Summer feels like a long way off with the Antartic blast we are getting this weekend!!

In NZ shorts are relatively common for beach wear, sports wear, garden attire etc..and people do wear dressy shorts but that is less common. There is no real age limit but the length does tend to change and they style at different ages.

Sneakers are everywhere - and shoes are much flatter than they have been in the past. Sneakers are worn with everything really.

Athleisure is still going strong. But not as strong as in the US.

Reporting live from Europe:)
I do wear shorts at home, at the beach, and for hiking. But not on the streets.
Athleisure is confusing concepts for me. Even when going to activities like gym or yoga, there is no need to wear this clothes on the street, you need anyway to shower and change after workout, don't you? People here parade naked in the locker room after the workout, showering and changing to street clothes. Is it not the same in US?
Please, enlighten me

The women in my locker room tend to all have some sort of coverup to get them from the locker room to the shower and back. The coverup can be a light-weight robe or a large towel. I personally use a large towel.

I don't know if the women I see wearing athleisure are actually coming from the gym. They look too perfect to just have worked out. Regardless, it is a popular look here ... especially in grocery stores. I suspect that Athleta is betting it will continue into the near future too.

Isabelle I agree 100% that Athleisure is just not a done thing in Europe (and won't make it across the ocean). But fashion sneakers are EVERYWHERE on the streets of Europe - and it's not the tourists. It's locals!

Anchie, I know it's hard to picture because Athleisure is a foreign concept in Europe. It's very common in the US. People wear workout wear as regular casual wear, or they wear it all day because they have or are going to work out - and simply keep it on. Lots of women who drop off and fetch their kids at school in the suburbs wear Athleisure. You see it on the street daily and regularly. As far locker rooms at gym - I don't know. I have an allergic reaction to gyms. I walk to and from a yoga studio in my yoga clothes, and I carry my yoga mat. You can see I'm off to yoga.

Sal, NZ street style sounds similar to US street style.

Jaime, I suspect Summer has a lot to do with the absence of leggings and pants. I remember seeing it ALL in Israel - accept people don't wear brights. It's all very neutral and casual.

Jane, denim jackets in the NL are a UNIFORM. Most men and women have one - and double denim is VERY common.

Laura75, I'll be contrarian and say, "I don't think so". People generally get their exercise biking and walking in Europe. It's not a gym culture.

Jenn, it's an inspiring lifestyle for sure. Back to basics and what is good for you.

Thea, there you go. Skirts and dresses everywhere. Shorts on tourists.

Jules, like I keep on saying - people cover up in the hottest parts of the world.

*sigh* I know sneakers are everywhere, even worse lots of shoes are made with sneakers soles, and become sneakers hybrids, I've noticed.
The only sporty items I like are sweatshirts. Hoodies, joggers, leggings, sneakers I don't like at all. Yoga pants...I don't know what they look like, but they don't sound like something I'd rate.

Isabelle, I'm laughing. I know you don't like sneakers - and they are everywhere. (((HUGS))). Yoga pants are leggings or bootcut leggings. In a less shiny fabric.

I have finally figured it out - I should be European!!

Anchie, nope, not the same in the US. Nudity is not considered normal here. Neither are visible nipples (on women) or breasts that move. It took me a long time to get used to this when I moved here from Europe. I still don't really get it but at least I'm aware of it now.

I love these reports and hearing what's being worn elsewhere in the world.

Shorts are a no no for me, but purely because I don't really like them (for me). But they are worn a lot where I live in the warm weather. Our summers are hot and women of all ages, shapes and sizes wear them. I see them in a variety of contexts.

Athleisure is not really something I have engaged with until recently!! I have fallen in love with a particular pair of yoga pants (pic 1) that I do wear out of the house (forgive my sin) I honestly never thought I would but I love the look and the comfort level. It is a trend that is still very strong here. A lot of young mums still embrace this and have some very cool outfits but I don't think they actually use them for working out.

Fashion sneakers or any sneakers really seem to be very popular here too. I have one pair, the leather slip on variety tho and as much I like the sneaker look I just can't do it! It just doesn't look right on me.

I think NZ is more like the US than Europe in not being very tolerant of being topless, "breasts that move" etc. I remember at age 24 being told by a young colleague from Poland that I was being a prude because I was worried about a sort of vest/singlet top that was partly solid and partly a mesh showing my bra a bit much. I was puzzled as she was at least as religious a Catholic as I was a Protestant, at the time. But now I understand! She was European and more relaxed about breasts!

Ok. Hey now. Don't think it's just our American prudery... and we are prudes... but it's more than that. We also don't like hair that moves! Hahaha!

To be honest, I always notice this about European women politicians and political wives. Where's the hairspray man?

Oh, and don't make me talk about Botox. Everything must be frozen stiff in America! Hahaha!

The Frozen Chosen, Rachy?

Hahaha, Jenni! It's like 'Scary Movie'

Sarah, Rachy & Jenni, you crack me up.

Deborah, those look like regular fashionable harem pants, and not yoga pants - although some people wear the silhouette to yoga. The silhouette has Indian heritage - like yoga itself.

Alexandra, I prefer to see motionless breasts in public myself.

I will admit to being a bit of a prude myself when it comes to dressing, although I have always liked shorts (and at age 55 still wear them but more as lounge wear and walking, not out places, not sure why, my legs haven't changed much). Back when I was in high school, I was an exchange student to Finland. We all took our saunas in the nude but for my sensibilities they separated the men and women

As far as athleisure, I don't mind it but I hate hate hate the leggings as pants trend, unless the butt is covered I mean. I think because it has cooled off a bit here, I see it everywhere and it really isn't a good look.

Love hearing about style around the globe. It's interesting, isn't it -- that intersection between self expression, group norms and practicality that works it way into our way of dressing? (I say, as I'm typing while wearing my sporty luxe sneakers).

I don't get to travel far, or often, but one of the things I notice is the way the quality of light changes things. The warm light in Florida, for example, makes all those bright blue and yellow houses seem to sparkle and glow. The same house color in Indiana would look harsh and, in the winter, rather cold. In northern Michigan, where I vacation frequently, the air is so crisp and clear -- in it's feel and smell, for sure, but also in it's "look." I imagine that the Netherlands might be the same. I wonder if this light might influence the way we dress, also.

Aah, bootcut leggings, I see what you mean now, mystery solved. Thanks Angie.

I notice this too, Beth Ann. The fantastic primary colour houses in Scandinavia and the hot pinks of Caribbean houses just don't translate to the foggy / Mediterranean Bay Area...

I love that styles are different from country to country. It keeps things interesting. And I especially appreciate that athleisure hasn't taken off outside the US. I'm in Portugal right now for work and I haven't seen a single athleisure outfit. Lots of walking friendly shoes, especially ballet flats. I see some skinny jeans but not too many. I'm seeing lots of dresses or skirts with fashion sneakers or ballet flats. In general tops and dresses and skirts, they are all very flowy and drapey, lots of movement, not much body con for the styles. And I haven't seen any black. It's all lighter colors, earth tones, and bright colors.

Sure, Isabelle. Since leggings and sneakers are your poison eye - you would not be charmed by the Athleisure look in the US.

Lisa, my word. You are seeing exactly what I described. Make sure you have lots of fab Portuguese food.

Robin, a HUGE look for the youngsters. Jeans are too dressy.

Rachy, your bridge is orange!

Beth Ann, fun thoughts and observations.

Where I live you see leggings-as-pants on people from *every* age and walk of life. All they seem to have in common is no full-length mirror at home.

Laura - I agree, it's all ages. I do not get it.