Looking good in a sweat suit doesn't require 10 percent body fat and eight hours a day working out.
We are in the age of the dress-up sweat suit.
There was a time when exercise clothes were only for exercise, hanging out at home and running errands when you didn't care how you looked.
There were baggy cotton sweat pants, jackets and sweat shirts that got ragged from use, and clunky sneakers.
They also had no fashion sense. But who cared.
And then came "Flashdance." Every woman with a pair of scissors cut up their sweatshirts into "fashion statements" and wore them to work, on dates and to PTA meetings.
As most trends do, this one passed quickly. But the spirit of what it represented stuck around. And grew.
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We got more casual in how we lived, and exercise clothes started getting out more. Rap music went mainstream, and so did its standard outfit of velour sweat suits and sneakers.
In the mid-1990s, another piece of Hollywood took sweats into high fashion. Two California women who had started a maternity line because they couldn't find comfortable pregnancy jeans decided to branch out into comfortable clothes for all occasions.
When Juicy Couture's hip-hugging velour sweat pants and not-exercise-friendly jackets hit Los Angeles, denizens made them a uniform, and their popularity spread.
Athletic-shoe companies now make sleek, sporty-looking sneakers that are sold next to the Christian Diors in stores like Neiman Marcus. Purse-makers have adopted the shapes of bowling-ball and gym bags to turn out high-style carryalls with prices that could cover a year's worth of Pilates classes.
Here are tips for achieving the sporty look without breaking a sweat:
● JUST DO IT RIGHT: Dress-up sweat suits can be found at stores from Neiman Marcus to Wal-Mart. If you want something for casual lunches, a day of shopping or a vacation, spend the money for one of these. Don't think you can get away with your gym-rat sweats just because they're clean.
● STANDARDIZE: As with all fashion, fit and quality are important for dress-up sweats. Use the same standards for them that you would a pair of jeans or a work suit.
You can wear a T-shirt, but not a sloppy, oversized one. You should be able to tuck it in without it creating a bulge, or leave it untucked and have it hit at the waist or hips.
● SHOES THAT SHINE: Don't try to pass off your running shoes as the perfect fit for this outfit. If you balk at spending $80 or more for a pair of stylishly sporty shoes, go to Payless, where you can find basic all-white canvas and leather sneakers starting at $9.99, and sporty-looking ones from athletic shoemaker Champion in the $20s.
● BAGGAGE: Don't think that a real bowling-ball or gym bag looks cute or funky. It doesn't. The sports influence has hit purses, too, so it's not hard to find one in a shape that's compatible with this outfit.
● BE APPROPRIATE: As casual as we have gotten, dress-up sweats are not for every occasion. No matter how carefully composed your new sports outfit is, it's not going to work at a swanky social event, a job interview or most work places.
