Y2K Athleisure’s Chokehold

As a fashion addict currently getting back into fitness, the most exciting part about this development in my life was the prospect of including fun athleisure in my closet. As I booked various pilates classes and wrote down the word gym in my planner, my head was filled with fantasies of stepping out of the gym in a Paris Hilton-esque pastel tracksuit or working on the reformer in leggings with a blinged-out leopard foldover waistband. The more I thought about these dream workout outfits, the more my Pinterest board became filled with pictures of Y2K athleisure, and I realized just how elite it truly was. So I present to you this love letter in the form of an article. This is an ode to Y2K athleisure. 

As previously mentioned, tracksuits were an integral part of gym attire amongst the most famous of it-girls. While most immediately think of the Juicy Couture tracksuit (which deserves a whole love letter of its own) when hearing the words "tracksuit" and "y2k" in the same sentence, I am not referring to these. I am referencing the popularity of more sport-oriented tracksuits, such as running tracksuits, in the most fabulous of colors and cuts. Adidas ruled this popular style. There are numerous pictures of Hilton rocking the Adidas stripe in tracksuit form, such as one of her wearing a pink tracksuit and another of her donning pastel blue track pants with a classic white Adidas stripe and a matching Adidas crop top. 

While foldover leggings are making a comeback, I am afraid no one has been successful in truly replicating the magic of how they looked in the 2000s. With flashy logos from companies like Pink along with rainbow zebra print, pink polka dots, and bejeweled accents, there was no fear when it came to being "extra." In fact, it seemed largely encouraged. I absolutely adore this look. The fun waistbands add sass to the otherwise dull, solid-colored leggings and immediately give your look flare and fun. And doesn't an exciting outfit make working out more enjoyable? 

Fun, colorful gym bags, absurdly large bedazzled sunglasses, and casually tossed-on hats just added to the flair of the walk to and from the gym, offering a sense of euphoria even more delightful than a runner's high. 

So where is all this fun flair now? It seems nearly impossible to find an affordable workout set at the mall these days, let alone one that isn't a basic black or gray. It seems that brands such as Pink are attempting to reclaim the chokehold they once had on the public by pushing out more flare leggings. While many of them are solid in color, they have seemed to try to implement elements of the past into them, with some featuring rhinestones, logos, or even patterns. While delightful, this more minimalistic approach to the nostalgia of Y2K athleisure doesn't replicate the iconic effect that activewear of years past has. For now, it may be up to deep eBay searching and extensive Depop scrolling to come across that level of iconicity. 

Strike Out, 

Alara Ataman

Boca Raton

Alara Ataman is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine. An avid fan of fashion, this Pisces can be found scrolling through Depop or elbows deep in a thrift store looking for the perfect piece. If you can’t find her doing this, you may find her browsing numerous cafes in her endless quest for the perfect iced coffee. You can reach her at @leopard_fawn on most social media platforms.