As casual wear has become the norm for many jobs and activities in these last few years, it’s easier to own a larger selection of clothing. Comfort seems to be towards the top of the many features of clothing that people look for. What started off as being a typical pair of baggy sweat pants or athletic pants transformed and has slowly gotten thinner and tighter. In 2010, yoga pants disrupted the market and were sold at many retailers. The comfort they brought was the main reason they were such a hit. As the whole “skinny pant” trend moved forward, yoga’s became skinnier and eventually turned into yoga-leggings.
Even though leggings aren’t completey new, they disappeared for about 10 years. The first pair of leggings I wore had a band around the foot in the 90’s and I didn’t think they were trendy at all. I actually kept them in the bottom of my drawer. Now, it seems like that’s all I see people wearing.
As the demand for them grows every day, nearly every retailer that sells clothing has a rack of leggings too. They come in a variety of colors, prints, styles and lengths. They make printed and colorful ones, wool and fleece-lined, leather or knit, performance and athletic, cropped or full length and the list never ends.
Jeans are still popular, girls often own multiple pairs of leggings that they wear more often or that they change into when they get home. While leggings can be dressed up, they were originally designed as a comfort item. As the demand continues to grow, they get cheaper and thinner, making some of them sheer when bending over. Due to this, there’s a wide controversy about whether or not leggings are pants.
The technical definition for pants in the dictionary is: “usually a loose-fitting outergarment for the lower part of the body, having individual leg portions that typically reach to the ankle, but sometimes to any of various otherpoints from the upper leg down.” Simply put, a loose garment for the lower part of the body that can come in various lengths.
Considering pants are defined as “loose” and leggings are typically tight fitting, many say they don’t qualify. The ideal design of leggings was first something similar to tights, where they were supposed to be worn under longer tops and dresses. Overtime, they just became a form of everyday attire.
As many high school and college-aged girls wear these to early classes, it’s hard to get the picture in mind that they aren’t business professional. Being that casual wear is the new uniform at many jobs, a skin-tight fabric that shows your bottom’s perfect silhouette isn’t exactly the image companies have in mind.
Throught the recent years, people have begun to accept them more as standard pants than they did about five years ago. They are showing up in the misses and women’s departments rather than just the juniors departments. However, many middle-aged people still think it’s inappropriate to walk around with something so revealing and refuse to accept it. Many schools have even banned them from their dress codes.
As a college student myself, I own just as many pairs of leggings as I do jeans. Girls like me tend to think that leggings match everything and they are comfortable. Many forget that just because they are affordable and comfortable, that it doesn’t mean they provide the desired coverage. It’s important that while staying trendy with aztec prints and warm with fleece-lined leggings that you know the quality of them before wearing them as pants. A good tip is “the bend-over” rule. Putting on a pair of leggings and bending over in front of a mirror tells you how thin and revealing your bottoms are. If you can bend over and see nothing, they pass the test. If they are sheer enough to see panty lines or skin, they should be worn with a longer top or dress.
Unacceptable as pants:
Acceptable as pants:
One place where leggings are not such a controversial topic is performance. They make leggings for athletic and sport activities and most of these companies pass the bend-over test. Tighter, compressed pants make workouts easier. However, most people don’t wear their workout clothing after the gym, which is why it’s not as big of a controversial topic.
Being there’s still arguments today, leggings are not the type of bottoms recommended to wear to an important event such as meeting someone’s parents, a job interview, jobs (unless specified), or any other meeting that shouldn’t be risked. Considering leggings are a comfort item, you can come off as lazy and careless, even though your top and shoes may say otherwise. Though you may not agree and believe that they indeed are a form of pants, it’s important to understand why someone else disagrees and how to avoid any awkward encounters. If you choose to wear them anyways, make sure you keep it tasteful like the picture below: