is on the podium of consumption in the US ? Bye bye denim : welcome yoga pants ! 200 millions of pair have been imported to the US in 2016. Almost 2 by women… Why so much success ? Because it is as comfortable as a pajama (PJ) but you look sporty and active with it :) Kind of a ‘glorified version of a PJ’...
This means a lot : americans love their pajama. They love them up to the point that there is a ‘wear your pajama to work day’ : not kidding. Most of the companies banned it though (see your company dress code)… thanks. Still, you will have to cope with the excitement of your kids ‘wear your pajamas to school day’.
Back to the yoga pants : this trend is part of what is called ‘athleisure’ : sport clothes but not meant to be used for sport but for running errands or just for being worn like you would wear ‘normal’ casual clothes.
Taking the yoga pants to another level
My use of yoga pants is the gym that I discovered in Brazil as I was under the bikini beach body pressure and where I sometimes go now to compensate my new non-walking life. For that, I have been buying yoga pants : the black one on sale that I replace once really too old by the black one on sale. But implemented that strategy here got more complicated than expected. The store is an ocean of yoga pants, there are even brands with dedicated store for yoga pants, everyday a star is starting a new brand : different leg and waist lengths, shapes, thousands of colors, different fabrics, smart yoga pants and all type of prices from a few dollars to a few hundreds - not kidding.
Beyond the yoga pants
With yoga pants flooding the streets, the schools, the office, came the controversy. Can women wear yoga pants all day long ? 2 sides : the pro and the anti.
The pros see yoga pants and athleisure in general as a gift from the fashion gods after so many years of uncomfortable women fashion, fashion that did not allow to run to catch a subway, that required ironing and dry cleaning. Athleisure would enable women to finally be free. Thank you yoga pants.
The antis are pushing for yoga pants regulation, not only within company’s dress code but on the streets, at school etc as they would be too revealing so not appropriate for men as they could not focus anymore and not appropriate for women as it would put too much pressure on the body image.
So based on that
Enjoy the freedom of dressing as you want in this country. Should you go as far as wearing yoga pants or PJs or whatever sportswear all day long ? You are free to make your own choice.