uniform

I am fascinated by - and a little bit in love with - the athleisure trend that evolved in Monterey while we were in France. While I was suffering under the tyranny of French fashion dictates, never daring to leave the front door in an ensemble hinting at comfort, it seems that women here have been stocking up on those running/barre/yoga tights with mesh cut-outs, fleece vests and trucker hats. And running shoes, of course, but those are practically beside the point. Because I'm not sure that anyone is planning on doing any exercise in these outfits, any more than I was doing yoga every time I donned yoga pants, or, a few years prior to the yoga pants craze, sweating in my sweat pants.

The thing that I find striking about today's athleisure movement is the body-consciousness and body-huggingness. When I wore sweats in my twenties or yoga pants in my thirties, it was because either a) hormonal bloating made my other pants feel too tight or b) I was being a slob. Camo print barre leggings with mesh cut-outs up the thighs don't strike me as clothing I would wear when I wanted to hide water retention or laze around without sartorial compression. 

The closest I could get to athleisure attire in Toulouse was in Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Adidas Stan Smiths or Vans Sk8-His. That's about as athletically aspirational as most French women want to look, it seems, which was fine until we returned to the West Coast and I realized how much more leisurely/sporty I could really seem in comparison!