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I looked in my closet … and in my dresser … and in my give-away pile of clothing … and in crates containing my summer wardrobe and came to my conclusion on this one.
The answer is a big, resounding ‘no’!
I love sweatpants. Love, love, love them. Truly. Sometimes when I leave the house, my husband actually asks me where my bag ‘n stick are. It’s not because I’m a schlepp — it’s because they’re so goddamned comfortable. Some women feel their best in a pair of stilettos and a power suit; I feel my best in a pair of sweet vintage sweat pants and bare feet. I’m not saying that I only wear sweatpants because I do enjoy dressing up just as much as the next woman, but I have no adversity to wearing the rags in public. Not at all.
However, not everyone in the world is as overjoyed about the existence of sweats as I am and they’re speaking out quite loudly about it. According to the Beast, sweatpants are the equivalent of social suicide. And laziness. And ineptitude.
I have to say crap on that. Really. There’s nothing wrong with wearing sweatpants in public and there’s definitely nothing wrong with a woman wearing sweatpants in public. If Britney Spears can get away with it and eventually turn out okay, hell, everyone should be able to, am I right?
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Well, looking at Britney in those photos, and guessing where they are from, I think laziness and social suicide are not inaccurate conclusions…
I think that wearing sweatpants (or yoga pants!) in public does show laziness. I don’t have any problem with that though. Sometimes, people are feeling lazy. I don’t feel that it is necessary to dress up for a quick run out to the grocery store. I go out skungy sometimes.
It’s just worth being aware of what your clothes are saying.
If you’re not going to the gym then don’t wear gym clothes. There are plenty of smarter pants out there that are just as comfy, I hear NY&Co make some great ones, and don’t make you look like a total slob. I hate seeing women walking around in slouchy sweats or pajamas and I think my biggest fashion pet peeve might be that women who walk around those sweats with words across the butt. The VS Pink ones are particularly bad, I always want to say “I know your ass is pink, no need to label it!” assuming of course they’re caucasian.
I like the way Britney isn’t afraid to be seen dressed down,she’s down home sometimes.
I’m fine with the sweat pants, it’s the elbow length nipples that’s bugging me.
I mean, come on! She can afford to have them put back up where they belong!
Srsly those things are never pointing in the right direction.
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I will NOT leave the house in sweatpants. Ever.
If my house were on fire, and I were wearing sweats, I would take the time to change.
Dressing well is something I always, always try to do. Unlike many of my classmates, I do not wear sweats, workout clothes (with the exception of my pilates class) or pajamas to school. It would be like going to school butt naked, to me.
Being comfortable is fine and dandy, but to me it is never important enough dress lazily. I can do that at home. When I leave my house–even just to get groceries–I want to look FANTASTIC.
Yes….life is a runway to me…..
Absolutely agree! i will wear yoga pants though if If I am grocery shopping with the baby and have a nice long top and makeup on.
Sweatpants are so whitetrash. There are more flattering alternatives; yoga pants, leggings, public nudity ect.
[...] Should Sweatpants Be Banned In Public? – Zelda Lily [...]
What? People wear sweat pants and pyjamas to uni? That’s only acceptable here if you’re studying sports. But PJ’s? Like…seriously?
I see people walking around the mall and a local campus in PJs all the time, mostly teens and SAHMs. It’s pathetic and it’s going to be a real shock to the system when they have to wear real clothes i.e. when they graduate or their kids grow up and they need to wear real clothes again. Every time I see a mother pushing around a baby in a stroller and wearing sloppy clothes and with unbrushed hair I just want to take her by the hand and sort her out. I’m a mom, I get the whole sleep deprivation and no time and excess fat thing and I know it’s no excuse. It takes 5 minutes to grab a shower, get a transparent shower curtain and a bouncy seat for the bathroom if you must, and then put on a pair of jeans or at least a decent pair of black yoga pants rather than your husbands ratty sweats. Stick your hair in a ponytail and maybe even slap on a little lip gloss if you’re so inclined. You can improve your appearance and attitude in 15 minutes or less and it’s time well spent because you’ll save more then 15 minutes in your day due to the extra pep in your step.
Sorry for the essay, it’s a huge pet peeve for me!
The rant’s okay, no worries. I mean… even the beggars on the street here wear jeans…I’m shocked still.
Yeah, I agree with that one, except the shower thing. My son spent the first 9 months of his life screaming if he wasn’t being held. I got tired of being screamed at while showering…
But there were definitely yoga pants, ponytails and lipgloss going on for a while there…
If I had to put on something dignified everytime I left my house, I would never leave! Sweatpants are getting way too bad of a wrap! It isn’t as though the sweatpants are covered in paint or have huge holes ripped in them. Granted, I would never wear said sweatpants as low as Ms. Spears, because that just looks trashy, but if I’m walking down the street to pick up some nail polish from Target, you can be sure I won’t be putting on jeans and a sweater.
I’m interested to know your reasoning behind wearing sweatpants rather than putting on jeans and a sweater. It seems to me that putting on a pair of jeans only takes 5 seconds longer than pulling on sweats so I don’t really get the argument that sweats are easier.
Because I’m already wearing the sweats and they are incredibly comfortable. And I don’t feel the need to change clothes.
This post is a joke, right? Using Brit as a benchmark of what’s appropriate in society must be a satire.
I’ll keep my sweats to wear at home, walk my dog in and maybe to go pick up some milk from down the street, but I’m not doing any social outings with them on.
It is kinda satirical,isn’t it. But I think its healthy when a person shows that they’re not always worried about what other people think,especially on outward appearance.
“But I think its healthy when a person shows that they’re not always worried about what other people think,especially on outward appearance.”
I see what you’re saying, I do. But at the same time, even making the slightest effort to make yourself presentable in public is a mark of self-respect and respect to those around you. I’m not saying that you DON’T respect yourself or others if you wear sweats out on the town, but sometimes it’s nice to have some visual confirmation. It makes me feel a little more optimistic about humanity, anyway.
Agreed. For me, it’s not about what OTHER PEOPLE will think of me, it’s about what *I* think of me. It’s a fallacy of studenthood/motherhood that sweats/PJs are about comfort – they’re ALL about laziness. I have tons of comfortable pants that aren’t sweats, and I have clean, sleek sweatpants that don’t really look like sweats (and did NOT cost an arm and a leg). They take 5 seconds to slip on and are absolutely no different in comfort level than sweats, but make me look soooo much better and cleaner and more put-together.
I’m in grad school, and more and more, I don’t know how any human being is expected to read this much bullshit on a weekly basis and not only RETAIN it all, but also still have time for anything else – but I am worth 5 goddamn seconds. If I have kids, I will STILL be worth 5 goddamn seconds.
And I’m getting sick of people playing the “comfort” card (not just here, but in general – skim through 2-3 episodes of What Not to Wear and chances are it’ll be used as a justification for crappy clothes), because it is such bullshit. I am the laziest person on the planet, and I hate to shop for clothes, but I manage to find lots of super-comfortable non-sweats on a regular basis, frequently on sale, too, so cost isn’t an issue either. Just own up to being too freaking lazy to change pants, people.
“And I’m getting sick of people playing the “comfort” card (not just here, but in general – skim through 2-3 episodes of What Not to Wear and chances are it’ll be used as a justification for crappy clothes), because it is such bullshit.”
I love you.
I agree. I feel that people who can’t be bothered to take 5 minutes to make themselves neat before leaving the house probably don’t care much about a host of other things too. The way we dress has a great impact on how we feel and how those around us feel. When you dress like a slob you start acting like a slob and when you dress nicely you hold yourself better and to a higher standard. If I don’t get out of my pajamas in the morning I slob around way too much but if I get up and dressed I can accomplish so much more.
On a side note, this is one of the reasons I’m totally for school uniforms. I see the students at our local high school wearing pajamas to school or ratty sweats and students wearing high fashion and it drives me crazy. Uniforms force students to dress in a neat and vaguely professional manner and that makes them more serious. When I first started college I realized that I just couldn’t work seriously in a t-shirt, it just didn’t work. I started wearing smarter clothes, nothing fancy, just something like jeans with a fitted t-shirt, a polo shirt, or a button down shirt. I still wore t-shirts when I was going to club meetings or heading out for a walk or whatever but never to class. Now I only have a couple of t-shirts that I wear for dirty work like painting or washing the car but I’d never wear them out in public. If I need to run out it only takes a few minutes to run a brush through my hair and put on some decent clothes so I see no reason not to.
What are these “other things” that people who don’t dress to your standards neglect? Yes, I sometimes wear sweatpants and a t-shirt in public. Does this make me an irresponsible, lazy slob? Absolutely not! Where and when it counts (out on the town, at work, etc.), I dress accordingly and make an effort to look presentable, but when I’m going to the grocery store, there’s no reason for me to do more than the bare minimum! Especially if that’s what I already have on! It doesn’t mean that I neglect proper hygiene or basic human decency. I’m covered. I’m not wearing a sports bra and stretch shorts with my butt hanging out. I merely look a bit frumpy! Maybe I simply don’t care that someone else thinks that I don’t respect myself since I’m wearing a t-shirt and sweats. I DO respect myself, but I honestly do not care what they have to think of me. I’m not going to put on make-up and spend 15 minutes taming my completely unruly hair simply to run an errand. It’s not necessary, and frankly, if someone’s going to pass judgement on me for what I wear to the supermarket, I don’t want to have anything to do with them, anyway!
However, I agree with you on school uniforms. Not only does it level the playing field for those who come from lower income families (it definitely isn’t fun in high school having to compete with girls who wear designer duds to 1st period), but the focus at school should not be on clothes, but on learning and accepting one another not for what you have on, but for the other person’s character….which links directly to my last paragraph. The clothes don’t make the woman.
I’m dressed up nearly all of the time. I enjoy coming home from work and getting a shower and putting on comfy clothes.
If I have to go to the grocery or something, I’ll wear casual clothing – sometimes sweats.
But I will NOT ever leave the house without mascara!
We all have our standards.
Oh, and the staying in the night clothes thing? It’s kind of weird, but I do my housework in my night clothes, then shower and dress.
Ew. I won’t wear mascara no matter how dressed up I get. Such gross stuff.
And I must reply to put in a vote strongly against school uniforms. They don’t keep the focus on learning, they just make people uncomfortable. One-style-for-all rarely fits well, and the styles and fabrics tend to be horrible on everyone.
Uniforms don’t fix issues either. You can still tell who has money by the rest of their gear, accessories, cars, etc. You’ll still have girls hike their skirts up to obscene levels, and ridicule.
Uniforms aren’t a fix for anything.
Kai. I may have to petition to take your woman card.
Now, you don’t HAVE to wear mascara to be feminine, but it is in the by-laws that you will defend to the death my right to wear it.
It’s the law.
Kai – A school uniform doesn’t have to be something ridiculous. I’m sure there are schools that require really ugly uniforms but they’re usually the private schools. Most public schools with a uniform just require something like a black or navy skirt with a white button down shirt and the school tie or sweater. How many people do you know who can’t look presentable in a black skirt and white shirt? Sure people will have different bags and such but that’s not such a big deal. There were students in my year who carried the rattiest old bags or the tackiest neon ones but they were always tucked under desks during class anyway so they weren’t bothering anyone.
Whit – In my experience the people who dress like slobs also have messy houses and so on. Sometimes they have presentable kids but more often than not they don’t put any more care in to dressing their children than they put in to dressing themselves. Often they have a total lack of class too depending on just how slobby they are. I used to live down the road from a woman who was always dressed in the worst clothes, ill fitting and stained and just horrible. One day I had to go to her house and I almost threw up when I saw her kitchen. As her kids grew up they were always in trouble with the police, one of her sons got a much younger girl pregnant (he was about 19, she was about 14), and the family is just generally a wreck.
If someone doesn’t care about pulling themselves together then chances are they don’t much care about pulling the rest of their life together either. Bear in mind I’m talking about the real slobs here, the ones who never bother to dress properly or run a brush through their hair. There are some women who only do that rarely and I have less of an issue with that. Still, walking around in sweats in public at any time projects a certain image. If that’s the only way someone ever sees you then they’re going to make assumptions.
At Blurry:
I will defend vocally your right to wear anything that doesn’t affect me. (ie. mascara is in, strong perfumes are out). I am not, however, convinced that your mascara warrants ‘to the death’ status…
And while you certainly have the right, I will never understand your reasons.
At Rhonda:
It’s less a matter of ugly as horrible fitting. I would not be able to look presentable in a uniform white shirt. And I don’t believe that skirts should ever be required, though reasonably, most schools these days always have a pants option.
My point with the bags and such is that if you do make everyone wear the same clothes, they are going to find something else to indicate status, or make fun of people for.
I don’t think that all people who dress sloppy are slovenly in the rest of their life, but they must be aware that they give that idea to people. And if they want to avoid giving that idea, they should dress appropriately. When you are out and you really don’t care what you look like or what impression you give, go for the sweats all you want. But if you expect that people will not take your dress as indicative of your habits, you’re deluding yourself.
Rhonda, I meant wearing sweats occasionally, not everyday. It’s a once a week or so occurrence for me. I’m usually pretty put together. My house isn’t always clean, but it usually is. However, I NEVER leave my kitchen dirty. That’s disgusting. Or my bathroom. But my bedroom and living room can get a little iffy from time to time.
I guess it depends on the person, and I just ask that you take sweats-wearers on a case by case basis, because we aren’t all slovenly beasts! :)
I had a completely uniformed school life and i HATED it – clothes allow you to express yoursef, uniform does not. The powers that be dictate accessories, skirt length, etc. whenever we had a ‘mufti’ (plain clothes) day we all were so much happier and more relaxed.
I don’t know why having no uniform is a bad thing, if you want expensive clothes its an incentive to go get a job to pay for them.
My vote is also against school uniforms, we were living paycheck to paycheck when I went and I still did just fine the fact that one kid wore boutique while I wore discount didn’t matter, not to mention you can find tons of dirt cheap cute clothes.
Wow. I had no idea that what I wore when I left my house would fall under such scrutiny.
Luckily, I am not a contestant on What Not to Wear, I am not on my way to a job interview, and I could care less about the opinions of people who are willing to pass judgement on me by the type of pants I am wearing.
If someone should think that I am showing some form of disrespect by leaving my house without makeup on, without having brushed my hair, and without considering the feelings of others when I got dressed that morning, then I feel just fine in having them feel disrespected.
People are ridiculous. Who gives a shit what other people wear out in public? I can’t even fathom how other people would bother concern themselves with such things.
Right on!
Excuse my language, but FUCK YEAH! Thank you!
@Wicked, AGREED. How do we as women put such superficial demands on each other? Sometimes I’m put completely together sometimes I’m not. That doesn’t mean anything on the inside changes. Same person either way.
I didn’t read all the comments, because…I’m lazy? So guess where I stand. Love sweatpants and wearing them. As soon as I hit the door to my room I’m out of the jeans and into some sweats or yoga pants.
BUT, being overweight, and having my own self-esteem issues about my features, I’m not going to push it.
I already have too much going against me in a normal college-girl type outfit.
This is silly. It comes to personal choice, and you can’t ban an article of clothing. If it bothers people so much about looking at people in sweatpants in public places…well then look away!
If you’re just wearing them at home then that’s entirely different. I wear yoga pants to the gym and quite often wear them or pajama pants at home when I’m cleaning and such. I’ve been cleaning and baking all day today and I’m sitting here in yoga pants and a fitted t-shirt right now. Sometimes the boy and I shower after playing in the snow or whatever and then just skip straight to pajamas if we’re not going out again that day even if it’s the middle of the afternoon. Nobody is saying you can’t ever wear sweat pants, just that there’s a time and a place.
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YES YES YES, PLEASE ban sweatpants in public- it’s becoming an epidemic.
Wearing sweatpants in public does not mean you don’t respect yourself! You don’t need to try and impress people all the time and quite frankly if you feel that you always need to be impressing people you may have issues with respecting yourself. Just because you wear sweats out to run errands or go to class doesn’t mean you don’t take care of yourself or don’t know how to dress properly. I wear sweats almost all the time to class or running around, but I still have nice clothing to wear out at night or dress clothes to wear to work.
There’s a difference between trying to impress people and showing respect for those around you. Most women will refrain from picking their nose or farting in public. It’s not to impress people, it’s just common decency. Presenting yourself in a respectable fashion is an extension of that.
A “respectable fashion” according to who’s standards?
I could understand your argument in a maybe professional aspect. However, most people are wearing sweats to do run errands or do things that do not require them to look like models. If your opinion does not affect them in any way, why should they care to dress a certain way?
There’s a world of difference between dressing respectably and dressing like a model. You don’t need to wear high fashion, well-fitting smart clothing is widely available at many different price points. I don’t look like a model when I go out. Generally I wear nice jeans and a smart shirt with smart shoes. My hair is brushed and either down or tied back neatly. It takes 5 minutes to get ready and it’s just as comfy as sweats but I look and feel so much better.
Individuals do not exist in vacuums. Whenever you go in to a store or a bank or restaurant you are interacting with others. If you’re dressed like a slob, your hair is a mess, and so on you’re projecting a certain image and people will treat you accordingly. You will get less respect because you are showing less respect. If you’re dressed nicely people will treat you better.
Again, respectably according to whose standards?
What you consider respectable may be different from what another may. Maybe another considers their gym pants to be perfectly fine for food shopping at the local supermarket.
Because their hair isn’t neatly tied back or they are not wearing jeans, would you treat them any different in a store? If so, that’s sad. You’re projecting your standards onto others. If someone wears sweats in public, it should not bother you in any way, that is their decision; just like it’s your decision to not. What if someone made an assumption about you, maybe because you go to a store dressed “respectably”, people assume you are a snob and vain. Now, of course this is idiotic, but how is it any different from what you are saying how to see people in public with sweats. You assume they are slobs and lazy. There is no difference, you are passing judgement on someone that not only you do not know but in no way does your opinion affect them.
People make decisions everyday, we do not have to agree with these decisions, however, we can decide for ourselves whether of not to follow those decisions. If you feel more comfortable in jeans and a tee than that is perfectly fine; if you are comfortable in sweats, go for it.
If females really don’t give a shit about society standards then why all the whining when people disapprove? Sweats are ugly and sloppy looking so if you want to wear them outside the gym then don’t whine when people look at you like a slob.
[...] all of you pajama-and-yoga-pants-in-public haters out there, this one’s for [...]
Seriously, as someone who is overweight, I should be all for the sweatpants revolution. Am I? No.
As far as comfort goes, did you know you can get jeans that look exactly like regular jeans, but with a smooth elastic waistband? Those are my secret weapon. Every bit as comfy as sweatpants, but they look way better. Also, they accommodate bloat.
So no excuses. Where I live (low income area), you can pick out the “mom” look; bleach blonde hair with the roots grown out 3 inches or more, giant hoodie, men’s sweatpants.
Oh, and for everyone who thinks leggings are an acceptable alternative…
If you’re wearing a long nice sweater or with a skirt that’s one thing. Wearing them with a short top so that I (and everyone else) can learn the exact pattern of your cellulite? Gross. Leggings are not for everyone.
I adore jeans with a comfort waist. Before it was so hard to find jeans that didn’t gape at the back and flash my underwear when I sat down. If they didn’t gape at the back they’d dig in at the front. Now if only I could find jeans that fit women who have a thicker waist without thunder thighs. I’ve tried on jeans that fit in the waist yet I could easily put both my legs in to one leg of the jeans. The ones I’m wearing today aren’t too bad but they’d be more flattering if I took about 3-4″ of fabric out of the thigh area. It’s not like I have freakishly skinny thighs, they’re a little slimmer might be expected with my hips but I can’t be the only one with this issue.
Rhonda, I have worn Macy’s Style & Co jeans for years. They come in a wide variety of styles and fits and are only $29.
I don’t think I’ve tried those, must check it out next time I’m at the mall alone. Thanks for the tip.