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 [1] was the one item on top of my wish list [2]. 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 [3] pretty quickly. Sweat suits [4] became little ribbed loungewear sets [5] — of course, Kim Kardashian's Skims rolled one out [6] ASAP — and now, it seems everyone is elevating their at-home looks [7] 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 [8] 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 [9]. 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 [10] 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.