Sneakers are the shoe of our fashion era. They can be worn with anything these days, and I mean ANYTHING. Gear, athleisure, casual wear, smart casual, business casual, suits, ballgowns, and everything else. My favourite red carpet moment of the year was Serena Williams at the Met Gala in a stunningly dramatic citron and pink ruffled gown with neon Nike Airs to match. How splendidly 2019.
An athletic sneaker is a sneaker that is meant to be worn for sporting activities like running, gym, and the like. They are what I call “gear” sneakers designed for athletic performance. You can absolutely wear an athletic sneaker fashionably these days, and not just for working out. The Dad Sneaker Trend, or Mega Chunky Sneaker Trend as I prefer to call it, is all about wearing athletic or athletic-looking sneakers off the sports field and with non-athletic attire.
A fashion sneaker is a non-athletic sneaker. It’s meant to be worn as everyday attire and is not for performance sports. It’s usually less chunky, more streamlined and refined, not as padded and platformed, and can look more like an oxford at times.
You bat for Team Athletic Sneaker if you prefer wearing athletic sneakers to fashion sneakers, and vice versa. I firmly bat for Team Fashion Sneaker because I walk A LOT, and almost everywhere. I wear them daily at different times of the day throughout the year. I don’t have a pair of athletic sneakers because I don’t run or go to gym. I don’t need shoes for yoga, and walk to the yoga studio in fashion sneakers. I do have a pair of trail shoes, which I’m not sure are classified as sneakers. Even my new mega chunky sneakers are fashion and not athletic.
Here is my current sneaker capsule:
Over to you. Do you bat for Team Athletic or Team Fashion Sneaker. Tell us why and no batting for both teams. But feel free to sit this one out on the bench if you can’t choose. I’m serving gourmet vegan hot dogs with homemade spicy red pepper and onion relish, the usual fixings, and sauerkraut. I’ll throw in the best South African Cadbury chocolate at the end too.
