Anyone Can Make an Athleisure Style Comeback In 2021
Ask the stylist
Ever wish you could open your wardrobe and know whatever combination of clothes you pick you are going to look sensational?
Have you lost your styling way? Still shopping but cannot seem to get it right? Had new clothes for Christmas but not excited about them?
Before you throw yourself head first into NEW YEAR NEW YOU with gusto acknowledge nothing changes over the long term unless you do. We recommend you slow down, lower your expectations and give some thought to where you want to see yourself this time next year then embark on shaking up your athleisure style and making the effort to dress daily for the drama of your life even when the most exciting thing on the schedule is the school run or the weekly grocery shop.
OK so many have put life on hold over the last however many weeks and months, eaten for England, drank enough to sink a battleship, shopped to drop so it’s not surprising if you don’t feel fabulous, full of life and empowered right now, you're exhausted but all is not doom and Corona Virus gloom if you are prepared to stop beating yourself up and make some small and gradual personal lifestyle changes.
Before you decide you're running a marathon and head out to purchase all the gear again, stop and get out the active wear you bought this time last year. Now for change number 1, this year choose Lifestyle OVER Performance Clothing, it takes the pressure off you being concerned everyone is staring at you trying to do something active and judging you in athletic clothes, brings you into the 21st century style wise while you can get on with being active while everyone admires your style.
The lose weight look great phase of the media marketing machine (after stuff yourself senseless and don’t worry about the consequences) is in full swing now all over the world so if 2021 is the year you are getting on top of yourself and your style once and for all we have lots of advice in our athleisure style guide to help you make the small but necessary lifestyle changes to being Hollywood fabulous.
Don’t think you have to be an exercise fanatic to look good in your clothes you don’t, you just need to be healthy and if you are a workout/yoga bunny who lives in performance active wear we suggest you try plain cotton leggings as an alternative on days you want a quick change to stylish Athleisure lifestyle dressing instead of struggling to style up your gym gear with regular clothes.
We have said a million times before you cannot style no shape, and although we would never advocate stick thin, (too scrawny is extremely ageing) if you don’t go in and out in the right places you are a styling "work in progress" as you work on your healthier lifestyle. Looking and feeling good go hand in hand so try not to bury yourself under layers of clothes while you go through the process. It'll be empowering to see your mannequin emerge but don’t put too much pressure on yourself, good things always take time and if you stay the course you will arrive, we promise.
The exercise, fitness, healthy lifestyle culture on the US Westcoast has influenced the exploding trend in Athleisure style with literally 100s of new performance clothing brands popping up, and by performance we mean clothes specifically designed to workout. Fashion designers with celebrity status like Stella McCartney and Kanye West partnering with Adidas to create Stella Sport and mega brand Yeezy are trying to cross the performance clothing to lifestyle clothing style bridge but still few are making clothes that create the perfect comfortable base layer for styling every girl and woman needs.
Lifestyle dressing is exactly that. Being able to quickly and easily create amazing outfits from the same core wardrobe every single day so whatever life may throw at you you are always presenting your best self and ready to get the maximum out of every situation, opportunity or chance encounter.
The Guardian reported this time last year UK women have 10 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes, according to a survey conducted by Weight Watchers, and women only actually wear out 20% of their clothes so throwing the same thing on everyday is what we do anyway, it’s the pieces we choose from habit and the styling of those core everyday basics where the mistakes happen ending up looking like you’ve just got out of bed or even worse just looking like everyone else and blending in with pack.
Smashing your own style myths will take time, "I cannot afford to look good", "I am too old, too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too ugly", recognise whatever the reason it’s just an excuse to avoid doing any work, (you’ve always failed before so why will this time be any different?) let it all go, it’s not the truth and get yourself ready to try something different.
Only the very young, when we are all perfect in nature can get away with throwing anything on, the rest of us celebrity or otherwise need to create a basic blank canvas for styling first. Modern women appreciate the legging, it’s addictive and is certainly here to stay. More leggings were sold in 2017 than any other item of clothing according to the Mary Portas, "Queen of Shops" documentary (What Britain’s Bought 2017) and that trend continued into 2018 with ASOS reporting legging sales up 95% on last year so whatever your age if you want to step into 2021 genuinely feeling like a NEW WOMAN you need to make this NEW YEAR count. The reward never comes before the work.
With a plain black simple stylish base layer it's very easy and straight forward to style up by layering. Adding designer accessories on a budget to begin with is the smart way to practise athleisure styling before investing in anything else.
How To Start Your Athleisure Styling Makeover
1. Buy yourself some decent quality black staples that help your shape, skin tone and give a completely smooth finish, no squashing, no muffins, no spillage.
2. Sort out your wardrobe, anything that fits you perfectly, you love (even if it doesn’t fit today) or works (colour wise) with something else, or anything that can be layered stays.
3. Have a go at styling a complete Athleisure outfit, until you try you won’t know what you need, the missing pieces you never buy (like the right colour socks, sunglasses with the right colour hardware, designer accessories on a budget to finish a look off)
4. Next time you go shopping for clothes have a plan, set a budget and make a list.
The style studio is temporarily closed due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. However you can plan to come and practise styling with us at our designer and vintage clothing style studio in Leicester, UK Rescue @venuscow where you can find second hand luxury accessories and pre loved designer clothes purchased & used for photo styling, many with tags still attached. A great way to perfect your athleisure styling skills without making another expensive mistake.
Further reading - The 10 Most Common Styling Mistakes Women Make