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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Covid Culture: A new way of dressing

 

Paria Farzeneh's S/S2021 collection show took place in a field outside London

2020 has unarguably been one of the most challenging years in living memory, with countless experts and commentators dedicating themselves to analysing our current upheaval. And yet, there are still few better places to examine cultural change than fashion. “Fashion is a potent visual marker of our times,” says Caroline Stevenson, head of cultural and historical studies at London College of Fashion. “Trend analysis of any given era will reveal society’s values and aspirations.” 

It will be interesting to see what trend analysis will make of this time. The world has been in trouble before; both World Wars, for example, led to a flurry of measures designed to make clothing as practical – and as thrifty – as possible. In efforts to conserve precious materials for the war effort, single-breasted suits replaced double-breasted; trouser turn-ups were abolished – much to the annoyance of their male wearers. After World War One, zip fasteners and elastic were frowned upon, except in women’s knickers. Similar trends of thought ran through the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Americans turned their backs on flippy flapper dresses towards more reserved silhouettes. Utility clothing, as it was called, was streamlined and efficient – and sometimes gently embellished. One of the Imperial War Museum’s civilian siren suits boasts puffed shoulders, bell-bottom cuffs, piping decoration and a natty hood. The urge to creative expression runs deep.

Meanwhile, handmade and hand-repaired clothing became de rigueur, with the introduction of the government-backed ‘Make do and mend’ scheme, created to encourage people to revive and repair worn-out clothes. When the world moved out of World War Two in the 1950s, a new silhouette emerged, as embodied by Christian Dior’s New Look: “Fitted jackets, padded hips, wasp-like waist and A-line skirts,” says Stevenson. “The New Look represented a new image of prosperity.”

Pared-down lines characterise design in times of trouble; few cultures are going to start embracing extravagance when the chips are down – except, apparently, during the 1960s, a tumultuous decade marked by the civil-rights movement, anti-war protests, political assassinations and the emerging ‘generation gap’. After centuries in which everyone pretty much dressed the same, young people finally got wardrobes of their own – and mined all the revolutionary potential of Eastern influences, of prints and patterns and of army-and-navy surplus clothing stores. The cover of The Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bandremains iconic.

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How our wardrobes have forever changed due to the pandemic

 In Carolyn Mair's book, The Psychology of Fashion, she says, "in some cases, fashion precedes political change; at other times it follows it." Thanks to the pandemic of 2020, we're very much looking at the latter exception. Overnight, with very little warning, (let's be honest—many of us were working from home and still are and during the height of true lockdown), we've all had to adjust our daily lives and routines. Our need for constricting garments and more formal attire was suddenly made completely obsolete. No more suits, no more jeans, and, in some cases, no more bras.

While some might rejoice in the lack of the aforementioned, it's also meant we have had little reason to dress up—no more sequin dresses for parties, no more wedding dresses either, since they weren't allowed to take place. Conversations about how we shop and why we do it have also become more important with a further emphasis on sustainable clothing. And even now, when some are returning to the workplace, our clothing has had to adapt, even if it's to ensure that you always have a face mask available at all times. It would be flippant to suggest then that even when the pandemic comes to an end, we'll go back to the way we dressed before, as there has been such as a seismic shift in how we live and work.

What, then, has the pandemic really done for our wardrobes? How has it really changed the way we dress, when we no longer have the "normal" rules we usually adhere to? While I'm sure you saw the meme doing the rounds a few weeks into lockdown--a picture of a pope—with all the paraphernalia that comes with that getup—and a line underneath that read: "Me, coming out of lockdown, with all the stupid shit I ordered online”. But honestly, did you really order anything that wasn't useful? 

While we might no longer opt for full-on suits, there are still plenty of Zoom calls to consider, and we're all ensuring that we're more careful with money, which has also changed the way we dress and how we invest in fashion. I spoke to a variety of fashion industry insiders about how this has manifested. From Lyst’s report on what people have been searching—a great way to see how people are shopping—to Sophie Hersan, founder of resale site Vestiaire Collective, which has seen soaring sales, as well as Natalie Kingham, fashion and buying director at Matches Fashion, and Anna Teurnell, head of design at Arket, here’s exactly how our way of dressing has completely changed, and potentially for good. 

Comfort 

I didn't and don't spend all day in sweatpants but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get changed into them to moment I finish work at 6 p.m. and I know I'm not alone. According to Lyst, in April, global searches for sweatpants "grew an incredible 123% compared to the same season last year, with cotton, distressed and tie-dye becoming the most popular search terms."  

Teurnell confirmed that comfort is key for customers right now. "Our collections at Arket are for the everyday life and very versatile, so far they have seemed to still meet our customer's needs. But of course, pieces like great loungewear and clothes that are stylish but not too restricting has become even more important."

Face Masks

Now that face masks are a requirement in the UK, we’ve seen a shift from less medical-looking versions to more fashionable styles.

Lyst has seen an incredible 822% globally in searches for face masks. The Off-White logo mask is the most searched brand when it comes to fashionable face masks but there was another interesting piece of data: "searches for alternative face coverings such as scarves also grew 50% since January. Demand for silk scarves is currently up 22% month-on-month, at a time when the seasonal demand for this category would be much lower."

Corroborating the silk scarf data is Hersan revealed, "from a product perspective, interest in scarves, both silk options from Hermès +68% and Louis Vuitton’s +23% show that our community are seeking face mask alternatives."

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5 ways 2020 has changed fashion

 

Jeans are out; dressing gowns in. These are not the trends anyone would have predicted for the summer of 2020, but then so little has gone according to plan this year. Bras, especially the underwired variety, were among the first items of clothing to be given the heave-ho under lockdown. But they have not been the only fashion casualty – shoes and coats quickly became redundant under the government’s “stay at home” advice. For some, fashion habits have shifted over time – apparently, there are only so many work Zoom calls you can attend in your pyjamas before the novelty wears off. And now, with measures easing, it is becoming clear how our pandemic-inflected sense of style may translate into life in the “new normal”. Here’s how Guardian readers say lockdown has changed the way they dress – perhaps for good.

Goodbye, tailoring

Those who have changed the way they dress most dramatically during lockdown are surely the work-from-home employees (and furloughed staff) who were previously required to adhere to corporate dress codes. Few employers seem to have insisted on this for remote working; a sharp suit or expensive tailoring sits uneasily alongside unwashed dishes and jammy-handed toddlers, after all. Better to just acknowledge that every day is casual Friday.

“I work in financial services, and I am usually based in Canary Wharf,” says Amber. “This means a lot of tailoring: shift dresses, blazers, shirts etc. All of that has gone into storage and I am doing the same job in a pair of trackie bottoms and a vest (or sleeved top for video calls). It is super-comfy and I’m saving a lot on dry cleaning. I’ve also not had to iron anything in months.”

But, with Boris Johnson pushing for a return to the office in August, is it time to dust off your trouser press? Not necessarily, says Amber. “Lockdown has given me time to think about what I really like wearing, and I’m actually quite excited about starting to shift my wardrobe in that direction.”

She is not the only one who sees the changes inspired by lockdown having a long-term effect. “I’m being sent images of collections for spring/summer 2021, and I’m not convinced that fashion designers have made the pivot that may be needed,” says 49-year-old Nicola Hibon Jackson, who owns two independent lifestyle boutiques in London. “So many clothes are designed for a semi-formal office environment – the tailored jacket, tapered trousers etc – and I’m not convinced that this is what women will be wanting next year.”

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