The Lost Art of Dressing Like a Schlub to Work Out
Channeling Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Plus a Q&A with Emily Banks, On Running PR Maven & Ski Touring Sporty Spice
If you hate competing over treadmills and free weights, there’s no better time to hit the gym than the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The Boston YMCA on Huntington Avenue was blessedly quiet early last week, which meant I had plenty of time to think through this newsletter while trotting on the treadmill What I like about this Y in particular is its patina, which stems from its Classical Revival architecture (the building dates to 1911) and from its denizens – many of whom were born around WWII. It’s the kind of place where older gentlemen lift in leather weight belts, grey tee shirts, blue sweatpants, and Converse low-tops, and silver-haired ladies do Zumba in cotton sweatsuits.
As a result of this big Silent Generation energy, I feel empowered to arrive at the gym in my cruddiest gear – to work out looking like a total schlub.
For those etymologically inclined: The Jewish-English Lexicon reports that schlub comes from the Yiddish word zhlob, meaning ‘boor or brute.’ Wikipedia goes a step further and says zhlob came from a Klezmorim cant and referred to a “Goyish bumpkin or redneck.” I’m using it loosely here to mean unkempt, unpolished, and unbothered. Or as the kids might say: “not aesthetic.”
It’s a look – and energy – I think we’d all do well to embrace.
Why? The arrival of January 1st’s eager blank slate energy is, quite frankly, a kick in the pants. After two weeks of cozy indulgence, we’re supposed to make a complete 180 into hardcore wellness? The burning-rubber turn is a recipe for disaster, and a reason so many New Year’s resolutions are dead on arrival.
So here’s my pitch. Ease into it. By dressing like a schlub to work out, we give ourselves permission to start slow and imperfectly. I like how Raziq Rauf describes it in his newsletter on building a running or writing practice:
“Don’t wait for perfect conditions to start - they don’t exist; perfection is impossible, so don’t be afraid to fail. Accepting and embracing these two truths are essential for progress.”
The schlubby ‘fit keeps us grounded. Brands have brainwashed us into thinking that we need to dress like a pro athlete even when we’re not training like one. Let’s leave optimizing in 2025.
To wit, Shopify Head of Community and annual planning queen, Grace Clarke, is a staunch advocate for rejecting the performance attire status quo:
”I will wear anything to the gym, zero shame, and I go to a fancypants spot where everyone seems accomplished, stylish, and older than me. I usually wear sweatpants and rubber Birkenstocks or sometimes my bejeweled Crocs. I mostly weight train with slow compound movements, so I don’t really need “performance fabric” or lace-up footwear. I love nothing more than being balled up in Nike Club Fleece on the leg press listening to a podcast.
If I ever have kids, I want them to see a healthy and completely personal relationship to their physical body. For me, wearing what I want even if it isn’t cool is a tiny silent protest.”
But if you still need some convincing, consider the unsung hero of the schlubby workout ‘fit, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
Now, ideally, we’re not going shopping for our schlub looks. We’re digging deep into the backs of our drawers to fish out old college tee shirts or raiding our Dad’s closets. But if you need a little schlubby inspiration, here’s how I’d do it. While a tonal look is always safe bet, I prefer to schlub in color and cotton. Oversized is best, but – obviously – don’t over think it.
The Mountain is My Runway
In conversation with Emily Banks, On Running PR maven, skier, and querying author
Emily Banks is my kind of gal, which is to say: extremely enthusiastic and good at sharing. We met five years ago when she was working at Outside PR and became fast friends over Zoom thanks to a shared love of running and skiing. Fast forward half a decade, Emily is working in-house at On with some of the world’s best athletes and querying her first novel, a romantasy epic. NBD. She’s also finally recovered from a pretty gnarly injury that kept her off the roads and off the mountain for almost two years. We talk about that experience below. I hope it’s helpful for anyone stuck in the muck and mire of their own medically-mandated “off-season.”
Emily is a self-described “sporty spice,” happiest when ski touring in the Rockies. Read on for tips on her favorite gear and follow her on TikTok for envy-inducing mountain content.
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What was your introduction to sports? Do you remember what you wore?
Ooh, great question. I can tell you exactly what my first snow sports outfit was—a marshmallow onesie for snow sports or my softball uniform.
Credit goes to my dad, who kicked off my love of sports and skiing (and Palisades Tahoe) when I was very young. The two of us spent most of my childhood driving all across California for weekend soccer games, softball tournaments, and skiing, and it was really special to share that with him. I also loved the confidence sports gave me from an early age, particularly when I struggled a bit with shyness and not being “cool” as a kid. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter what happened off the field, so long as when I showed up, I played my little heart out!
Backcountry skiing is a different beast than downhill at a resort, how does that change how you get dressed? Any tips for a novice tourer like me?
The key to dressing for backcountry skiing is finding proper, lightweight layering. Temperatures can fluctuate so much during a typical day in the backcountry—it’s usually freezing first thing, but will heat up considerably during uphills and once the sun gets going, only to get chilly again at the summit and during the descent when your sweat freezes. For that reason, I find it helpful to think of the clothing you bring as a modular system—any time you’re out in the backcountry, you have your merino base layers, a mid-layer fleece, an insulated puffer, and a lightweight waterproof shell that you can mix and match to accommodate changing needs. I’m particularly nitpicky about only using technical mid layers that I trust to (1) keep you warm during those colder moments, (2) will allow for breathability when it gets hot, and (3) have plenty of zips for venting and efficient transitions. I honestly swear by this video for the midlayer and hat combos I use, too.
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And one big tip? Always, ALWAYS start cold!! This is the biggest giveaway for someone who is newer at ski touring. Don’t wear your puffer at the start unless it is well and truly unsafe to go without. Backcountry skiing is a sport of efficiency—the quote my partner and I always share is slow is smooth, and smooth is fast—and learning how to cut down on all the little stops so that you can keep plodding along. Stopping to take layers off, then putting them on again, and repeating can really add up during the course of a tour, and small increments of time can make big differences when it comes to safety and snow quality in the backcountry, so you’ve got to make it count!
Are there brands you like more for backcountry vs. a resort day or vice versa?
For sure! I tend to go with lighter weight options for the backcountry, and will go with slightly more durable and robust options for resort. When you’re banging out resort laps, not only does weight not really matter, but you tend to put a lot more wear-and-tear on your gear, so having something that will put up with that is key. For backcountry skiing, I won’t wear anything but Mammut. I’ve tried a lot of brands over the years, and nothing holds a candle to the balance of light weight, durability, function, and comfort on the skin to their Haldigrat HS kit. Plus, they look really good and don’t make the loud swishing noise that so many of the lightweight materials do these days, and it’s durable enough to put up with resort, too. My partner (the man/myth/legend who’s taught me everything I know about this sport) swears by his 5+ year old The North Face FutureLight jacket, for what that’s worth!
For baselayers, I use anything with Merino wool. I love Kari Traa, because they’re super cute, really high-quality, and I like to support a female-founded brand. Easy peasy!
What’s a brand you get excited to see on other folks? What brand makes you roll your eyes?
I absolutely love seeing Peak Performance kits in the wild. Until recently, they were nearly impossible to buy in the United States, which meant that most folks that you’d see wearing them had bought them in the Alps. I love how they play with color and color blocking—so many European ski brands overdo it with neons and too many colors, but PP has managed to make most of their gear look super stylish and sleek. Plus, they sponsor a bunch of professional freeride athletes, so there’s a cool kid factor at play as well.
On the other hand, brands that make me roll my eyes are definitely Montec and Dope Snow. They’re basically the SHEIN/Temu of the ski industry, delivering on-trend colors and styles for ski outerwear at a very low price point. Though the quality is terrible and everything they make looks just a little tacky with giant logos and weird zippers, I also totally understand why people buy it. Skiing is a prohibitively expensive sport, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with people turning to brands that deliver cost-effective options that lower the barrier to entry into the sport. However, I also really struggle to see fast fashion taking hold in such a community-driven industry that stands to be so severely impacted by climate change. For that reason, I try to encourage folks to buy secondhand instead—there are SO many amazing outerwear options out there at bargain prices—with more dedicated ski brands that are investing in the community, in its athletes, and in social impact initiatives that will help our sport be a better place.
Do you partake in slut strand culture?
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it being described as slut strand “culture,” but hell yes, I love my slut strands! I don’t think I’ve ever gone skiing without pulling out the strands first. Believe it or not, my first viral TikTok was a slut strand tutorial video in 2019. I think it’s a fun way of self-expression, particularly for those who want to show off their feminine side in an industry that has historically been so male-dominated. Plus, it’s cute, I promise!
Can you talk a little bit about how you got through the ups and downs of your injury? As someone who identifies as an athlete, having that taken away from you – especially an activity that is such a part of your routine – can really mess with your sense of self.
Oof, yeah. Great question. Before I share how I managed it, I want to acknowledge just how hard it can be—I think the tendency for a lot of athletes is to stay positive externally and to keep to the silver linings where possible, but that can easily border on toxic positivity and can further isolate others who are suffering in similar ways.
I snapped my fibular head and tibial plateau bones in my left knee in a ski accident in December 2023. For months, I was experiencing debilitating pain, but my MRIs were clear, and doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I tried everything—medication, physical therapy techniques, injections, rest, you name it—but nothing worked. I eventually was able to find an orthopedist in September who came up with a theory (proximal tibiofibular instability, an extremely rare injury that only ever happens with full knee blow-outs and almost never in isolation like mine), but he couldn’t confirm whether his theory was correct without opening up my knee via surgery. I feel like this context is important because, for me, the hardest part of this injury hasn’t even been the pain/identity crises but the baseline of not knowing what’s wrong, and having to advocate and beg doctors to help me for 8+ months without getting anywhere.
Recovering from long-term injuries is an absolutely brutal journey of mental health lows and identity crises, so I want to acknowledge everyone who’s struggling through one of those lows. You aren’t alone, and letting yourself grieve, feel those feelings, and embrace the “hard” is a really important aspect of the recovery. It’s a horrible trauma, and pretending it isn’t doesn’t help anyone.
So, on to management techniques. First, I sought professional help immediately. I have never experienced the lows of extreme chronic pain + depression that I did this year, and it would have been foolhardy to try to manage that on my own. I have a therapist that I know and love, and I saw her early and often to make sure I had a consistent line of communication throughout the process. I also got myself on an SSRI, and it has really helped lift me to a place where I can more effectively manage those depressive spells when they come up. I know there’s a lot of stigma around taking brain-altering medication, and I honestly had a lot of reservations as a result, but I couldn’t recommend exploring this path more for anyone who’s struggling with injury-related depression.
Second, expanding your sense of self beyond sport is super important. You are more than your sport. You are more than just an athlete. Each and every one of us is a complex, multi-faceted, interesting person, and I try to think of this time away from sport as an opportunity to explore those other parts. It’s not an easy process, but when is real important growth ever comfortable? Explore new hobbies, talents, or interests and see what sticks—you never know what might light you up if you don’t try. I poured myself into writing this year, and having the time to do that has been such an unexpected gift. I’ve always wanted to write a novel, and here I am, almost done with my second! Sure, it’s not quite as electric and exciting as skiing pow, but I also think developing these other parts of ourselves will make us better, more rounded athletes once we do return to sport.
What do you think is missing from the market in terms of performance ski apparel for women?
One of my biggest ski apparel icks is when a brand will release a performance, technical piece for ski touring—like the lightweight jackets from Trew or the Cham from Strafe—but only make it for men. It happens all the time, as if women don’t also require ultralightweight pieces for ski touring. What the hell is that about? Don’t get me wrong, I understand that female participation in action sports like backcountry skiing is smaller than men’s, but that’s absolutely no excuse for ignoring (and offending) such a large demographic of potential consumers. When you put out jacket like that and only make it for men, you’re explicitly telling women that we don’t belong in those spaces, and that’s absolutely not okay. We belong and deserve to take up space! So, ski apparel brands that are seeing this, please make more women-specific ultralight backcountry layers and give us some color options that aren’t just pink and light blue!! Thanks!
If you made it all the way down to the bitter end, I know you’re a Sweat Lookbook die-hard (thank you!). If you’re craving even more TSL, I kicked off the week (year?) in style, sharing some of my brand x sports collaboration wishes with the team at PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS . Check it out here.
What are CBK’s sneaks in that red sweatshirt ‘fit? So good! And HNY Lee!🩵
I love how one post goes from schlub to absolute badass with Emily Banks. I want to be both :) we contain multitudes!! Thanks for introducing us to Emily, and I hope she’s well on her way to big tours and more this winter!