In a rough sense, the Athleisure style refers to ensembles which mix together exercise wear with casual street wear. It’s been steadily gaining popularity over the past few years what with the comeback of classic sneakers such the Adidas Superstar into popular fashion.
Almost everyone, from teenagers to celebrities, are rocking the relaxed style which isn’t surprising considering the sudden surge in health consciousness and the preference of more relaxed workspaces. Athleisure has emerged as an effortless style movement.

If you haven’t jumped into the bandwagon yet or feel like you’re doing the style wrong, here are a few tips for you.

Function with fashion

Remember and live by this mantra and Athleisure will come easier. Mixing function with fashion is the core of the style. Chances are you already have the pieces in your wardrobe. All you have to do is match them up with each other. Clothing pieces with high-performance fabrics mixed with other on-trend pieces is a great way to start. Having great footwear is also a good place to start. You can opt for the classic white shoes like Reebok Classics or go for the more trendy and colorful New Balance sneakers. The key is to create a balance among the elements of your look to achieve the right look of stylish and effortless comfort.

When in doubt, go neutral

If you aren’t that confident in your matching abilities yet, you can never go wrong with neutral colored pieces. Choosing a more subdued palette can also make your pieces more versatile as they can easily look good when paired with other things in your wardrobe.

Go for high quality pieces

One downside of the Athleisure style is that one can easily look sloppy when the style isn’t done right. To avoid this, make sure that majority of your pieces are in pristine condition. Keep your white sneakers clean at all times. Having well-fitting clothes can also make a huge difference. And lastly, avoid wearing leggings or shirts with holes or stains on them. Rips are only acceptable on jeans.

Accessorize appropriately

Be careful with overdoing your look with too much accessories or jewelry. Keep things simple by choosing to wear two or three accessories per look. The usual accessories for the Athleisure style are a pair of aviator sunglasses, baseball caps and small backpacks. When it comes to jewelry, you can go for a few choker necklaces, a pair of hoop earrings or a thin chain necklace to complete your look. The key is to look like you just happened to randomly throw on these accessories and ended up looking good.

Sportswear

A vital element of the Athleisure look is sportswear. You can go all out with wearing a full track suit or keep things tame and simple with a pair of leggings or even yoga pants. Other sporty things you can throw on are of course shoes as mentioned above. You can also wear a varsity jacket in lieu of the more trendy jean jackets for a more sporty look.
Mix materials together

Create visual interest in your looks by wearing a variety of materials together. Spandex may be the popular fabric for gym wear but the more stylish choices are mesh and faux leather.

Jump into the Athleisure trend bandwagon with these styling tips and reap the rewards of effortless street style. Learn how to mix and match pieces you already have in your wardrobe to create looks which mix sportswear and other trendy wear together.