When it comes to wearing leggings, women have much more options with this piece of garment. Not only they are able to wear them in a variety of ways, but they can also match them to their current outfit. However, not many men wear leggings.
The fact that very few men wear leggings in public places has prompted the question: Why don’t men wear leggings?
There is no reason men shouldn’t wear leggings. Men should wear leggings. They are comfortable, practical, and versatile. In recent years, as well, they have become more acceptable in public settings. Leggings can be worn while exercising or to the office; they even make an acceptable form of dress pants.
Yes, the old adage that a man wearing leggings is creative shorthand for “gay,” but luckily the stigma around the garment has significantly lessened since its initial introduction in North America during the late 19th century. So basically: Men should wear leggings because there’s no reason not to.
However, most men will not be caught dead wearing leggings because of the reasons stated below:
Reasons Why Some Men Don’t Wear Leggings
1. Leggings are form-fitting and not that masculine
You need to know that leggings are traditionally women’s clothing. Just as with most things, there are pros and cons to using them. Although they may have been made for women, it doesn’t mean that men can’t use them. They’re very form-fitting and can be considered sexy on the right person.
The other reason you rarely see men in leggings is that they aren’t particularly masculine. They work well with some outfits, but they aren’t the best choice if your goal is to appear manly and macho. If you want to wear something like this when going out with your friends or on a date, a nice pair of jeans will do just fine while still remaining stylish.
In fact, many people wear jeans as everyday wear so if you stick to darker denim or even a pair of black jeans, no one will notice much of a difference between them and leggings.
The bottom line is that although wearing leggings isn’t necessarily manly; it’s not unmanly either.
READ ALSO: Can Guys Wear Leggings In Public?
2. They are seen as women’s clothing
You might be surprised to learn that many men in the fashion industry believe that leggings are worn by women and not men. The general consensus is that because they’re see-through at the most vulnerable part of the body, they’re inherently feminine and thus not masculine enough for a guy to wear.
Even though all you need to wear your pants is a belt, some guys feel compelled to accentuate their masculinity with other things like an oversize belt buckle or an extra-long pair of pants.
But if these accessories look too much like women’s attire, they’ll be seen as irrelevant accessories of masculinity meant only to be used in conjunction with normcore fashion choices.
3. Male legging wearers can be viewed as effeminate
Ah, the legging. A clothing staple for women around the globe that remains an object of mystery to men: why do women wear those strange garments? What purpose do they serve, and are the benefits worth it?
What is an Effeminate Man? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, being effeminate means: “having qualities and interests more typical of a woman than a man” or “mannered as a woman in speech, behavior, etc.”
To understand why some men avoid leggings while others wear them with pride, we must look at the negative connotations associated with wearing them.
There are two main schools of thought: one that says wearing leggings makes you look feminine and therefore gay; the other says it makes you look weak or less masculine.
The former implies gayness is somehow bad; the latter implies weakness is bad. Both are prejudiced notions based on stereotypes, which aren’t good reasons to judge someone based on their appearance.
4. They don’t come in sizes that fit men
While most leggings are not made to fit men, they can be worn by men. One way they’re fail-proof is that you’ll rarely have an issue with sizing most leggings are cut like a glove, leaving a little extra room at the waist. Also, most brands offer available sizes for men (usually labeled as “men’s”), so it’s easy to find something that fits right off the bat.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about leggings is that they’re totally impractical for men in everyday life.
Legging devotees claim that they wear them while running errands and around town, but I can’t count how many times I’ve been stopped in my tracks by someone saying “Get rid of those horrible pants and put on some leggings.”
Well, guess what? Leggings aren’t for everyday life; we just have different things we do where we don’t want to get caught short. They’re perfect for long hikes or running errands when you don’t want to wear sweatpants or jeans.
When it comes down to it, there are likely many occasions in which wearing leggings would make more sense than wearing other kinds of pants or skirts, leggings just happen to be one of those times.
READ ALSO: Is It Weird For Guys To Wear Leggings?
When Is It Okay for Men to Wear Leggings?
So leggings are an acceptable way to dress, right? What if you don’t feel that they’re so much a costume as they are a necessary garment? Or what if you’ve never bought into the idea of leggings being acceptable undergarments in the first place?
Well, I have no problems with these questions. They’re just part of learning about your personal tastes and preferences. So when is it okay for men to do with their legs?
Here’s the crazy thing: men have been wearing pants forever. Back in the day when people wore fur or leather, we could wear utility jackets or blazers and keep our legs covered as well as we wanted to.
But then came pantyhose, which helped women wear skirts and dresses comfortably all year round because it gave them longer leg coverage.
And then there were stretchy yoga pants called leggings that were designed to give women long-legged comfort through exercise as well as make them look cute while doing it. And there was something in between athletic shorts.
These were stretchy pieces of fabric with an elastic waistband that was meant to be worn underneath gym clothes while running around outside or playing sports on concrete during summer months when wearing skin-tight clothing would just be too uncomfortable.
How to Wear Leggings if You Are a Guy
A lot of guys have a hard time getting over their resistance to leggings. They’re seen as women’s clothing, and even if guys are enlightened enough to not care about that, there’s still the social stigma surrounding them.
But leggings are perfectly acceptable under most long pants, and they look great with a variety of shirts or on their own, the only real difference between men and women is that leggings can be worn as pants by just about everyone.
ALSO READ: Can Guys Wear Leggings Under Jeans?
As far as fashion goes, I’m inclined to think of leggings as an item in the same category as socks: versatile and useful, but not essential. Because just like socks aren’t typically considered a great standalone piece of clothing, so too do leggings need some kind of cover-up but once you realize this fact, you’re free to experiment.
What Are Meggings?
Probably not your question, but it’s an important one: what exactly is a megging? Meggings, a portmanteau of “men” and “leggings” are the traditional leggings that women wear to the gym, except they’re designed for men.
They can either be worn under pants or over shorts as a fashion statement, depending on your personal style. Meggings have been around since 1987 when they were called Jeanette, but only recently became popular with guys in Korea.
However, they’ve mainly been worn by skinny guys who can pull them off without looking like the worst person in the park.
Meggings’ popularity has slowly trickled down to Western culture, where it’s still considered a bit of a joke at this point.
They have yet to catch on in mainstream clothing designs, but you’ll occasionally see brands like Calvin Klein or Hollister attempt to market them as men’s leggings.
ALSO READ: Can Guys Wear Women’s Leggings?
Conclusion
Men, there’s nothing wrong with you for not wanting to wear leggings or yoga pants. You’re in the company of countless men who probably have the same misgivings about this women’s apparel trend.
In the end, the answer to this question is simple: it’s not socially acceptable for men to wear leggings in most public environments.
You might think that this response is sexist or incomplete, but such is the cultural status quo. While some may try to challenge this belief and change public opinion about men wearing leggings, for now at least it appears that we, as a society, have accepted a difference between men and women in this regard.
