Mohammad Nurul Alam
Leggings is one of the popular body wear that has been the most selling product through the decades. It could gain momentum over the world in the fashion industry and have a spotlight effect as viral till today. In the history of fashion, only this can stand on top of everything and could remain next few decades as well. The recent trend of body-hugging is getting popular & so leggings still could keep attracting to the young, regardless of age limit and culture.
Leggings and its functions
Leggings is tight-fitted body wear used primarily as underwear. The trend that grows among young girls to be more exposed and to unveil body shape and its curves, has made leggings popular because they can perfectly match the trends even later on beyond the age limit women have started wearing them to stand parallel with the exposure trend.
Leggings is usually made from cotton-elastane, or a cotton-polyester-elastane combination for flexible motion. This is typically worn for fashion, but are also worn during exercise. In other words, the fashion of leggings is also a bold approach to breaking the rules of dressing that lean toward modesty.
Origin of leggings
Leggings are first introduced in the 1960s as body-hugging, form-fitting underwear and entered in the retail market. The influencer of this body- fitting dress is Designer Mary Quant and Emilio Pucci who had an effort to use them as working under-shift dresses.
The craze for leggings has been observed at 1970’s when in the film Grease made the actress ‘good-girl’ Sandy goes ‘bad’ in her disco bottoms. Later on Madonna also participated in the leggings trend and thus 80’s fitness craze made leggings acceptable for both workout & everyday wear. During the 2000s, a new form of leggings got popular as shiny spandex pants. But a little while leggings from body-fitting attire has been lost its appeal and the trends and loos fit dresses have become popular. Later, then again wearing leggings came back in a new form when people wore them with boots, flats, heels, under dresses, or alone as pants. Black leggings, mostly capri-style, were worn under denim miniskirts. In 2010, leggings continued to expand in fashionable forms when Lady Gaga wore her shredded leggings.
The factors are that made leggings popular
Leggings are wonderful in so many ways, including their ability to blend style and comfort in one clothing item. The reasons love for this clothing are –
1. Comfortable & easy to wear: The leggings are easy to wear without iron, just need to wash and put on. Also it has enough breathability for the wearer and so she can feel cool most of the time.Â
2. Cheap: Four leggings can be equivalent to a woven pant in compare to price. The cost of leggings less than $ 10 where a pant cost higher, not less than $50. So leggings are perfectly cost saving than to buy one single pant and it also offers variety of fashion and attraction.Â
3. Easy to carry while traveling: Because of light weight leggings are always comfortable and easy to carry, weight is not more than 200 grams. So to avoid hassle girls love to get accompany with a pair of leggings all the time.
4. Easy to wash: By the simple detergent leggings can be washed and no need hot sun temperature to dry it up. Only room temperature is enough to dry it.
5. Leggings are body exposure: With the trend, leggings can perform best body shape expose that sometime young feel attractive so it gains popularity.
The controversy of wearing leggings
Leggings are most controversial piece of clothing to consider it appropriate as public attire. The people of conservative mind set refused to accept or allow to wear because of its body exposure. It can easily attract other and the consequences are being observed to violent incidence in many places, expressed opinion who are in anti-leggings wagon. So the society has been divided and the anti-leggings wagon started when people wore them alone as pants. Actually leggings are not a pretty sight in all circumstances and should be worn only under dresses.
Types of Leggings
- Work out leggings: This type of leggings is now popular because of the popularity of workouts, specially designed to be comfortable during work out session. 90% nylon, 10% elastane blended fabric have been traditionally used. Nylon is not absorber sweat when wearer is sweating because of heavy exercise.
- Functional leggings: This is to use for injury recovery or used as bandage for the wearer to give treatment.
- Yoga Leggings: Specially made for flexibility of body part during Yoga practice. Unlike workout leggings this is not made aiming to multiple functions.
- Every day wear leggings: At present girls love to wear multiple colored leggings matching to their tops for everyday use. This is made of 90% cotton, and 10% elastane in a single jersey. Very simple in design and stitch.
- Party leggings: This has variety in color and design, mostly printed & in shinny look.
In conclusion, it could be said whatever popularity or controversy has been seen about leggings but undoubtedly this is not going to be out of sight in the retail market for decades. Brands are taking many for of leggings in the market for good sale and the wearer also happy to see new designs and color that can be adopted in any of the dresses for everyday use and other purposes.
