With Easter Term beckoning in revision and exams, you can see two different fashion strategies being employed: fully embracing the ‘comfort is key’ principle or hiding the chaos under the surface by looking polished and well-dressed. Somewhere in between those two options you will find athleisure: an active-wear-based, comfortable way to dress. Sophie favours dressing smartly, while Anna is an avid active-wear fan: in this article we provide our top style tips for getting into the revision groove. 

Sophie: When you plan on revising in your room all day long, it can be easy to just stay in your pajamas or get into the most comfortable sweatpants you own. However, can you really expect to be productive if you don’t start your day by drawing a clear distinction between ‘sleep’ and ‘work’? Not only do I believe that putting on a nice outfit serves to get you in the right mindset to be productive, it also helps with settling into a routine. If you make it a fixed part of your day to pick out an outfit and get changed into it, you prevent yourself from just lounging around all day long. When I say ‘dressing smart’ or ‘put together’, I don’t mean wearing business attire and high heels or anything of the kind. A nice sweater or t-shirt paired with tailored culottes can be enough clothes-wise to make you feel confident and motivated. Along with palazzo pants, I would have to say that these are my revision staples.

Anna: I agree that it should be a fixed part of your routine to get changed out of the clothes you sleep in and put on something that indicates the beginning of the ‘work’ section of your day. I believe, however, that dressing in something approaching ‘athleisure’ fashion offers the same benefits as a more ‘put-together’ style, while being less time-consuming. Active-wear is comfortable and ideal for layering, making it easy to adapt to different revision environments. It also allows you to look simultaneously chic and ready to hit the gym, despite outfits not requiring much prior planning or a long time to put together. Yoga pants or leggings form a good basis for an outfit; they come in many different colours and patterns, so you are still able to express yourself. Paired with sneakers, a top, and sweatshirt, these staples make it easy to look good. Active-wear has definitely moved away from being purely functional and can now be considered a different interpretation of a put-together Exam Term look.

Sophie: Exam Term can get quite monotonous when you spend every day moving from one library to the next. I think that fashion is a nice break; it can be very healthy to spend just 10 minutes a day being creative by thinking about something ‘superficial’ that has nothing to do with your work. A nice outfit can make you feel good about yourself all day – you might even receive compliments that further boost your mood. Active-wear, on the other hand, only allows for so much variation. At some point, you will just end up wearing the same thing again and again – you will get stuck in a rut. Speaking out of personal experience, making an effort to dress nicely and with some variation will also encourage you to leave your room or college and socialise!

Anna: I think that wearing similar outfits in rotation can almost be considered a point that speaks for active-wear. If you have limited options available, you do not have to think about all the different clothes you could wear and the ways you could style them. By taking your mind off the question of clothing, you might have more energy to focus on other things. I like to think of an athleisure style as a capsule wardrobe of kinds: if you make sure you have a selection of pieces that can all be combined with each other, there will be less stress surrounding the question of what clothing is currently in the laundry, for example. In this regard, active-wear is more practical than an extensive wardrobe of clothes that will allow you to look polished.

Of course, there are different options for dressing during revision, and we each like different styles. Depending on personal preference and style, one particular option might suit you better. What we both agree on, however, is that working in lounge-wear is not for us. It is good to have clothing as a marker of the different phases in your daily routine in order to increase productivity and motivation. Revision will only get better if you look and feel good.