What do I wear if I want to be active but also just look pretty cool?

An oversize blazer will cover your ass in more ways than one

It’s a 60-something-degree weekend morning and you have exactly 3.5 hours to yourself, which you don’t want to fuck up because who knows when you’ll have this kind of alone time again, and you’re resolving in real-time that you’d like to walk a great distance while listening to a podcast — one of the dramatically long ones that scare you a little but also fascinate you because you have wanted to know: what the fuck is the deal with that guy? — but also, that you’ll want to land yourself in the company of a friend you haven’t seen in a while to break bread and crack eggs, so, what do you wear?

Glad u asked. This happened to me last week! It’s like we’re connected or something. The answer involves:

One part cotton leggings (these are Entireworld), though I’m sure any number of fabrics would work just as well

+ Plus cotton tank top (also Entireworld), contrast color — another form of pastel to remain in theme with leggings (a t-shirt or muscle tee or long sleeve works perfectly fine, too). Any color family for the t-shirt and leggings works, just make sure they’re of the same family, you know? Ideally, your tee is not an actual exercise top, it’s like, the kind of t-shirt you’d tuck into jeans or fall asleep in after a long day)

+ Plus oversize blazer (this one’s from Wardrobe.nyc, here’s the ivory version, which I’m wearing with a black t-shirt and navy leggings today, actually) because it’s chilly, yes, but also because it’s unexpected. This one is wool and presumably meant to be worn while doing Responsible Things, like setting up a Sep-IRA account.

My preference is a blazer with a shoulder pad, though honestly, any over-garment that you own that could be worn to an event that falls within the parameters of a business casual dress code will probably work. I’d recommend you scan your closet for your stiffest form of biz caj overgarment because there’s something about the contrast between the soft leggings and tee and structured jacket that create this heated-in-a-good-way dynamic between the contrasting vibez thus insinuating the beginning of a relationship that is all passion now but might actually lead to like, your moving in together. What?

And footwear: You want to know you can walk, but also, you have to be willing to torture yourself a little bit. I mean, it has to come so naturally that you don’t even realize it’s torture. It’s actually just training your feet to adapt to as many environments (types of shoes) as you can predict they will need to weather in their lifetimes. I wore fisherman sandals — not quite sandals, not quite closed-toe. They’re slingback which leaves a generous portion of my arch exposed and that compliments the leggings in such a way that will make your legs look more fluid — like ocean waves that don’t crash at shoreline but actually just melt into it, you know?

The other thing about living further away from where your life occurs: free-balling (that is, walking around without a handbag, or using a very frivolous one) doesn’t make as much sense anymore. It isn’t practical. What if you want to take sneakers with you just in case your feet give up halfway through the walk or realize just as you’re leaving home that your leggings would look great with a mid-length dress?

What if you need a book should you stop at a park, or your journal in case you need to log a memory and your phone dies? What about your computer????!? For this look, I wear a straw bag that I got as a gift basket. My preference is for there to be only one formal artifact present on person and that award goes to blazer.

If it’s not sunny, I’ll add sunglasses. If it is, I’ll add sunglasses. But then I’ll remember I have to wear a mask and take them off because they fog up my lenses and also, it’s too much of my face concealed — how will anyone know that I’m squinting my eyes at them in an attempt to acknowledge that we’re connected because of the very simple mutual reality that we’re passing each other by street?

En fin: leggings + t-shirt + business casual overgarment + open-arch footwear x optional bag big enough to carry computer = what to wear when you want to be active but also just look pretty cool.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? The next style open thread happens next week, tell your friends! And your mom! I love hearing from you. For now, I leave you with this small gift:

Sincerely,

Leandra