The other day, I read a rather distressing article on glamour.com that caused me to promptly “unlike” their page on Facebook. Not just “unfollow”, but “unlike”. So you know that means something big went down.
The article is titled, “The Dos and Don'ts of Wearing Leggings Outside the Gym”, so naturally it caught my attention right away. There are dos and don’ts of wearing leggings? Anywhere? At all? I have never been one to follow fashion rules; I mix grey, black, and blue, I jumble patterns together, and I have definitely worn white after Labor Day (is that even a thing anymore?), so this was news to me.
I was expecting the article to say “Don’t wear leggings to your professional day job”, or something relatively understandable like that. Leggings came into popularity when I was in 7th grade, and I remember originally thinking that everyone looked so stupid, like they had forgotten to put their skirt on before leaving the house. However, that was a good six years ago, and times have changed. Today, leggings are a go-to item in the closet of women across the western world and beyond; they are extremely comfortable, easy to style, and very flattering for most people. However, they have still not become entirely acceptable in the professional world, but that’s fairly similar to saying that sweatpants have not yet become acceptable in the professional world-- they probably won’t, ever, as they just aren’t formal enough.
So, imagine my surprise when I open this Glamour article and the first thing I read is this:
“When it comes to reaching for a pair of really comfy leggings, though, there's one simple rule: Leggings are not pants.”
Excuse me? Ex-CUSE me? One simple rule?
Leggings are not pants. Okay, so what are they? Shirts? Skirts? Scarves? Socks? I’m sorry, Glamour, but I really need to be enlightened, here-- if leggings are not pants, it’s really time these leggings found out about their true identity. This is like that heart-wrenching scene in Elf when Buddy finds out that he’s a human, and not an Elf.
But I digress. It’s enough of a problem that this fashion magazine, which claims to promote positive body image and self love, asserts that leggings are not pants, but it’s even worse that they try to tell women what is okay and not okay to wear, especially when it’s something as great and versatile and NORMAL as leggings. Since when has a room full of women, typing on their laptops with their skinny soy pumpkin spice lattes, somewhere all the way across the country, been allowed to decide what’s appropriate for millions of women to wear? Nope. Not okay.
Here are some highlights of the article.
“Don't: Go for crazy prints or neon colors.” Pardon? I will buy crazy leggings if I want to.
“Don't: Throw on a crop top with your spandex skinnies.” Oh, you mean the single best way to wear a crop top? As if, Glamour.
“Do: Layer on a long-line blazer.”, but “Don't: Take the blazer off”. IS THIS A JOKE?! I will take my blazer off when and if I need to. I overheat very easily, okay? Nice try, but I’m the only one who can regulate my body temperature.
Bottom line is, don’t let a fashion magazine tell you what you can or can’t wear. Especially if it’s leggings.
If you want to read the full offending article, you can find it here: http://www.glamour.com/fashion/blogs/dressed/2015/10/outfits-ideas-for-leggings