Getting cozy continues to trend

by MIKE CHAIKEN
CTFashionMag.com

Set aside the tailored business suits and dress code appropriate apparel for at least the foreseeable future.

As COVID-19 continues to plague the nation – and the world — employees are still working from home and many students are tackling their education remotely.

This means most women are tossing aside their usual business savvy wardrobes and power suits and Zooming in more comfortable selections.

Kristen Classi-Zummo, director of market Insights – Apparel for The NPD Group, recently explained in a webinar for CURVE Connects that a survey at the beginning of the pandemic in March said that 48% of women were wearing activewear and sweats all day. The survey also showed that 48% of women were wearing pajamas and loungewear all day.

“Comfort is key even as we get back to normal,” said Todd Mick, executive director of Fashion Practices for The NPD Group, in a presentation made for CURVE in October.

Even during last September’s New York Fashion Week, top designers had to concede in their spring/ summer collections for 2021 that women were not looking to be dressed up and were looking for softer, more comfortable selections – although in more luxe configurations.

A vaccine for COVID is giving hope that the days of working from home and taking classes at your kitchen table will be set aside; but for now, as COVID cases surge – Los Angeles and London are in a lockdown — most women will not get a chance to set aside those sweats and leggings just yet.

Here model Jozie Alter wears some of her favorite comfortable fashions for work and play during the pandemic.

PHOTOS by MIKE CHAIKEN