From workouts to workdays

Athleisure enables comfortable style.

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Julia-Rose Kibben

Juniors Olivia Sanchez-Corea and Caroline O’Connell wear “athleisure” style leggings and yoga pants while walking to Mayflower Market & Deli to buy lunches. Sanchez-Corea wears Alo leggings and O’Connell wears Lululemon yoga pants.

As junior Rosie Morford gets ready to run errands around the city, she chooses Wunder Under Crop Lululemon Athletica leggings, an athletic shirt and tennis shoes instead of blue jeans, T-shirt and flip flops.

“I’m constantly moving,” Morford said. “Athleisure is a way of staying comfortable and not looking sloppy, but rather put-together. It looks good so everyone wears it.”

Athleisure, a clothing trend of wearing exercise clothes for casual occasions as well as for exercise in the gym and out of the gym.

American consumers spent over $323 billion on fashion in 2014, and an additional $2 billion on activewear, athletic shoes and bags, according to market research company The NPD Group. Activewear purchases among women increased by 8 percent in 2014 compared to 2013.

Global activewear sales in 2017 are estimated to reach approximately $300 billion according to a 13-year projection by financial services company Morgan Stanley.

“We don’t see this as a fitness trend,” Nike CEO Mark Parker recently said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We see this as a lifestyle shift for women all around the world that will be here to stay for years to come.”

Sixty eight percent of students reported wearing Lululemon Athletica because it is easy and comfortable to wear, according to a Broadview online survey distributed through school email addresses in which 25 percent of the student body responded.

“My favorite brands are Lululemon and Athleta because they are good quality,”  sophomore Emmy Sobol said. “They’re expensive — but worth it — because they last a long time.”

A majority of  Convent students reported spending spend $20 to $40 on athleisure tops and sports bras, while 34 percent spend $70 to $80 on a pair of high quality athleisure pants that are considered high quality.

“I think leggings are cute and although they are expensive they last a really long time,” Morford said.

While some enjoy wearing leggings for practicality and aesthetic, students like Sobol wear the athleisure apparel for comfort in and out of the house.

“Leggings are like a second skin,” Sobol said. “It feels natural to run in them, but also to walk down the street.”