Sweatpants are where it’s at

When I was young, I got so excited for the first day of school. I remember the night-before… When I was young, I got so excited for the first day of school. I remember the night-before routine of eagerly sharpening my number twos and neatly packing every school supply I could think of into my backpack. The first day of school also usually meant something else: a new shirt. While my family was never big on back-to-school shopping sprees, there were two days of school for which my sister and I donned a new shirt: the first day and picture day.

From preschool to senior year of high school, I always wanted to look nice on the first day of school. There were also many other days during those years in which I attempted to look nice at school by wearing nice outfits or curling my hair. But as the years passed, I grew tired of getting dressed and dreaded the thought of spending several minutes a day working on my appearance. Luckily, I found a solution and a savior: sweatpants.

My ideal outfit consists of sweatpants and a hoodie, and my favorite store is the thrift store because it allows me to load up on such items at a very minimal cost. I also estimate that more than 65 percent of my wardrobe is comprised of sweatpants, T-shirts, hoodies, gym shorts and the like.

One cold fall day, I was walking down Fifth Avenue dressed in my typical attire. I was wearing a big, baggy sweatshirt with the hood over my head with even bigger and baggier sweatpants. Someone approached me from behind and asked, “Excuse me sir, do you have the time?”

Yes, it’s that bad.

Sadly, “bad” is usually how people view such attire. My dad has repeatedly expressed disgust in my choice of clothing and always compares me to my sister, who dresses the complete opposite. Whenever I am dressed up, he compliments me as though I had just won the Nobel Peace Prize. I resent this, however. He, and others, seem to think that just because someone dresses like this, she must be dirty, lazy or not put together.

Dressing like this doesn’t mean someone is dirty, just as wearing dorky glasses and carrying a lot of books doesn’t mean someone is smart. I value personal hygiene, do laundry once a week and would like to assert that I wouldn’t wear a pair of sweatpants or anything else if it was stained or stinky.

Second, just because I dress in such a manner doesn’t mean I’m lazy. I actually see it the opposite way. Suppose I were to carefully do my makeup, put on nice clothes and do my hair, and it took me 30 more minutes than I would typically spend. There’s 30 extra minutes I could have to do something more productive, such as sleeping, doing work, or Facebook stalking.

Finally, while I can’t argue that dressing in sweats makes me look like I just rolled out of bed, and it is therefore unlikely that I look put together physically, it would be foolish to deduce from my attire that I’m not put together in life. For the duration of my time at Pitt, I’ve never missed an appointment, never turned in an assignment late and can count on two hands the number of classes I’ve skipped.

As a counter example, George W. Bush always looks nice in his expensive suits and American flag pins. Does that mean that he is put together, successful and knows what he’s doing? We won’t go there in this column. But to throw some relevant famous sayings in here, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and the man makes the clothes, the clothes don’t make the man.

I don’t want to portray myself as a total slob who lives in a perpetual state of bummyness. I feel that I dress appropriately. I wouldn’t wear a hoodie to the grocery store or to dinner, an interview or even the bar. When the weekend rolls around and I’m getting ready to go out, while others dread the getting-ready process I enjoy taking my time putting on my makeup, doing my hair and wearing girl clothes, rather than my typical unisex attire.

While many, like my family, consider dressing like a slob a negative thing, I think it’s good that I’m comfortable enough with myself that I don’t feel like I need to impress anyone or look my best at all times, and I don’t see anything wrong with choosing comfort over style. I think it’s kind of creepy how some girls are always so done-up with their hair, makeup and clothes that when you see them in their total natural states, they don’t even look like the same people.

There’s nothing wrong with dressing up and looking nice if that’s your thing, but it’s certainly not for everyone – to each his own. But if you dress like me, don’t be ashamed. Wear those sweatpants with pride and embrace your comfortable wardrobe preferences, even if it means being mistaken for a member of the opposite sex every now and then.

Grab your hoodie and e-mail Anjali at amn17@pitt.edu.