[imagesource: Sarah Karlan for The New York Times]

Hi, Constantia.

Having relocated from the Atlantic Seaboard to Constantia (peak ‘burbs), our man on the ground, Seth, has been reporting on the local flora and fauna.

By his estimate, roughly 92% of Constantia Village shoppers are donning activewear or sweatpants.

This is a marked increase on pre-COVID-19 days, with the extra anonymity that comes with wearing a face mask rendering dressing up rather useless.

Of course, one still wants to stay up to speed with the latest fashion trend, which is apparently ‘exercise dresses’.

The New York Times now reports that ‘We Have Reached Peak ‘Exercise Dress’, which is:

…an all-in-one outfit that, depending on your browsing habits, may be haunting your social feeds, with ads touting its comfort (stretchy nylon and spandex!), versatility (built-in shorts!) and universally flattering silhouette (who doesn’t feel good in an A-line dress?)…

Compared to last year, exercise dress sales nearly doubled, according to data from the NPD Group, a market research firm…

Image: TODAY Illustration / Outdoor Voices / Girlfriend

A growing feeling of sweatpants-induced ennui may be partly accountable for sales. “People are tired of wearing just sweatshirts and leggings,” said Jaehee Jung, a fashion psychologist and professor at the University of Delaware, adding that boredom tends to drive a lot of consumer trends.

A fashion psychologist.

I thought I had heard it all when I received a PR email where the person dubbed themselves a ‘Professional Conversation Stimulator’.

I hope my reply found them average, at best.

Anyway, let me pretend to care about any of this and carry on. Another example of an exercise dress:

Image: Outdoor Voices

Riveting.

Despite the name, and much like activewear, they’re not really worn to exercise:

Several people were reluctant to wear the dress for full-on exercise. “I don’t really wear it to work out work out,” said Brianne Sabino, 27, who works in media and was picnicking with Ms. Hayes. “I would not go on a run in this dress.”

…“It’s trying to be a workout garment, but it’s like this dirty little secret that people don’t really work out in it,” said Christina Nastos, who lives in Chelsea and is an account manager for Peerless Clothing, 24.

The article speaks to many 20-somethings, so it’s no surprise to learn that the exercise dress is very popular on TikTok.

What does this mean for the Constantia fashionistas? I’d say the grace period for activewear and sweatpants runs until at least this summer, but once the PUMA stock arrives it might be time to upgrade.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. I’m glad it’s over.

[source:nytimes]