Loungewear: My Complicated Relationship with Comfort Style

Why I Avoided Loungewear for Nearly a Decade

Maybe it’s because in high school I read that Karl Lagerfeld quote.

You know, “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.”

This quote was the first thing I thought of when a few weeks ago a photo of Anna Wintour herself wearing sweatpants popped up in my Twitter feed.

I instantly felt a new wave of dread about the future of fashion magazines—but more on that in a different blog post.

Maybe I never saw myself as a “Cool Girl” who could pull off sweatpants with heels and a low bun.I always pictured that effortless look—like a Hadid slipping out of a runway show backstage.

I also grew up loving fashion and reading editorial spreads from brilliant designers. So I never understood why anyone would choose a simple sweatsuit over everything else in fashion.

In 2013, I worked part-time at Free People and used my employee discount on velvet burnout pants. I still own them and treat them like my version of sweatpants for comfort after long days.

But I wore them out a lot too and even did a blog post wearing them.

How Loungewear Slowly Became My New Comfort Zone

The past few weeks have been a different story and in a time of a crazy amount of uncertainty, I finally started to embrace the idea that maybe I can find comfort in comfy clothes and it doesn’t mean that I have to start wearing them out once this all blows over.

It also doesn’t meant that I can’t return to normal clothes, although I’ll be interested to see how all of this alters fashion going forward.

Really the only sweats that I’ve accumulated over the last few years have been sent to me by brands.

My Slow Introduction to Everyday Comfort Pieces

I have my Versed Skin Team sweatshirt that has been a new addition to my collection that I started wearing around the apartment during the first few days of social distancing.

And then a few weeks ago Terez reached out to me and asked if they could send me some pieces to wear at home and they sent me this sweatshirt and matching joggers that makes me feel like I should start my own supplement company and be wearing it around L.A. with some kind of green juice in one hand and keys to my car in another.

The waffle knit fabric helped ease me into loungewear whereas I think straight-up sweat material is harder for me to wrap my head around.

I remember pieces from American Eagle or Free People being in this material that felt more like Real Clothing.

Will I Become a Loungewear Convert?

I did eventually cave and order another sweatshirt and a matching sweatshirt and sweatpants combination in black to try this out for real.

I’ll link everything cozy that I’ve ordered below and keep you updated on Instagram. Who knows. Maybe I’ll be a convert, or maybe I’ll go running back to my leather pants and structured jackets the moment lockdown is lifted.