Athletic dresses are becoming everyone’s favorite fashion staple this summer, and with good reason. They’re the perfect outfit to throw on when you’re checking off all those bucket list items over the next few months.

Athleticwear lines across the globe are putting their spin on the trending athleisure dress, and now some pretty unlikely brands are selling athletic dresses, too, including the supermarket chain, Aldi.

That's right, the place where I buy my discounted groceries also features athletic dresses in their aisles alongside sunscreen and pool toys. How random.

The dress is a classic tennis dress silhouette - a fit and flare with a scoop neckline, razor back, and a micro pleated skirt offered in a lush green or black. While all other tennis dresses I’ve invested in are at least $40, this dress only costs $14, which is a proper steal. 

Made with typical athleticwear fabric of 84% polyester and 16% spandex, it looks like a pretty solid knock-off of a lot of other athletic dresses on the market that cost double, triple, or even quadruple the price. 

This dress is perfect to try if you’ve been wanting to buy into the dress trend, but didn’t want the high price tag. 

Unfortunately, this dress is only offered for a limited weeklong run, so you better hurry. 

It's worth noting, however, that fashion at all price levels is in a "pickle" at the moment.

Designs, styles, and graphics that used to be completely exclusive to the designers, are replicated and copied with ease.

For example, a luxury athletic dress from Free People can now be found at a miniscule fraction of the cost on Amazon or Shein that are near exact copies. Sometimes, even the tags are exactly the same. Viral videos are all over the internet featuring people trying on the lululemon Align leggings and comparing them to the replicas from CRZyoga from Amazon in a shockingly tough spot-the-difference kind of game. 

They’re almost exactly alike. You seriously cannot tell the difference.

On one hand, I love a deal. I love the idea that fashion doesn’t have to come with a high price tag. Fashion shouldn’t be exclusive. And having good taste isn’t just because you can afford it. Don’t we all love “Balling on a budget” as the millennials used to say. But there's something about blatantly stealing and copying designs that makes me feel icky. 

Sure, a tennis dress is just a tennis dress. It’s not the most complicated or groundbreaking design. But at the same time, it’s still a copy. And what starts with a tennis dress can easily escalate to an entire collection. 

And no, Aldi’s dress isn’t one of those exact copies of the Free People dress. I’d say it takes inspiration from it. Aldi isn’t actively contributing to the huge fashion problem right now, but it’s certainly not helping. 

At the end of the day, wear what you want to wear on the court, but it doesn’t hurt to be a little more conscientious of what you’re swiping your credit card for. 

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