(Photo: 247PapsTV/Splash News/Corbis (Rihanna); Christopher Peterson/Splash News/Corbis (Russell))

�If sweatpants are a sign of defeat, then I don’t want to win,� says Julie Schott, a beauty editor who’s made the track-ready trousers�paired with heels�somewhat of a signature. The unlikely combo has cropped up recently as part of the Jenna Lyons�esque embrace of stark contrasts: feathers with chambray, a boiler suit with an evening clutch.

Rihanna, who’s worn the juxtaposition several times, including piped gray sweatpants with strappy black Manolo Blahnik Chaos heels for an airport jaunt, is a poster girl for the look. Grace Clarke, a copy editor at Madewell, calls this strategy �little accents of I’m Still a Woman Lest My Trashbag Silk Trousers Confused You.� Her accessory of choice is �single-soled, patent-leather Manolo BB’s if I’m allowed to be picky, and when you’re wearing leisurewear out of the house, you sort of have to be.� Unlike the trends that trickle down to the masses, this one seems thoroughly New York and thoroughly undilutable. The slob-from-the-waist-down, socialite-from-the-toes-up look just wouldn’t play anywhere else. It takes a certain New York ballsiness to head out of your apartment in IDGAF chic.