Surely none of you fine readers, especially those who weren’t even a twinkle in your beloved father’s eye back in the ’80s, would sink to wearing leggings as pants. Let’s all say “eeeeiuw!”
No, leggings are tights. Which just may be the reason I’m having a little more trouble adapting to the idea of wearing them under shorts. Have a look at these pictures, what do you think? Would you wear leggings under shorts?
OK, first I must admit that back in the 80’s I did wear the whole big long tunic/t shirt top with just leggins underneath. Hey, I was an impressionable teen (remember my comment about wearing fashions we shouldn’t have?)
I think for most people that wearing leggins, especially ones that end and then have bare legs below, would chop your legs up into too many verticle lines, making them look shorter and stockier than they are.
If you are young and slender like the girl in the photos you could probably “get away” with it, but at this point I personally wouldn’t bother trying. . .
Well I wore leggings in the 80s too, and I really thought that the trend would never resurface. I would have been less surprised to see bustles back in fashion!
I only have a teenage boy but my teenage niece said it was a good idea, wearing tights under her soccer shorts. When I said it was fashion, not sports gear, she laughed. When I told her I wore leggings way back when, she thought I was joking.
So for one teen, I don’t thing they’ll catch on. 🙂
For myself, definitely not.
But I do wear black capri length leggings with my black wrap dress & heels sometimes. And I didn’t think I’d do that, either!
On another note, I saw a young woman wearing cute layered tank tops, skinny jeans tucked into boots last week. And it was some hot. I have no idea at all how she did it!
I can’t see myself wearing leggings at all, ever. Not as pants, under dresses, or least of all under shorts! Maybe my sensibilities are just too conservative…
well, first of all, i think the fashionable gal in question (in the photos) is not a teen, she’s in her mid-20s…25 to be exact (from her profile and also knowing her via the internet). she’s a member of wardrobe_remix, the flickr group i created, and these photos were taken for that group.
to me, leggings are a piece of clothing that can be used as a layer among layers. izzy, the young woman in the photograph, lives in what many would define as a colder climate: montreal, canada. i too live in a cold climate that actually requires layers almost all year round: san francisco, california. you do what you can to stay warm, if not fashionable. i’m just about 32 and i wear leggings on occasion unashamedly, because it’s COLD.
leggings, regardless of their having been originated in the 1980s or having been worn then does not automatically turn them into a horrible piece of clothing that happens to cover the body, never to be worn again. i believe that anything is up for grabs, stylewise…LITERALLY.
izzy, in those photographs, is wearing the leggings more like a pair of tights, if you really look at the photos carefully, especially in the one with the boots. in some photos, they happen to be more in the guise of footless tights. she never wears them alone (sans shorts, skirt or dress), like they were worn in the 1980s. she’s really just playing with shape, color, proportion, and layering effects. wearing leggings under a pair of shorts is really no different than wearing them under a skirt…they are about the same length, the shorts just have a shape that’s bifurcated.
she’s being experimental, trying new things, feeling out new ways of wearing things…which is her way, and i support it too, because i feel that risk taking moves fashion forward. it may occasionally shock or confuse others, and it may not always look great, but i admire people for trying…for reaching out, striking out, and shaking things up. sometimes people can strike upon something really great, and i feel like that’s the point of fashion. to try things and to above all, have fun.
but being the opposite of charitygrace, perhaps i am not conservative at all! 😛
First off, I think most of us would agree with Tricia that Izzy is certainly to be admired for the style that she is carving out for herself! I love it that there are people out there who are creative and innovative and “experimental” with what they wear. Wouldn’t life be so boring if everyone dressed like me? 🙂
With that said…Tights under shorts are totally not my style. Besides the fact that I don’t really care for the look, when I did try leggings as a young child, my knees looked positively ridiculous (I’ve always been somewhat self-conscious about them). So to answer your question, Rebecca, no, I wouldn’t wear them.
Yeah. The reason I linked to the photos of Izzy is because she looks good in it, not because she looked like a teen. What I always wonder is if I’m going to have a hard time warming up to an idea and then end up liking it, precisely because of the Izzys and Tricias in the world.
That said, my teens do wear what they call spandex under basketball shorts, even bright purple spandex with royal blue or some other bright color, and it’s very practical for events like dance class. (With the mis-matched bright Chucks, of course.) 🙂
Personally, I need to remember to wear leggings or footless tights to ameliorate the nakedness feeling when transitioning from pants to skirts in the summer. Perhaps I should also have asked if you think I should wear shorts and leggings. I’m still deciding.
Definitely, Izzy is gorgeous and the look on her is amazing.]
Personally, I would not wear shorts over tights because I no longer have slim legs and they are also quite short.
I lived for many years in Montreal and I agree, it’s cold, and you need to be sensible as well as fashionable. For example, many women here in NYC never wear tights or hose….just bare legs 365 days a year. It really does not look fashionable or appropriate on those rare cold and snowy days we have here.
I admire the look on her, but I just couldn’t and shouldn’t be wearing tights unless under a dress or my classic knee length skirts.
but see…i wonder why it’s a “shouldn’t”? who makes the rules? why is it somehow inherently “wrong” to wear some tight under shorts?
I did do that when I was a teenager, but as an adult I would NOT do it now. For teens I think it is cute. Its young, it has a little edge to it (even if everyone else is doing it), and it stops them from showing too much skin or inappropriate exposing themselves in really short shorts. I think they look cute.
I might extend the above to college students in their early 20s, but not beyond that.
For me, no, certainly not, I’d sooner die.
For others though… it looks amazing! I have no clue how they pull it off, but I think it’s something to do with their confidence. If I were to wear them, I’d feel awkward and want to check every two seconds to make sure I don’t look silly…
But I think it’s also my getting used to it. I’m seeing it around so often that I don’t even blink any more. now, if she were to start wearing legwarmers with that and ballet flats… I’d do a double-take and (initially), hate it. It’s all bout getting used to it…
Tricia ~ I’m so glad you’re here, because I wonder the same kind of things sometimes (I think about this stuff an awful lot). I think Christine used the term “shouldn’t” in reference to whether the look would be aesthetically pleasing if she wore it. But I think something else is going on here.
The other night I wore my vintage lizard dance shoes with my short-sleeved pants. When I asked my husband for his opinion, he declared something was just “wrong”. I wore it anyway. He didn’t mean like it was morally wrong, just that in his mind shorts are leisure and the shoes were very dressy. (This from a guy who used to go to weddings in shorts, dress shirt and tie!)
I think that is what gives me pause about accepting shorts with tights, more than skirts with tights. Because they cross over what is considered natural pairings: summer (shorts) with winter (tights) and leisure (shorts) with dressy (tights). And yet, for the reasons you pointed out, it’s a practical pairing. And I think they are slightly messy looking, but no more so than a long sleeved shirt under a tank top, a combination I am wearing right now (and mine’s even messier looking because the seams are on the outside of the tank top).
As Rebecca mentioned, I think leggings and shorts are a “shouldn’t” for me specifically, one I’ve imposed on myself alone. l I would feel uncomfortable, unattrative and it would not follow my personal style aesthetic.
The only fashion rules I think anyone should follow are to have fun, and to develop your unique style, no matter your age, occupation, weight and personal style preferences.
well, I did wear them under skirts but that is not as bad as when I wore long johns under mini skirts! That was the style! Never Again!!
Hmmm, maybe I should have used the term traditional or classic rather than conservative.
Yik!
I think there may be a connection to this and the previous post in dressing like an adult. Let’s face it, most of us couldn’t pull off this look in our circles because of our personal style, lifestyle choices, and the need to present ourselves a certain way to be taken seriously. It definitely works for Izzy, and I would imagine it works for other young, artsy types who have that “Innovative” personal style working for them.
I always get so much out of following the discussions here! I missed it when we were offline awhile looking for a new computer.
I don’t mind or criticize the look in the photos but the way it’s done doesn’t excite me. It does fit in well with other color block type outfits she puts together. I personally like more indistinction and flow.
I own one pair of footless tights and no short shorts. I’m certainly of no age and no degree of slimness in the thigh to wear her look but I would definitely wear a variation of it. I’m liking sleek, fitted layers less nowadays and am liking fold of fabric/shirring more. So I would wear a pair of short shorts with a legging that ended in a leg warmer look.
Where I could possibly wear it is another story. I’d wear it running errands or to an informal community meeting but only if it were in the ballpark of what was seen around. This topic drove home the point to me that while I like to tweak things to make them my own look, in no way do I want to be a fashion innovator.
i think that thats awsome
I like the uniqueness in her style even more simply in the 3rd picture. Although it works because her legs are skinny & of her body type. It just depends if it fits with their lifestyle, & I think it goes for more artsy, vintage, unique. I love it, but I wouldn’t be able to pull it off :(.
I wear leggings and shorts every day. it’s kind of my style, and i think i’ve started a little trend of it at my school too. 😛