Pandemic turns casual wear trendy

Pajamas and loose tees have taken over the place of formal clothing during the pandemic.

As a preventive measure from COVID-19, people have locked themselves in their houses for more than past three months. Irrespective of whether it is an online class or work from home, people especially women and college going girls during the pandemic have now changed their dressings.

Women doing work from home and girls having their online classes, now prefer casual and comfortable loose clothes than wearing formals.

Aditi Agarwal, a city-based fashion stylist and founder of Aditi Agarwal Fashion Stylist Services, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, said, "Women have resorted to comfy clothes during the lockdown and slowly it has become a part of our lives. Lounge wear or Pajamas are most trending this year. Even e-commerce sites like myntra or aAjio are now primarily promoting comfortable wear as their main category. Women never get tired of dressing up and I feel the value of stepping out all dressed up has increased."

She adds, "While working from home could be a little distracting. Hence, women resort to casual and comfortable clothing. I feel, this trend will go on for quiet a some time now, probably, this entire year. This year's trend would be of kaftans, shorts, t-shirt and maxis."

Since everyone is largely working at home these days, the only clothes to be comfortable are T-shirts and pyjamas.

Sanjana Rao, a Bangalore-based techie said, "The most comfortable place for any person would be their home. With work from home in vogue, all of us are in our comfy clothing. Loose tees, PJ's-shorts are the clothes that we opt when we are at our home. But there is the other side of the coin, few of us do miss the dressing and socialising times."

Since, locals are now shifting their preferences of clothing during the pandemic, they are also expecting new designs and varieties.

Shivani Naik, a Hyderabad-based software engineer said, "It will be nice to see different and more innovative styles in these types of clothes as many people who want to purchase new clothes will opt for comfortable outfits to wear at home rather than for outdoors. Shopping for new clothes at home will still be a fun experience when we have a lot of variety. People have become used to this trend and after the pandemic we may see more people choosing to wear comfortable attire when they return to office."

While it is the same with the students, who have to sit for hours, for their continuous online classes.

B Avantika, a Bachelor of Mass Media student in Mumbai said, "For the last three months, I have totally become more comfortable in pyjamas. The hassles of getting well dressed up bothers me no more. Pyjamas have become the most comfortable outfit and I am sure most women will agree with it. It might be very difficult for us to get back to going to work or college in formals. We had lockdown during the summer season and the temperature was too high and due to which it was very difficult to wear any other full dress. The most comfortable clothes to wear during the online classes are loose tees and shorts, which has become a new normal clothing."