This article may be prompted by the United incident this weekend but ISN’T about it. Put those little girls aside.
Where do leggings have a place in your life? Are they the next best clothing invention next to jeans? Is there a time and place? Boundaries on fit?
I admit to being a huge “athleisure” clothing fan. At home. On the plane. In the office. My office wardrobe nearly everyday Nov-April is a pair of footless tights/leggings and a skirt or dress, above the knee, possible paired with a short cardigan. I get many compliments - you’d think it was a difficult outfit - but it’s not! - grab the leggings, a dress or skirt and DONE. I’m fully comfortable for my job which does require a fair amount of movement and transporting materials to medical offices. It’s FULLY me.
Leggings get a bum rap (pun? ) in my opinion. For every women wearing skin tight leggings with a crop top and panty lines there is another women wearing them appropriately. Doesn’t the same go for other clothing? Jeans can look great or ratty. Dresses can be flattering or too revealing. Shoes can be cute and practical or 6 inches high and not suitable for more than 10 steps.
Men are starting to wake up to athleisure clothing too in the form of khakis from Lululemon (there was a recent article about Jim Harbaugh, Univ of Michigan football coach, his addiction to khakis and his new addiction to Lululemon khakis). Why not if they look and feel good?
The photo in the article above. With appropriate upper half of body clothing, why aren’t these wider bottom yoga pants acceptable as office wear? They don’t wrinkle, lay nice on legs and can look good with a nice small heel or wedge or flats.
What’s your stance on this casual wear? Are you only comfortable indulging while on the elliptical? Are you secretly jealous of those who can pull wearing them off? What’s your beef? How do YOU make athleisure wear appropriate for home, plane, office?
Is this “trend” if it is one, any different than the decades of velour jogging suits we or our mothers endured??!
The link won’t work for me and I can’t see what they paired the leggings with, but I understand they were on a friends and family free pass, and that since they were flying free, they needed to adhere to the Employee dress code. My company does not allow leggings either and therefore I think the airline acted appropriately. If they had paid for their tickets, then they would not need to adhere to the dress code and could wear their athleisure attire.
I think leggings are one of those fashions that started out as a trend that was supposed to pass but turned out to be too comfortable to let go of. Longer tops make them attractive for many body types.
@abasket, I agree with your assessment. This conversation is not about the United situation, though it has prompted a lot of conversations about the topic of leggings. In my opinion, leggings are not tights. If the material is thick and opaque I think they can qualify as appropriate bottoms. For older or heavier women, they are great as a layering option, just like abasket described.
My 15 and 17 year old daughters and their friends wear them all of the time. My daughters have specific leggings for modern or contemporary (or running for the youngest) and other tights that they wear out socially. They wear them with t-shirts or crop tops or longer tunics, with ballet flats or knee high boots and/or sneakers, depending on were they are going… They have been doing so since they were little and wearing Hanna Andersson leggings. I like that they are mid and/or high rise.
I personally feel that low rise and super skinny jeans can be really revealing, as can certain dresses and skirts. I work in a large government law firm and one level down from the female attorneys wear leggings (again, as abasket described) and my supervising attorney has worn them on dress down days with a tunic or dress.
Like many fashions, we may not like them, but that does not make them inappropriate.
Also, feel free to post links of any leggings, yoga pants, etc. athleisure bottoms that DO work for you that you highly recommend! (no thread about clothing should be without buying, right?!)
I am not a leggings person at all. Maybe if I had super skinny legs like when I was a youngster…but that’s 15 pounds ago. I do wear black athletic pants all over (not tight, not baggy), but only to the grocery store or local chores, and in Seattle you can get away with that a lot!
I always wear them on planes (under a knee-length dress) – but mostly for the support! I add compression socks once I’m board. Most of my travel is on long international flights, so it’s a great solution for me. I almost never wear them other places, although they’re quite popular at my work.
I did see an elderly woman wearing tights as leggings that were so sheer, I was embarrassed. And I couldn’t bring myself to tell her, even though I should have. THAT I could do without!
I wear them all the time and love them. I’m a lawyer/executive in a business casual corporate headquarters and a lot of us females are having a great time with the LuLaRoe print leggings. Some of us are braver than others with the prints and mixing the prints. We DO cover our butts and thighs with layering pieces. Like abasket, I get compliments on my outfits every day, and they are SO easy and fun to put together. I have so many pairs of leggings (I might have a little problem…) and I enjoy picking out the pair of the day!
I do NOT like the leggings encased larger butt/hips look without something else over it.
I wear ponte pants that are opaque, thicker than typical leggings and fitted with pretty much anything. They are flattering with a bit of stretch but not form-fitting.
I think leggings are fine under any longer tops or tunics, or pretty much any dresses or skirts.
I have difficulty with folks who wear leggings as pants with short or crop tops–it’s not a look that is flattering on most and belongs in the gym and similar imho.
I wear them all the time in winter - usually with a long tight tee under a shorter sweater. I’m only 110lbs and have a very nice figure - even though I’m 60.
I wear calf length leggings and yoga pants, too, in warmer weather.
I wear thong undies so never a panty line.
I wear booties/flats with leggings in fall/winter and sneakers or sandles in spring/summer.
I consider leggings/yoga pants my running around outfits. I rarely wear them out to dinner or a party. I have several pairs of tight fitting trousers I wear then.
I don’t wear anything baggy - ever.
Brands I like - Comfy, Splendid and lululemon yoga pants.
These are linked in the article and are a nice blend of leggings/pointe pant for a very reasonable price. I personally don’t do the tucked in look. https://www.loft.com/seamed-ponte-leggings/411806
My daughter wears a lot of the ponte pants similar to what you linked to, abasket. I am a big fan of slimmer cut pants and really like J. Crew pants and jeans. I like leggings with a longer top or sweater to cover the rear end and thighs. In my job and at this stage of my career, I don’t see any reason for “dress for success” clothes.
For me, I have no issue with leggings that are layered with a long tunic, dress, or skirt. When it comes to leggings alone with a short shirt that does not cover the hips/rear end…(this is where it gets tricky as I would NEVER want to body-shame anyone!!!)…younger, fit women can get away with them and look great for the gym, running, beach, etc. The problem comes when I see women in see-throughish, tight leggings with little coverage. I have actually been embarrassed a few times, thinking to myself,“if only they had looked at the rear-view in a mirror before going out”. There just isn’t always good judgement when it comes to leggings, so I can understand why many businesses just say no. Our DD2 is very fit and works in the fashion industry. She wears them to the gym/running and looks great, but also says “leggings are NOT pants”. In the end, I don’t have a problem with others wearing leggings, and have seen some really cute ones. I just wish that people would use better judgement with them sometimes. As long as they are layered with a longer top/skirt dress, they are fine. When it comes to pairing them with short tops, (in my opinion only which doesn’t count for much) not everyone can pull it off.
We were on a college re-visit on Monday and most of the young women I saw were wearing longer (past the rear) hoodies and leggings. They looked comfortable and cute, not sloppy. My H noticed, too, although he didn’t get the terminology quite right: “Why didn’t I invent skinny black sweatpants? We’d be rich!”
I wear them around the house, for errands, etc., ALWAYS with a longer top. I like the idea of wearing them under skirts or dresses but am not fashion-savvy enough to come up with good combos on my own (have to wait until D is home to help me, as it’s not the patterns/fabrics of the clothing but the shoes that usually flummox me.)
I also used to wear looser athletic pants everywhere, then three years ago I got into (great) shape and I wear athletic wear leggings or capris (my favorite is Lucy bc they’re pretty high rise). I end up wearing them everywhere because I always workout every day in the morning, so they’re the clothes I put on first thing. If I wear the clothes, I go to the workout (that’s how I trick myself lol). Then I’m just out in the world and if I know I’m going to the store I try to remember to wear a short skirt or dress. But sometimes I end up in leggings and my puffer vest or my shortish workout jacket. And I realize that a few years ago I’d have hated the look on others. But it’s so comfortable and I worked hard and da** I look good (I’m 57). But I confess to not liking the look all the time (nude color leggings without a long enough top-- GULP. People should only wear dark colors. I don’t like the Lularoe look. Saggy loose leggings in someone who hasn’t checked the view–GULP.)
I also appreciate the many variations of length in leggings/yoga pants. The ones I wear to work are crop length (ankle, not capri) but I also love 7/8 and capri for those first spring “warm” days or the first fall “cool” days.
I recently bought a Lole pair that I’m head over heels for.
