Fashion and tech: It's complicated

What I learned from an outfit made entirely of wearables

by Noelle Sciacca

Everything from my hat to my underwear contained some form of tech.

Fashion and tech have a complicated relationship.

While it's becoming clear the two are destined to be soul mates — more designers are collaborating with tech companies to create products and are integrating digital components into their garments — the different worlds are struggling to find their groove.

The fashion crowd is trained to look into the future, making tomorrow's hottest trends palatable for today's consumers. As a whole the industry is embracing technology, recognizing its important role in innovation. But will consumers choose efficiency over style, until the latter catches up? As the tech field advances and is able to create more discreet, flexible and washable materials, fashion can expand, and vice versa. 

In the ultimate test to discover just how practical the relationship is and where my affections truly lie, I wore an entire outfit of wearable technology to New York Fashion Week. I traded my wide-leg leather pants for resistance band leggings, and my shearling coat for a water-resistant jacket with LED lights. Everything from my hat to my underwear contained some form of tech.

A breakdown of my wearable tech look

BOB AL-GREENE/MASHABLE

Walking toward my first show of the day, I felt completely self-conscious about my basic look, and pulled my hat farther down over my eyes. I don't wear workout leggings to run errands. For me they're strictly for the gym. But there I was wearing them to one of the fashion industry's biggest events of the year. Maybe no one will notice, I thought, glaring at my jacket's strobing LED lights.

With every camera that flashed, my confidence rose.

As I got closer to the venue, though, street style photographers stopped me to take my picture and asked which brands I was wearing. I was confused and caught off guard. "Wait, no you've got the wrong idea," I wanted to say. "This isn't VFILES' latest collection. This isn't high-fashion. This wearable tech." 

But with every camera that flashed, my confidence rose. Maybe fashion and technology weren't as polarizing as I had thought. 

If anyone could pull it off, it would be you.

And then came my friends, with the truth.

"Noelle? Is that you? What are you doing?" said an editor from Hearst's Snapchat channel, Sweet. When I explained my experiment and asked what she thought of my look, she responded only with a smile. Burn.

The comments were similar across the board. "I was wondering who was wearing that outfit," an editor at InStyle told me. "I saw you from across the room and didn't recognize you. Well, if anyone could pull it off it would be you." A response which basically means, "I'm not going to make you feel bad since you're already wearing it. It's too late to do anything about it now."

Later in the day a fashion editor at SELF casually commented on my sneakers and leggings: "I don't blame you. I'm at the point in fashion week where I just want to be comfortable, too."

Testing out the LUMO jacket in the dark

JON LYNN/MASHABLE

While the look wasn't a sartorial home run, it wasn't a total strikeout. A head-to-toe wearable tech outfit was received better than I had expected — it just isn't sustainable. Sure, I knew the status of my heart rate, calories burned and distance traveled, but with my watch, socks, bra, hat, and sneakers connected to my phone via Bluetooth, my battery life completely depleted within an hour. Running all of those devices also cost me money, pushing me over my monthly data limit. 

As for my opinion on the items from a style point of view, the reviews are mixed. The Apple Watch compliments my personal aesthetic, so I would definitely wear that again. I liked the underwear and found the moisture-wicking proprieties useful when running around the city. While I wouldn't wear the jacket on a daily basis, I would use it if I was running or biking at night. Theturtleneck was simple and chic and the cooling properties definitely worked. 

I thought I would be bothered by the plastic fitness tracker clipped to my sports bra but surprisingly I barely noticed it. What did annoy me was the fact that I had to wet the sensors inside the bra in order for it to connect to the app. Before I even left the house, the added moisture made me feel balmy and gross. The resistance bands built into the pants pulled the leggings down, causing sagging near the crotch and tush and forcing me to adjust every few minutes. My thighs were sore the next day, though, so they must have been working. 

What actually made me feel most out of place were the socks and shoes. The smart anklets that attached to my socks were bulky and unsightly. After multiple attempts, I was only able to connect the device on my left foot. I still wore the right anklet but it wasn't measuring any data. In a season where comfortable shoes are in vogue, the sneakers still missed the style mark for me. (Our tech editor, however, gave them a thorough review.) As for the cap, while I wasn't totally offended by what a coworker called an "extremely long bill," I won't be wearing it again. I can however see its allure when you want to track your heart rate during a run but don't want to be bothered fitness tracking bracelet. 

At the end of my long and sometimes embarrassing day, I had a better understanding of the relationship between fashion and technology. Right now, the two are feeling out their arranged marriage, but I have every hope it will blossom into a passionate and genuine love.