Exactly. People like to blame the trend that came with Michael Jordan and wearing sports clothes / athletic clothes for leisure but I don't think people were driven to buy the stuff because they wanted to look like their favorite athlete. People in America started getting fat around the 80s, ever increasing in the 90s and basically, custom-fitting suits and dresses are too expensive for you average lower/middle class slob. I remember back on the 80s before internet shopping, there were still "Big and Tall" shops. The clothes were extremely limited and yes, it was expensive. If you wanted a suit, you just had to get it custom fit at a tailor's.    Even more casual jeans (well, anything not stretchy) becomes unwearable once you become too shapeless and huge; this is where the "sportswear" comes in. It's the only thing immensly globolous people can wear. This also goes hand in hand with the US importing more shit from China. They cleverly saw the opportunity and began to make clothes for these blobs, for a relatively affordable price.  Companies and fashion is changing to please the fat customer. As you saw in these ads, these people do NOTHING but consume. They are depressed and empty without eating and buying - they essentially can't do anything else besides that. "LEGGINGS ARE PANTS" because they have no other alternative, so they will tell you that's how it is. As long as they blow their money on this shit, companies will keep pushing it for profits.