Sportswear times or the shelter of hoodies

The same day the COVID-19 lockdown was announced, casual wear became the uniform of the entire world. And while fashion skeptics declared that fashion was no longer needed, trends changed and adapted to today's current affairs in the blink of an eye. YouTube offers countless videos on how to look good at home, what to wear for a video conference, and how to turn simple casual wear into stylish combinations that inspire working from home and better motivation. So what's new in casual wear trends?

Although casual wear is often described as unisex , this year it has become quite expressively divided into women's and men's in terms of colors and models again. The casual wear sections of fast fashion gurus - the world's largest fashion company Inditex's store chains Zara, Massimmo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, etc. - are becoming more and more numerous every year. About five years ago, when famous fashion dictators began to cooperate with sportswear brands and create their own jackets with the logos of their fashion houses, the line between sportswear and casual wear was erased.

Although the blue jeans with Gucci, Balmain, Versace logos seem to have their audience for a very long time, fashionistas are moving forward. Currently, blouses with references to famous brands (unfortunately, as always, there are also many bad copies), fashion magazines (everyone wants to Vogue ) and, of course, inscriptions and pictures. Cartoon characters on sweatshirts are not new, but you can find them in every fast fashion collection, and you will pay double for the copyright to Disney. An inscription on a sweatshirt can reveal support for sustainable fashion (more and more famous brands that are available to the majority are creating special collections from H&M until Nike ), to show love for the first cup of morning coffee or sympathy for fashion with photos of stylish women on blouses. The above inscriptions are often clearly oriented towards buyers with a certain attitude, lifestyle. And are quite clearly divided into those intended for men and women.

Since spring, Zara's collections for women have been full of blouses with puffed sleeves, ruffles and interesting shapes, which return as a reminder of extremely refined clothes (long puffed sleeves, abundant ruffles and chic cuts that became popular in France in the 19th century). Also, women's casual clothes this spring clearly stand out with pastel colors, but are extremely fashionable those same (batik elements) patterns dominate both women's and men's collections.

The most obvious difference between the men's and women's collections is the shortening (cropped) sweaters, back from the 90s. Basically, these are the same blouses, only much shorter and revealing the belly, usually worn with matching sweatpants. Since the cut gives such a sweater its character, such blouses are usually solid color or again with batik elements. They are the absolute opposite oversized for blouses that have long hidden the lines of the female figure.

5 tips on how to make casual outfits more stylish:

• One color for the top and bottom of a casual suit. A solid color combination, even if not purchased as a solid set, looks neater and instantly adds elegance to a casual outfit.
• Accentuating the lines : tucking the front of the top (or one side if you want a more interesting solution) into the pants to minimally reveal the body's shape. Unless it's a purposeful combination of a wide long blouse and leggings, in all other cases, casual clothes are worn in a messy way, becoming simply shapeless, distorting any silhouette.
• Tapered pants : Although straight, athletic pants are trendy now, a more elegant look can be achieved with pants that are tapered at the bottom and end with elastic.
• Contrasts: oversized Blazers go well with skinny jeans or leggings, and wide-leg sweatpants go well with a cropped or slimmer sweater.
• Friendship between classic and street style: It's nothing new to combine a classic long coat with sneakers, and wear a hoodie underneath. It's very simple and comfortable, but you shouldn't overdo it with colors and choose neutral ones.

It seems that although the quarantine has already brought enormous losses to the fashion world, fashion as a social phenomenon will appear on the streets with its head held even higher after the quarantine. Both in the USA and in European countries, stylists have become some of the most actively working artists. Virtual stylist consultations and wardrobe reviews, fashionista challenges (who hasn't seen at least a few pillow dresses options?) and photos of American Vogue editor Anna Wintour in casual clothes (and without high heels, something the world had never seen before) proved that fashion has another, hitherto somewhat neglected, task - to inspire.