When I was in elementary school, I had a pair of bright blue tennis shoes (I also had a pair of Crocs, but we won’t talk about that.) I wore these tennis shoes every single day, no matter what clothes I had on, much to my mother’s disdain. Dresses, skirts and blue jeans were all accessorized by these shoes. When I got to middle school, however, everything changed. I started becoming interested in more “stylish” looks. I typically only wore tennis shoes if I was playing volleyball. This continued through high school and into the beginning of college.
After a few weeks into my first semester at UTC, I couldn’t take it anymore. Wearing “cute” but uncomfortable shoes while walking uphill and downhill every day just wasn’t practical. I ended up wearing Chacos the rest of the year, which meant I never wore anything besides T-shirts and Nike shorts. Then one day, I was watching a fashion show, and I became bewildered to see the models wearing athletic shoes with skirts, dresses and even suits! It seemed like a crazy concept that would never take over, until suddenly I saw fashion bloggers everywhere copying the look.
It took a couple years for me to get used to the idea of athletic shoes being worn with any outfit, but one day this summer, I tried it for the first time. I went to the mall, and it was the most incredible feeling. I shopped for hours and felt on top of the world since my feet weren’t hurting. Since then, I’ve gotten myself a new pair of athletic shoes and wear them almost every day when I go to class. They allow me to dress nicely while staying comfortable at the same time.
The outfit I’m wearing in this article is a very typical outfit that I would wear to classes. I love wearing a dress and tying a long sleeve button-up around my waist since the building all my classes are in typically stays around 60 degrees! My hair is worn natural and my face is sans makeup. I like to keep it as effortless as possible because I like to sleep in and typically only give myself 15 minutes to get ready and eat in the mornings—but I must say, it’s definitely better than the T-shirts and Nike shorts.
