Are Tennis Skirts Replacing Our Stay-at-Home Sweatpants? We Investigate

It feels like it's been a hot minute since any variation of a skirt was the one item on top of my wish list. So I'm excited to welcome the tennis skirt into play, and I'm ready to meet my match. (I promise, now is where the tennis puns come to a stop.) While sheltering in place, it feels like I've cycled through a few Instagram fashion trends pretty quickly. Sweat suits became little ribbed loungewear sets — of course, Kim Kardashian's Skims rolled one out ASAP — and now, it seems everyone is elevating their at-home looks even further with the tennis skirt resurgence.

Is this a subtle way for us all to honor Wimbledon, since the tennis tournament has been canceled this year? Or perhaps it's a nod to the '90s school girl moment that Cher Horowitz would approve of. Either way, Cardi B and her daughter Kulture are fans, having matched in Burberry's checked iteration. Since then, I feel as though I spot a tennis skirt on every feed I land on. Styled with sports bras, logo socks and chunky sneakers, oversize hoodies, and even cowboy boots, these are a straight-up replacement for sweatpants now that the weather's warm.

Seriously — for every pair of sweatpants you see, I challenge you to mentally replace it with a tennis skirt and tell me the outfit doesn't somehow still work. The tennis skirt lends any outfit a hint of athleisure and, as long as the fabric's not too stiff, it's easy to lounge around in, too. Popping out for some groceries or a walk around the park never looked so good, since of course tennis skirts offer a bit more polish than your everyday joggers do. Keep reading to find some smart ways to wear one, then shop my favorite pieces, most of which ring in under $100.