An avid fan of sneakers and casual wear, I cannot be more thrilled to witness this overwhelming hype of sneakers and casualwear taking over literally everywhere: from men to women; teenagers to professionals, from Tokyo to London. Have a quick search online and you will find tons of articles explaining why in the past 5 years or so this comfy version of walking has dominated contemporary fashion and even high end designers are developing their sneakers and activewears. And I think one of reasons that caused this major shift in people’s aesthetic standard is that we are increasingly rating comfort and functionality over everything else when making a purchase decision.
Today, freelancers represent 35% of the Unites States workforce. In the European Union, the rate is 16.1%. Both figures demonstrate the same global trend: from creative entrepreneurs to those paid by the task, freelancing is on the rise worldwide. (Data from OECD) More freelancers mean less corporate ladder climbers – AKA more souls that can dress themselves comfortably without putting on sky-high heels and pencil skirts. Take myself as an example, ever since I started my own business I naturally lost the need to shop gorgeous but waist-tightening dresses, I don’t want to have to cross my legs underneath a dining table or hold my breath to hide my tummy after a big meal. In the past 10 months the most shopped item in my wardrobe is skinny but super stretchy jeans and yoga tights. They are warm, comfy like my second skin, and chic! In the morning I put on my tights and trainers to a local café to work, and go straight to gym after lunch, without even changing my outfits. Win.
As to sneakers, oh I can go on and on about this as a hardcore fan. Call me quirky but I never really developed a passion for heels (and yes I am straight woman lol). Throughout my 1.5 decade of corporate career I practiced “Leaving your heels under your desk” tactic. When commuting between home and work I was always wearing either flats or sneakers/trainers, and my job was client facing so a couple of pairs of high heels will have to be stocked in the office. And needless to say, I feel so liberated now that I can kiss heels good bye for ever. And one more thing, Vans are tens times better than Converse when it comes to quality – I literally got a sore feet by wearing Converse when walked for more than an hour, never had that problem with Vans, their rubbers soles are magical. They just launched a playing card collection exclusively with Urbanoutfitters:
Vans & UO Playing Card Lampin Suede Sneaker:
Vans & UO Old Skool Playing Card Sneaker:
Vans & UO Playing Card Classic Slip-On Sneaker:
