Styling Challenge: One Sneaker, 5 WFH-Friendly Fits

Not all white sneakers are created equal — anyone who's ever shopped for a plimsoll versus a high-top versus a court shoe is acutely aware of this. But what if there existed a trainer so clean, so well-designed, that it could work with practically any fit you threw at it?

A few months ago, after being tasked with a multi-day styling challenge in which she put together five looks around the same sneaker, Refinery29 beauty writer Aimee Simeon might've found The One: the classic adidas Originals Superstar, given a makeover with slick animal print and gold accents as part of the brand's new Red Carpet Shine collection. "They're equal amounts cute and comfortable," she says. "I usually wear the all-white Superstars, but these were really fun because they were classic with a pop of what felt more modern and trendy. They inspired me to have a little bit more fun with the outfits compared to wearing a one-tone shoe."

Below, see the outfits Simeon built — featuring an impressive range of pants, skirts, and dresses for every conceivable WFH scenario — with the iconic shell toe as their foundation.

Start off the workweek strong with a bold-shouldered power suit tempered with a clean white sneaker. Even if no one can see beyond your upper half on Zoom, getting fully dressed will make it easier to maintain a sense of executive realness as you sit on the couch for the 64th day in a row. "This is the perfect amount of professional without being overly dressed up," Simeon says, noting that, under normal circumstances, a mule or heel would have made the whole effect a bit too stuffy for her liking.

Another plus of the Superstar: being able to go about footloose and blister-free on your socially distanced strolls. "When you're wearing something every single day, you don't want to worry about having to break it in Monday through Wednesday and not being able to enjoy the shoe Thursday through Sunday," she says of the shoe's fresh-out-of-the-box comfort.

For a riveting day of watching tiger documentaries and investigating previously unexplored corners of your apartment, Simeon recommends going pared-back with cropped wide-leg denim and a correspondingly abbreviated jean jacket, broken up with a watercolor top. Add a personality sock in pistachio green to contrast the shoe, and you've got a look that's cute to wear as you make a bracket to determine which chair in the house is your favorite.

"Clean, polished, and very New York," Simeon says of this look — what more could you want in an outfit to pick up coffee to-go? Here, an oat-cortado run has never looked sharper, thanks to a matching skirt and sweater set, finished with a blazer to keep the ensemble as adaptable as our hero shoe. (Wear it as-is at your designated home workspace, sling the dove-gray topper over your shoulders for a walk around the block, etc.) Another styling tip: Keep your hemlines as close to the same length as possible for an "all of this is very intentional" level of cohesion.

If you're not going to wear the glitter tights tonight, then when? This colorway of the Superstar doesn't have a red-carpet moniker for nothing, so Simeon embraced the special-evening-in aesthetic with a black leather mini, contrasting jacket, and the aforementioned sparkle hosiery. Now that's how you go all out for a big night of bopping around virtual happy hours — without being too over-the-top.

For celebrities in the pre-COVID-19 era, the leaving-the-gym paparazzi shot was its own occasion to dress for, one in which the Superstar frequently made a guest appearance as the ideal studio-to-street shoe. Taking a cue from this particular brand of activewear-adjacent style, Simeon fashioned co-ords from separates both in a cream knit — perfect for self-soothing and recalling fond memories of a time in which you could go out simply for the sake of going out.