The Matching Athleisure Set Has Become The Hero Outfit Of Lockdown

Our clothing choices are a lens into life under stay-at-home orders. At first, in those early, naive days, we “got dressed” to work at home. We quickly gave up on that and prioritised extreme comfort, ending up in full-on matching sweatsuits. Now, we’re somewhere in the middle ― the matching set. They come in different forms ― sweatsuits, sports bras and matching leggings ― but as long as they’re matching, they reign supreme. It’s the ultimate way to get dressed without getting dressed.

It’s not that the lockdown prompted an uptick in holy match-rimony ― the term “athleisure” has been part of the zeitgeist for years, for better or for worse. But scrolling through Instagram, it’s nearly impossible not to see a workout set on an influencer ― take Lindsay Silberman, for example.

Silberman, whose legion of loyal followers look to her for recommendations on just about everything (and with good reason ― Silberman’s no-BS approach flaunts an authenticity that’s rare among other influencers), noticed a pattern among her followers.

“I am really data-driven, I really obsess over analytics and sales and I can see exactly what people are buying,” she told HuffPost on the phone. “It’s been so interesting to see the shift from what people were purchasing pre-quarantine to now ― a lot of skin care, a lot of loungewear. I did a few articles and posts about sports bras that ended up being the runaway hit.”

Arguments for “dressing up” in the early shelter-in-place days were scrutinised and laughed at on social media, but the matching workout...

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