Bringing back the sweatshirt as a fashion item

[softgrey]

is this the way of the future?

nytimes article...

Playing Dress Up With a Sweatshirt
ONCE, in the late 1970s, Norma Kamali bought gray fleece to make a swimsuit cover-up, then proceeded to make an entire collection out of it: blazers, rah-rah skirts. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God. Let’s do an evening gown!’ ” she recalled. But her novel idea of “sweatshirt dressing,” which preceded the ’80s fitness craze, proved immensely influential, cropping up through the years in collections from Vivienne Westwood, Martin Margiela and Calvin Klein. (It also earned her the unfortunate title “Queen of Sweats.”) This season, Stefano Pilati of Yves Saint Laurent took a stab at it. The result was a collection so strong it made the idea of reworking the comfortable, inexpensive fabric in clever, elegant ways seem absolutely right again. He used gray fleece to construct an impeccably tailored jacket, trousers and one covetable nipped-waist cocktail dress. He also proved that with proper styling, the mundane sweatshirt can indeed look chic. “It’s like a T-shirt or a pair of jeans — a good basic that you can dress up,” said the stylist Aleksandra Woroniecka, who, for this page, modeled two looks she pulled together with a sweatshirt from Adam Kimmel (a designer known for his sweatshirt tuxedo). “You wear a Chanel jacket with a ruffled shirt, and you look like an old lady,” she said. “But with a sweatshirt, it looks balanced. It just looks right.” In look No. 1, center, she wears it with an Isabel Marant fur vest, Tripp jeans and a Lanvin necklace. In look No. 2, she wears a Chanel jacket, Balenciaga pants and a Lanvin cuff. Adam Kimmel sweatshirt, $360 at Bergdorf Goodman and Jeffrey New York.
Photo: Matthew Peyton for The New York Times (middle and right)

with Norma Kamali poised to launch a line for Walmart...
there are certain to be fleece items galore if her collab with everlast was any indication...
maybe the time has come for the queen of sweats to resume her reign?...

thoughts???...
any other pics of sweatshirts styled in an interesting way....



* i think that turning the sucker inside out is KEY...

[LHommeDeStyle]

I wouldn't quite call those sweatshirts...

But hey...

My vision was something that covers your whole body and has a hood attached.

[LHommeDeStyle]

Oh god excuse me, ha ha ha

I wasn't looking at the sweatshirts underneath the coats...ha ha ha so yes, of course, you are right, I am wrong.

Sorry!

[softgrey]

hahaha...that just proves the point then...doesn't it?!?......

when styled a certain way...
even a simple grey sweatshirt takes on a whole new attitude...

[gius]

that current movement of activewear
let's go out and work out
invigorate the life

i was shocked when i saw this outfit
but it fits well in this thread

it's christopher kane spring/summer 2008

style |

i think the garment can be versatile. doesn't look too bad in a monochrome style, head-to-bottom. can be spruced up with different materials in same colour to hide that drabness of the sweatshirt fabric surface

it's good that it's also about comfort
i find a lot of sweatshirts to be very cozy and warm

[PrincessImp.]

^That's how I wear my sweatshirt nowadays! With full skirts, or chiffon skirts, blazers and with booties, I have to admit that I am inspired by the christopher kane collection for this S/S.
And somehow I have accumulated several grey sweatshirts..they seem to have become a staple in my wardrobe and I think they are great foundation pieces to build an outfit on.
I agree it's all about attitude and styling, I have worn grey sweatshirts to work several times and got away with it, it all depends on what it's paired with.

[tifa]

the christopher kane outfit...wow. i swear that was my exact school sweatshirt, down to the colour and poor fit. i did see one of the olsen twins (i know, i know...) in a thinner fabric sweatshirt in a darker grey. i think it's american apparel. it's a bit jane birkin/charlotte gainsbourg when its worn well. for me, it's too much like the bad parts of my old school uniform.

[rollagasper]

I like the idea of using sweatshirts, especially gray ones, to tone down something too "pretty" or "dressy."

[John_M.]

I don't think you can stylize a sweatshirt (try as you might). Sweatshirts are usually too bulky and too warm to be... are we talking about looking chic with sweatshirts? Because if so, that's almost impossible. One would be trying too hard to be stylish with terry sweatshirts better left for going to the gym on cold days. However, you may design a sweatshirt with feminine touches. For example, you may have puffy sleeves around the shoulders and forearm and just make the rest of the sleeves in some other special way. I just don't see dressing up sweatshirts in any such way.

There is no such thing as dressing "too pretty" or "too dressy." I think one shall dress however they please. I really get tired of the "don't look so girly" thing. It's like with gladiator sandals- not supposed to be cute, but not stylish either. The skirt (or is that a dress in Post #5) is fine. I'd get rid of those sneaker pump-like boots and especially the sweatshirt. I'd probably replace the sweatshirt with a dressy blouse or top. A regular T-shirt with a stretchy shrug or bolero jacket would work better than trying to style up a sweatshirt. Kind of funny that these fashion track pants and hooded jackets are pretty much fair to me, but sweatshirts aren't. And if you're going to have something athletic to offset anything lovely, just go with one of those athletic-style silver T-shirts than sweatshirts.

And remember... different doesn't always mean better.

[kmccormi]

I like sweatshirts that aren't bulky. I have these two from American Apparel and I think they can actually look quite chic if styled properly:


americanapparel.net

[wheneveriwakeup]

The American Apparel sweatshirts are good...
I have 2 similar sweatshirts; both in a very thin, gauzy fabric...
The proportions of the Christopher Kane look are yuck, imo..
Bulky sweatshirts are only going to work on very thin ppl, rly..

[softgrey]

i hope patrick robinson is paying attention...
gap should totally be going back to doing sweatshirts imo...

[superbeautiful]

haha. i went to sleep last night with a sweatshirt on. only because my room was like a freezer.

i can see how the sweatshirt would look nice as layering but my only concern is that it's kind of difficult to layer that type of material, and finding a "thin" sweatshirt is more like a sweater instead.

[mystiiik]

^ gap has always been doing sweatshirts.
eh, im not too fond of gap though.

i love how simple sweatshirts are,
but they're still chic.

[Meg]

yeah when I saw this I immediately though of those AA pullovers which a LOT Of people own (including myself). I thought the article was a bit off since I don't think the YSL dress is actually made out of sweatshirt material or even a fleece, I forget what it is, but i'm almost positive it's not fleece. I think the last styled look was good but the only true look was the Chris Kane sweatshirt and skirt. Other than that, I don't think the sweatshirt ever really went away since everyone owns them.....it's just the size shape and print that's on them that matters. It would be cool to have a sweatshirt with a print all over it....