The New York Times Just Figured Out Women Wear Sneakers, Too

The New York Times explores how wearing sneaker is a new thing for fashionable women. But is it really?

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Complex Original

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Sneaker culture is at an all-time high. It's even infiltrated the Fashion & Style section of The New York Times, and the paper is giving New York's affluent women advice on how incorporate sneakers into "chic" outfits.

In a recent article, Sneakers: Where Can't They Go?, the Times explains how women can mix high-end or "box fresh" (not to be confused with the gym-variety) sneakers with cropped pants and oversized sweaters.The Times traces women's fascination with sneakers back to Isabel Marant wedges and taps the likes of Lucky Editor Eva Chen to chime in on the trend.

Its conclusion is that women should take a break from their heels, but not to get too comfortable in their sneakers. It would have been nice to give credence to women who have been wearing sneakers since before J.Crew had a women's New Balance collection—and stylishly, too. The same women who are at the center of the revitalization of sportswear within men's and women's style. They could have given a counterbalance and practical approach to wearing sneakers, even on an everyday basis.

The article should have served as a teaching point to educate the Tumblr-centric fashion women—with their Supreme fitted on tilt—that sneakers are much more than something to be worn at various fashion weeks. Or as something that's worn to catch the lurking gaze of the street style photographer.

Giving these women legitimate sneaker advice would help them appreciate sneakers beyond their six-month lifespan on the glossy pages of fashion publications. It might also give the fashion editors who are preaching about sneakers a real insight into what they're all about.