Well, I mean, do you look something like that? I imagine my readers as very good looking. But if you're this good looking, you don't need to wear leggings, you just need to eschew shorts, because, as you know, there is an Althousian veto on shorts (unless it's hotter than 80° or you're engaged in a sport where shorts are required). But should you wear leggings because they are comfortable?
... I know a lot of guys who wear leggings around the home to watch DVDs, lounge around before Premiership games or surf the Internet. But actually on the street, never mind into a nightclub or bar? Yet, the truth is that leggings are way more comfortable than pants and that if we fellows were not all so uptight and worried about our status we would have all begun wearing them a long time ago. So hats off to Castiglioni, and on with the leggings.Hmmmm.... do you know a lot of guys who wear leggings around the house? I think only guys who say "around the home" know a lot of guys who wear leggings around the house. Or guys who can write things like this:
These leggy knits were paired with mercerized cotton jerkins, snug little Rude Boy with manners jackets and Two Tone era skinny ties – a big Milan trend. Marni shoes were also real winners, knobby workerist boots in bottle green or metallic gray with subtle strips of contrasting color like burgundy.And I'm going to assume they look astonishing in leggings, so I say, yeah, get out of the house... the home... in those leggings. You'll look like Romeo... or Baryshnikov:
And if you don't, you know you're not wearing leggings around the... house now. You're wearing sweat pants. And if you go outside: Put on some pants.
ADDED: In the comments Palladian reminds us of the joyous expression leggings unleash. [UPDATE: Photo link went dead, and whatever it was we were "reminded" of back in 2007 is no longer there to jog our memories.]
But don't get carried away:
MORE: It worked for Errol "in like" Flynn:
Posts
44 comments:
Leggings!
"I know a lot of guys who wear leggings..." That's total BS! I don't believe it for a minute. No, it's probably true but it just tells me how completely middle American I am. I don't think there's even somewhere for "a lot of guys" to shop for leggings. Goodness.
You imagine this reader correctly
My measuring stick of all things masculine is still my dad.
If I can imagine him wearing, doing, something, anything -- it's macho. If I can't, it's not.
I've rarely seen my dad in shorts...so leggings? Especially burgundy leggings? Well, I'm sorry.
As you rightly pointed out below, the only guy's guy who could wear leggings and look like he was going to nail Jessica Lange later, was Baryshnikov.
BTW, the caption in the Yahoo photo:
Model walks the runway at the Marni Men's show during the Fall 2007 Fashion Week in Milan on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007.(Fashion Wire Daily/Gruber)
Doesn't the lad have a name? Some reporting.
Cheers,
Victoria
Uh, right.
Wrong.
Just say "NO" to leggings.
Even when running in below freezing temps, I wear a pair of Adidas Astro II pants which, while tighter than traditional sweats, sure as hell aren't tights (or "leggings").
And the whole "house" v. "home' deal is another tip, along with the exhortation to wear leggings, to a lifestyle and orientation choice most men relatively disinterested in "fashion" do not share. So the guidance value approaches nil, at least from that angle. Should the sweet young things populating the bars on Thursday through Saturday nights reward the leggings set over the jeans or khaki set, then you'll see changes.
Maybe.
But certainly not until then.
The girls at GoFugYourself must be having fits over this. They are crusading against the return of leggings for females of all ages... there's no way they will stand for this.
Unless you are Baryshnikov, or someone working in a similar profession, you have no business even thinking about wearing leggings. And even Baryshnikov wouldn't wear them out of the house unless he was on his way to or from the studio and didn't have time to change.
And if you're wearing sweats at home? Fine. But as Ann says, put on some pants before you leave the house. It's a (small) measure of our cultural decline that people put their own comforts above a sense of propriety. There is plenty of comfortable clothing out there; there's no excuse for walking around in your pajamas and/or underwear.
"I imagine my readers as very good looking."
You should see me when I have my loincloth on.
Sometimes, when it's really cold outside, I put on the loincloth with the fur on the inside.
Don't need no leggings, unless they're made of deer hide.
See, this is what is wrong with Althouse, the blog.
Palladian and Ann post pictures from Brueghel and of Malcolm McDowell, and what they they point out in them? The leggings!
Hello. Codpieces. Enormous, huge, varied.
Sheesh, you people.
P.S.: I once told my tutor at my college that one day, I would pen a book entitled "The Rise and Further Rise of the Codpiece", and I meant it too.
Cheers,
Victoria
After I get home from the opera, and hand my dinner jacket to the butler, I usually spend the rest of the evening sitting around in boxer shorts and tennis socks. But you've given me a really good idea, with the leggings. And the problem in this neighborhood is not the "men", it's the "women". The women are the ones who insist on wearing track suits to go to the grocery store. And track suits (even Gucci) are just sweat pants.
I'm wearing a codpiece right now - over my leggings.
And yes, I'm warm. Really, really snug. But warm.
Warm and snug. And cute.
There's a corporate meeting room in New York City where they have portraits of former Chamber of Commerce presidents. My favorite is the guy circa 1800 in a red velvet suit, the lower half of which consists of knee breeches. So certainly tight red leggings have been favored by highly successful businessmen at some times and places.
None of my ancestors that far back was important enough to have a portrait painted, so I don't know exactly how they dressed. My dad is a bit of a metrosexual, though, so maybe he would go for this reincarnation of tight male leg coverings.
Leggings? Please!
My daughter looked at my bare feet and sad "Daddy, you need a pedicure." I informed her that men like me do not get pedicures. "What kind of men do get pedicures?" Men without daughters honey.
Trey
I want to see Malcolm McDowell in one of those "Got Milk?" ads back in his Clockwork bowler and painted on eyelash: "Got Moloco?"
This afternoon, during football, I feel it's only just to wear leggings and a codpiece just to ReBrueghelize my house...
Looking like Baryshnikov
in leggings would require quite a stretch.
re: codpiece-ish ugh! And speaking of 'ugh!' why does he continually grab at his crotch or am I misinterpreting his hand movements?
It used to be proper for the manliest of men to wear leggings and ponytails!
Here in the frigid Northwest men wear leggings around the house all the time, except they call them "long johns". They are the pilly, fuzzy, baggy butt kind of leggings real men wear.
I long ago learned to stick with invisible-Dad clothes, such as Chinos, full-placket cotton-blend shirts and a cardigan sweater or fleece jacket.
By the time this question is resolved current fashion will have changed again . . . and I will still have my Chinos.
Those who opt for leggings today are playing to the tastes of male side of the fashion editorial staff of the NYT, not the female side.
I suspect the former look at Baryshnikov and the fellow on the runway from the same general perspective as Ann, Victoria and Ruth Ann are.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Edmund: Yes. Today could be one of the most important days of my life so far. Percy, I shall require my most splendid garments for the ceremonies.
Percy: (bows) Certainly, My Lord. Hat, My Lord?
Edmund: Trojan, I think.
Percy: Boots, My Lord?
Edmund: The Italian.
Percy: ...and codpiece, My Lord?
Edmund: Well, let's go for the Black Russian, shall we? It always terrifies the clergy!
Does anyone remember Eldridge Cleaver and his Cleaver Pants
Ah, those French.......
A gentleman should not be seen wearing anything that has not, at some point in the fitting, needed his tailor to enquire on what side Sir dresses.
Funny though how tailors never remember.
Angelo Bronzenoze
Peter:
When the answer is "straight down the middle", a supporter of some sort is in order.
"It used to be proper for the manliest of men to wear leggings and ponytails"
Leggings and breeches are different things! What we call "leggings" are actually more properly called hose. Breeches are the forerunners of modern pants and had a looser fit.
I don't think the fashion industry really expects men to wear leggings. But it's probably more of a push towards slimmer fitting pants and jeans, which has been gathering steam for the last year or so.
Guess it's time to get rid of all those boot cut jeans.
dtl -
Guess it's time to get rid of all those boot cut jeans.
I just ordered 5 pairs from Eddie Bauer!
Noooooooooooooooooooo!
vnjagvet - the 'middle of the road' option is probably only relevant to a virgin males who has never masturbated. Are there any such?
"But it's probably more of a push towards slimmer fitting pants and jeans, which has been gathering steam for the last year or so."
I really hate this trend. I don't much like the hugely over-sized "I have no body under here" hip hop look either, but I find something particularly pernicious about all the hipster guys with twiggy, heron-like legs wearing those tight jeans that I couldn't even fit an arm into. Come on, men! Eat a sandwich or two and spend a few afternoons laying bricks or something. I'm for big, hairy thighs. You're men, remember?
I can attest that not only do they look great, men's leggings are also comfortable!
What a great little thread this is.
I ell-oh-elled many times at the posts, especially at Tmink's pedi-anecdote about his daughter, and Terry's long-john remark.
YEAH LONG-JOHNS! Remember them?
Always scratchy, sometimes in odd colours, with back-flaps which your granddad sometimes forgot to button up, giving the family a much unwanted peak at the patriachal backside.
And why do I have Monty Python ballad running through my mind...
"He's a lumberjack! And he's okay!"
Best thing about long-johns are that no metrosexual would be caught dead in them.
Consequently, there's much to recommend them.
Cheers,
Victoria
I/m with Palladian on this one. You folks are talking about "tights"
Leggings are leg pieces without a torso section.
e.g. what Otzi wore.
http://www.archaeologiemuseum.it/f01_ice_uk.html
The Iceman wore leggings. They were composed of a number of pieces of leather sewn together length-wise with animal sinews and tapered near the bottom. They were made of domestic goat hide. The leggings were about 65 cm long and covered the thighs and lower legs. In this sense they were not really a pair of trousers but more like two separate sleeves.
Only if we get to bring back snuff boxes, wigs and duelling.
They really don't look like leggings to me, but rather tights. The whole outfit is as stupid looking, if not more so, than almost any you see female models wearing. What is this sport coat and brief case along with the leggings/tights? Is he trying to be comfortable? Or go to work?
I am sitting writing this wearing a pair of Patagonia pile pants. It is a balmy 3 degrees (F) outside, so I am at least thinking cold. But I can and do wear them under snow pants skiing, so they have some functionality. Not today - two pair of long underwear should be sufficient.
But more importantly, I was raised by a woman who would put on a skirt to go to the store, and so wouldn't think of going to the store in that sort of thing (leggings, tights, or pile pants). Neither would any of the other men in my family, including my father.
Finally, as to tighter jeans, here in CO, we have always seen such, even in midst of the all those gansta pants. That is what the cowboys (or wanta bes) wear. Of course, that too is a style, as my grandfather grew up on a ranch around the turn of the (last) century, and the cowboys back then wore fairly loose jeans - stuffed inside their boots.
Nevertheless, I am old enough that I don't have to follow these sorts of fads. So, I wear somewhat relaxed fit jeans, not all that different from what I was wearing 40 years ago. Oh, and that tight jeans fad isn't going to work here in CO (outside the cowboy circuit) because if you ski, bicycle, etc. a lot, your legs will be too big for them.
So, I have a body like Baryshnikov (20 years of martial arts with full-contact cred, currently a dancer), dress left, will wear sweats to do dirty work in my own yard, prefer looser cut jeans, think chinos are TRULY for invisible men (who the eff wants to be invisible?!!), and guess what? I wear tights/leggings in rehearsals and classes and the women dancers love 'em, and I feel the love, mmm-hmmm! You manly-men are 'fraidy-cats. And yes, I wear a kilt too (dress center!). Locked in your tiny little boxes of what's OK. You too, Ann. Oh, and as for Errol, I can fence rapier and dagger too, and own such.
Wow, Nataraj. You're Karl Lagerfeld's dream man.
If you own a monocle, you're in like Flynn!
Cheers,
Victoria
Yay! As a straight women I think men in leggings are hot! To the people being mean just because its not their thing I say to each their own. Everyone is an individual not someone who can only dress as you say. They are only being different and I say more power to them!
I'm a 23 year old metrosexual male. I personally think leggings are a wonderful concept at that! I think females need to stop whining and feeling akward about men who want to wear leggings! "Gender is nothing more than a physical construct." It has nothing to do with what sex they are. Both men and women can and do actually percieve the world in similar ways. A man doesn't always like to wear heavy, thick and dark apparel. We too enjoy the luxuries of lfe like silk and nylon. Clearly a man that is well built and assertive like most men, but perhaps is better groomed and enjoys wearing leggings doesn't mean he is any less of a man. A man or woman is determined based on how kind, helpful and positive we are toward others, not what we eat, wear, sleep in, or how we act like outside of these pathetic gender roles created my society that something thought up as being the ONLY way. It simply doesn't work that way. Individuals are very complex living beings with mixed emotions, new developing feelings about ourselves and others, and our own need to be distinctive among others. In conclusion, open-mindedness and the ability to let change occur is not a punishment but a gift to express oneself and enjoy life on higher and newer levels. Judge not another and they won't judge you!
Now for all the men out there. Give it a try if you choose. Fear of rejection means you are dependent on what others think and want of you.
It’s time that we ALL wear leggings. Choose a well made pair - not with cotton fibers that bag out over time but a high tech fiber that retains it shape. Get over the body image constraints and just wear them. Go for the comfort and support. Leggings that go to the ankle have a greater positive visual aesthetic than capri style that chop the leg. Plus the full length leggings support you from your ankle to your waist and give you an energetic lift. Laugh, Live, Love & Enjoy! Check out www.UnJeans.com
whats wrong on straight guys wearing leggins? i dont think its weird...why dont u women feel weird when wearing boys short? ASK URSELF BEFORE JUDGING 'WE' GUYS!!!
men still can wear leggings or tights as it unisex also it help leg muscle more comfortable and protect from cramp or injury or weak muscle that important to wear it... i wear leggings and yeti boots in the winter and wear tights and denim shorts in the hot summer that helps my health.... it still allow for men to wear it.. dont ingore if u have any problems with legs
Seriously!!! No one should demand that it's "not manly enough". Screw those people you should wear what you want ! The days of men can only wear jean and slacks are over. It's all up for grabs. I wear leggings and I love them. And I'm a manly damn man. Why can women who less than 50 years ago couldnt wear pants in public, can wear whatever they want ? But men cannot? Cause American population cares only about what's sexy. Double standards. Hell in the time of the pyramids only men wore eyeliner and makeup. Not that I want to wear that. But what ever I want to wear as long as my shlong is not in public view then it shouldn't matter. Clothes should be comfy.
Why not? I live in Baton Rouge, and, because of resultant swelling from 3 brown-recluse spider bites I got in late 2013, physicians told me that, in order to keep my feet from literally rotting off my body, i needed to wear medical pantyhose, as a preventative measure.
In the past, I had worn compression tights and leotards while biking, but not as everyday attire. Well, let me tell you...these spider bites changed my life...totally. For nearly two full years, my sole purpose was to help the skin on my legs and arms heal. Once the pain was tolerable, and the hundreds of surface lesions had healed over, I began going out in public again, This time, wearing tights, leotard, and usually a t-shirt, when it's warm, and winter jacket during the few times that it gets cold.
So far, thank God, no-one seems to have any problem with my choice of clothes. I absolutely love them..,.the comfort, and I've been told by many women, that, for an older guy, I look pretty sexy! My thoughts: my new "clothes" serve a purpose, look cool, feel great, and has not affected my maleness in any degree!
Back in 2007 I see many people were still touting the usual social pressure to "look like everyone else, or you're not "socially acceptable". My word to that, is "get stuffed!" 😁. This is the 21st century, a time when people, whether male or female, should be able to wear what is comfortable and not made to feel like a social outcast, because you choose "comfortable clothing" over what makes others "comfortable". Leggings, like any piece of clothing, are clothes. They're as much pants as track pants and jeans. While I agree there are some are good and bad ways to wear leggings(applies to all clithing). No man or woman should ever be ridiculed for their choice in clothing.
I happen to be a man who wears leggings. A normal heterosexual male. My choice in clothing is partly, due to bad knees that ache painfully. Leggings are the only item of clothing that minimises the problem. They're also damn comfortable. I do wear them both with and without shorts and wear them everywhere. So yes, I am a person who does prefer to place my own comfort levels above the comfort of others. Which another way of saying:- I dont care what others think!
Having respect for others, is important. Disagree if you must, but have respect.
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