Loungewear is the new black

 In 2016, Australian podcaster Maxine Tuyau broke her toe. The first thing she did was buy her first pair of trainers. Around the same time, she started searching for the perfect grey tracksuit, one that epitomised casual chic, but found nothing. “I know loungewear has been on the rise for a couple of years, but that celebrity look was still unattainable and not accessible – it is now,” she says in November 2020. The Beauty Is Political host has bought three different pairs of grey sweats this year alone.

As a direct result of the pandemic, sweatpants, hoodies and leggings replaced the structured blazers, slick trenches, puff sleeve blouses and knee high boots that were set to reign in 2020. Shoppers have invested their money accordingly. In April, sales of pyjamas online surged 143 percent compared with March, according to data from Adobe Analytics. But slouching around all day in the same clothes we went to bed in lost its allure fast – not to mention unwise, given the barrage of experts and sites telling us that our mental health and productivity could improve if we just got dressed. 

Somewhere between pyjamas and athleisure, but not quite business-casual, loungewear is the in-between state of dress for the strange purgatorial existence most of us now lead. And we’ve gone willingly. Who hasn’t been pleased to eschew the oppressive constructions of “outside clothes” (see: bras, jeans and blazers) for something that looks as good on a Zoom meeting as it feels while watching seven consecutive hours of TV? 

“The way I get dressed has definitely changed due to the pandemic,” Robyn Mowatt, a writer based in Brooklyn tells me. Previously the associate editor of Hypebae, Robyn is no stranger to the joys of a fashionable fit. “Before lockdown and quarantine, I got a bit dressed up for work because I usually had somewhere to go afterwards. Now, I throw on a comfortable t-shirt and sweatpants to work. I only wear a nice sweater, cute dress or top if I'm conducting an interview live on Instagram or through Zoom.”

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