After a television star said she would never wear tracksuit bottoms at home, we wonder if sweatpants can ever be stylish

Christina Hendricks has said that she doesn’t wear sweatpants at home because ‘I can’t do that to my husband, not after just three years of marriage.’ 

So to protect her beloved husband’s eyes from items of clothing that are functional and comfortable, the Mad Men star opts instead to float around the house wearing creepy-sounding ‘low-cut caftans’. She tells Lucky magazine, ‘At home, I put on a low-cut caftan, and he’s like, ‘Babe, you look great.’’

To which we say, ‘Babe, what year are we living in? Stop pandering and put on a pair of sweatpants.’

 

Obviously, we don’t mean any just pants. We may be feminist fashion types but we are still fashion types. Velour is out, for example, as are stains. There are, however, a multitude of comfy trousers that Hendricks could choose from, that are perfect for lounging in and unlikely to offend husbands and housemates. 

Well-known blogger, Leandra Medine AKA Man Repeller, is renowned for her daring trouser choices and despite her moniker, she is married and has a book deal in the bag. Proof that comfy trousers are no barrier to success – sartorial, romantic, or even literary.

Ursula Lake, Never Underdressed’s fashion director, is a big fan of a pair of trousers too and she has been wearing a rather chic, silk lined pair by Maje with a sporty white stripe down the leg in the office recently.  ‘The golden rule with the sporty trouser is to wear with a heel, the higher the better to counteract the sporty vibe,’ she advises.

Meanwhile, the real problem with sweatpants is as Elin Evans, Never Underdressed’s acting junior fashion editor, points out, the name. ‘There’s nothing chic about the name sweatpants,’ she says. Quite. We would tend to steer clear of the term ‘tracksuit bottoms’ too. I mean you aren’t going to be running laps in your Maje pants, are you?

No, the proper term is ‘loungewear’ and if you choose your lounging pants correctly, they are actually a chicer option that some sort of 1970s muumuu. 

And who cares if Hendricks’ husband disagrees?