Sweatpants in class: yea or nay? It’s a tough call for some. However, in my opinion, there are only two valid reasons for such a sartorial abomination: one has to do with bloating, and the other is if you wake up dreadfully late for class. I fiercely held to that viewpoint for years, up until a few days ago. I started researching for this piece, and things came into focus.

I visited China some years ago, and what I saw amazed me: students were dressed to the nines. The men wore nice pants with dress shirts and ties, while the women were all decked out in dresses, high heels, and lovely jewelry—and there I was, in jeans and sneakers.

I’m not suggesting that we all suddenly start dressing for fashion week, but could we try to put on a pair of jeans or leggings at least?

According to the SANVT Journal, sweatpants were invented in the 1920s, exclusively for athletes. By the 1960s, they sidled their way to a normal aesthetic preference. That said, they were still strictly designed for athletes and at-home use only. 

Eventually, even astronauts came to wear them, but one could argue that, given the rigorous fitness requirements, going into space is sport-adjacent.

Somewhere between the 1970s and the 1990s, the big names in hip-hop deemed the outfit a worthy, everyday fashion choice. Several hip-hop groups wore sweatpants before Run-DMC, but that is the group that popularized them.

Their fashion selection was not so much a matter of choice but a result of circumstance. A lot of hip-hop groups came from New York City and, in Run-DMC’s case, Queens. They came from poor or working-class families where they often wore hand-me-downs, which accounts for the baggy fit. Since these groups didn’t start out with much money, they elected to wear their regular clothes and sneakers on stage, something unfathomable in hip-hop until then.

The groups that came before them, such as World Class Wreckin’ Cru, featured artists like Dr. Dre, before his time with N.W.A., who wore suits. Some were leather suits, and all were flashy, but all of that was apropos for the time.

Everyday sneakers became stylish not long after, courtesy of the same group, since the members of Run-DMC wore Adidas sneakers. As a result,  they wrote a song called “My Adidas,” and the first non-athlete, sports shoe company sponsorship was born. Everyone flocked to the shopping malls to buy Adidas swag and baggy sweatpants, and the rest is history.

Fast forward to 2025, and the fashion trend from the 1980s and ‘90s has made a comeback, with people wearing them everywhere again. I suppose it makes sense, in a way. But, I still have to pose the question, seeing as how there are many more socially acceptable clothes to wear today, why are we still wearing the baggy sweatpants of old?

Even so, after researching the topic, I have flip-flopped my opinion: wearing sweatpants to class occasionally is no big deal. We all have our days. Besides, given that fashion for teens and twenty-somethings tends to look toward the vintage past, it makes sense that college-age people sometimes show up to class in sweatpants. Or, in some more severe instances, often.

After all, I’ve seen people show up in pajamas, which is significantly worse. So, yes, I’ve shifted my opinion. Sweatpants in class are fine, so long as they’re not sloppy. Getting up, dressed, and being ready for whatever comes at you makes you feel good all day long, or at least an hour or two. Just please, don’t come to class wearing the clothes you slept in. I have heartfelt faith that you can do better than that.  

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