I grew up in the fashion revolution of the 90s. Fashion was always changing around me. All my friends were constantly wearing new clothes, looking super cute, and I never felt like my simple jeans and T-shirts were good enough. I wore them anyway, though, without shame. Even in college, my sense of style hasn’t really diverted from that – I may wear nicer clothes and jeans now, but not a lot has changed.
When I started college, I thought girls would be wearing sweatpants to those early morning classes, and those late night study sessions.
Too bad for me though, all the girls are constantly dressed perfectly for class. All. The. Freaking. Time.
So during my first round of finals, I headed to the library in sweatpants. That’s right. Sweatpants. *Audible gasps* Baggy, grey, school pride sweatpants. Oh the horror!
I wish you could have seen the looks I got walking to my final when I wore the same get-up again. Look, I had been up since 6am, I was insanely stressed out about my final, and all I wanted to do was go back to bed as soon as I got done with my test.
It should be acceptable to wear sweats places as a woman. I have not been in a room in the past three weeks where at least one guy was wearing sweatpants. And no one looks at him funny. Isn’t this the double standard…?! How come guys can roll up to the grocery store in sweats and a tank and no one thinks twice – yet I get criticized for wearing sweatpants, leggings, skinny jeans, mom jeans, short skirts or God forbid long skirts, the list really goes on.
Because let me tell you something: I can wear whatever the hell I want. If I want to wear a baggy sweatshirt and a huge pair of sweatpants to go to class or finals or whatever, I can. Because guess what? I just want to be comfortable. I’m not saying I want to wear sweats all the time. I just want to have the freedom to wear sweats when I want without being judged for it.
Let’s all channel Amy here and just be ourselves. Some people like to dress up all the time, and others like to dress down and wear sweats. (Example; what my sister considers casual is what I consider dressed nicely for a good fancy dinner with the family.) We all look great no matter what we wear and the world would benefit from thinking this way. Look, you let me wear my sweats, and I’ll let you wear yours, sir.
Featured image via Mike Von on Unsplash
