Class action

I wore three-inch heels in college. With hip-tight, flared leg jeans, no less. From my lofty view, I would look down on the trainer and slipper-clad, and think them less deserving of fashionable repute. I had thought that a cantilevered posture and a swathed bum made me far superior sartorial-wise. I was 16, young and delusional. And impractical, especially when I had to streak from the Ateneo’s Communications Department to the Bellarmine building nearly a kilometer away, within a five-minute gap. Especially when I had to run while the storms that met every school opening drenched and weighed down my jeans, and seeped into my open-toed stilettos and in between my toes.

I could have easily worn sneakers and gym pants. But during that time, the only sneakers available were those chunky, bubblegum-sweet pairs that cheerleaders wore, which I immediately spelled out as S-O N-O-T M-E. Gym pants may have been insanely more comfortable than fitted denims but the only ones available were so shapeless and baggy — those types girls wore only when they were ballooning up for unexplainable reasons and had no other pairs that fit.

So for three years (I got into a grunge phase in my sophomore year and only wore cut-off jeans, baggy shirts, and soccer sandals as another delusional fashion statement), I wore heels and tight jeans, and learned to beg for rides when I had to rush from one class to another.

At that time, I thought I had very little choice but to sacrifice comfort for style. These days, however, college kids know better than to risk lower back pain and callused feet just to rack up style points. In the last few years, sports brands have been coming up with pieces that successfully fuse performance technology with comfort and high-definition style, such that wearing a more comfortable sporty outfit doesn’t necessarily have you look as if you’re trying out for the track team.

Puma, the well-known global athletic brand that combines influences from sports and fashion offers cool and stylish classics as well as sleek, performance-inspired footwear, apparel and accessories. What was once known only as a sports brand, Puma has slowly but cleverly evolved into what is now considered sportlifestyle: a way of living inspired by the icons of Puma’s sports past. These icons include some of the world’s greatest athletes, from football legend Pele, tennis superstars Guillermo Vilas, Boris Becker, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams, basketball great Walt “Clyde” Frazier to F1 racing drivers Fernando Alonso for Mild Seven Renault, and Michael Shumacher and Kimi Raikkonen for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

The inspiration afforded by these icons can be seen in product lines that range from motorsports, fitness, running, football, golf and F1 racing to the sports-inspired collections of the Heritage line. An ongoing partnership with Ducati motorbikes has also produced a line promoting the luxury motocross brand.

Any style-savvy college kid would recognize the possibilities afforded by Puma’s sportlifestyle pieces. A shirt from the recent French 77 collection (inspired by the pleasure-seeking lifestyle of tennis player Guillermo Vilas who won both the US and French open in 1977) is a no-brainer match to comfy beige slacks from the brand’s classic Heritage line. A dress from the golf collection looks particularly hip paired with thigh-high racing-inspired boots that would probably have Kate Moss quitting cold turkey just to get a pair. Sleek Japanese-style trainers give a minimalist edge to shaped, tight-leg gym bottoms with cargo details, while a brightly colored golf ensemble scores a hole-in-one as much on the green as the classroom scene.

But if you still won't give up your three-inch pumps, try wearing them with Puma's Statement Piece, an ‘80s-style one-piece skirt layered over stretchy leggings. Just make sure you have a nifty ride and a nice, compact class schedule to go along with it.

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Puma is distributed by Cougar Athletic Trends Incorporated (CAT Inc.) and is the sole licensee of Puma in the Philippines since 2006. Puma stores are located at Bonifacio High Street, Glorietta 4, Rustan’s Makati, Trinoma, Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro, and Gaisano Mall in Davao City. Puma will soon open in Festival Mall, Alabang.