Leggings
Encyclopedia
Leggings are a type of fitted clothing
covering the legs, which can be worn by both men and women.
Originally leggings were two separate garments, one for each leg.
Modern leggings are typically made from a blend of lycra, Spandex
, nylon
, cotton
, or polyester
blend, but they can also be made from wool
, silk
and other materials. Leggings are available in a multitude of colours and decorative designs.
Leggings are sometimes worn fully exposed, and are more traditionally worn partially covered by a garment such as a skirt, a large t-shirt or shorts, or fully covered by an outer garment, such as a full length skirt. Leggings are typically ankle-length, and some are stirrup
ped or encase the feet. Some are shorter. Leggings are worn to keep a person's legs warm, as protection from chafing during an activity such as exercise or as a decorative or fashion garment. Leggings are worn by both men and women when exercising, but usually only by women at other times.
In contemporary usage, leggings refers to tight, form-fitting trousers
that extend from the waist to the ankles. In the United States, they are sometimes referred to as tights
. However, the two words are not synonymous as the word tights refers to opaque pantyhose
.
worn by men in Europe from the 13th to 16th centuries (the Renaissance
period) were a form of leggings, as are the trews
of the Scottish Highlands
. Separate leggings of buckskin leather were worn by some Native Americans
. These were adopted by some Long Hunters, French fur trappers, and later by mountain men. They are the leatherstockings of James Fenimore Cooper
's Leatherstocking Tales
. The Buckskins, were mostly a dull grey brain-tan, not the bright, glossy vegetable tanned leather commonly used today.
Cowboys wore leggings of buckskin to protect from chapping caused by riding, wear and tear to their pants, and bites from animals, such as snakes or insects in the scruff, such as ticks.
In many places, especially in colder countries such as Russia
or Korea
, men and women continued to wear wool leggings into modern times, often as an additional outer layer for warmth.
The linen pantalettes
worn by girls and women under crinoline
s in the mid-19th century were also a form of leggings, and were originally two separate garments. Leggings became a part of fashion in the 1960s, as trousers similar to the capris
pants but much tighter. Fashion designer, Patricia Field
, claimed, while advertising on the Home Shopping Network
, that she invented the modern leggings for women in the late 1970s.
, often wore leggings to protect their lower leg, keep dirt, sand, and mud from entering their shoes, and to provide a measure of ankle support. At first, these were usually puttee
s—strips of thick woolen cloth resembling a large bandage—were wrapped around the leg to support the ankle. They were usually held in place by a strap attached to the cloth. Later, puttees were replaced by some armies with canvas leggings fastened with buckles or buttons, usually secured at the bottom with an adjustable stirrup that passed under the sole of the shoe, just in front of the heel. The soldier placed the leggings around his calf with the buttoned side facing out and adjusted them and the strap to achieve a proper fit. Leggings typically extended to mid-calf and had a garter strap to hold them up and were secured with a tie just below the knee. Military leggings only extended to the bottom of the knee and buttoned to the bottom button on the knee-breeches. They are sometimes confused with gaiters
, which only extend to the high ankle and are worn with full leg trousers.
During World War II
, United States Army
foot soldiers were referred to as legs by paratroopers and other U.S. forces that did not wear the standard Army leggings issued with the field service shoe. Late in World War II
, after experimenting with general issue of high-top combat boot
s and jump boot
s for their soldiers, leggings began to disappear from military service. In 1943, the United States Army modified their field service shoe by adding a taller leather upper that reached to the lower calf; secured by a combination of laces and buckles, the new design was designated the Type III Field Boot. However, the United States Marine Corps
retained canvas leggings throughout the war, and even used them in combat as late as the Korean War
; they were referred to as Yellow Leg troops by North Korean and Chinese
Communist forces.
By the 1960s, the old style of field shoe had given way to combat boots in most military forces, and leggings of any kind were obsolete. Leggings, usually bright white and often made of patent leather
or buff
are now worn primarily for ceremonial purposes..
ending at mid-calf or near ankle length, made its way into fashion in the 1960s and were worn with a large belt and slip-on high heels or ballet flat
-styled shoes.
Leggings made from a nylon-lycra blend (usually 90% nylon, 10% lycra) have traditionally been worn during exercise. Nylon lycra leggings are often referred to as bicycle or running tights, and are shinier in appearance than those made from cotton. Some have racing stripes or reflective patterns to further distinguish them as athletic wear and provide extra safety. However, beginning in the 1980s exercise-style leggings have also been worn for fashion, and as street wear.
Leggings made from cotton-lycra, or a cotton-polyester-lycra combination, are more typically worn for fashion, but are also worn as exercise wear. Cotton-lycra leggings are available in many colors, prints and designs; but black, navy and various shades of gray remain the most commonly worn.
Wearing black leggings under long, often diaphanous, skirts was part of a general fashion trend of wearing gym or dance clothes as street wear that evolved along with the fitness craze and under the influence of the movie Flashdance
and the long-running Broadway
show A Chorus Line
. A more recent trend has been the wearing of black leggings with miniskirt
s.
Opaque leggings are sometimes worn by women without a skirt. However, unless the woman is also wearing a very long top, her buttocks
will be exposed. There may be a visible panty line
.
By the early-1990s, leggings were actually outselling jeans
in many parts of the United States. It was very common to see leggings worn with long oversized t-shirts, oversized sweatshirts or oversized sweaters, slouch socks and Keds
. Fashion turned against leggings in the late 1990s.
In 2005, leggings made a "comeback" into high fashion, particularly in indie culture, with capri
-length leggings being worn with mini skirts and dresses. Consequently, leggings are also now popular to wear with oversized, long sweaters, denim mini skirt, plaid skirts, short dresses and even with short shorts. Ballet flats and Converse Chucks
are common footwear with leggings. This trend towards tight pants can alternately be seen in the resurgence of skinny jeans
.
Men have also begun to wear leggings more frequently in recent years as long underwear, and for more casual physical activities such as walking, hiking or gardening, replacing the old standby, sweatpants. Leggings are also worn as a fashion trend by men on the London electro-music scene.
At the Marni Men's show during the Fall 2007 Fashion Week, outfits with leggings designed solely for men were introduced.
Men's leggings, dubbed "meggings" (as a combination of the words "men" and "leggings") have been presented as the latest fashion trend for men at Spring/Summer 2011 fashion runways, supposed to be styled and layered beneath shorts and preferably with large, baggy, loose or long tops such as t-shirts.
), or wet-like
appearance—emerged as a popular fashion trend in the late-first decade of the 21st century, particularly in 2008 as reported by Stylesignal and other trend forecasters. These leggings are most often a blend of nylon and spandex
and come in a variety of colors, although most commonly in black, silver, or gold. These types of leggings are notable for their leather, or even latex-like appearance and are most often worn as evening or clubwear
.
Shiny leggings were featured on fashion runways by many leading designers and were further popularized by celebrities such the Lauren Conrad
, Kelly Clarkson
, Demi Lovato
, Olsen Twins, Rihanna
, Lindsay Lohan
and Frida Sanden
. Popular makers of shiny leggings include Members Only
, Kova & T and American Apparel
.
are a recent variant of leggings. They are leggings that take certain attributes from jeans, such as colour and style and particularly a coloured seam down the side, thus a mixture of the two and hence the adoption of the name "Jeggings". Some styles have even taken the jean-like look to such lengths as adding faux pockets and faux zip-flies to add to the look.
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
covering the legs, which can be worn by both men and women.
Originally leggings were two separate garments, one for each leg.
Modern leggings are typically made from a blend of lycra, Spandex
Spandex
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's...
, nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, or polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
blend, but they can also be made from wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and other materials. Leggings are available in a multitude of colours and decorative designs.
Leggings are sometimes worn fully exposed, and are more traditionally worn partially covered by a garment such as a skirt, a large t-shirt or shorts, or fully covered by an outer garment, such as a full length skirt. Leggings are typically ankle-length, and some are stirrup
Stirrup
A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
ped or encase the feet. Some are shorter. Leggings are worn to keep a person's legs warm, as protection from chafing during an activity such as exercise or as a decorative or fashion garment. Leggings are worn by both men and women when exercising, but usually only by women at other times.
In contemporary usage, leggings refers to tight, form-fitting trousers
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
that extend from the waist to the ankles. In the United States, they are sometimes referred to as tights
Tights
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name....
. However, the two words are not synonymous as the word tights refers to opaque pantyhose
Pantyhose
Pantyhose are sheer, close-fitting legwear, covering the wearer's body from the waist to the feet. Mostly considered to be a woman's and girl's garment, pantyhose appeared in the 1960s, and they provided a convenient alternative to stockings...
.
History
Leggings in various forms and under various names have been worn for warmth and protection by both men and women throughout the centuries. The separate hoseHose (clothing)
Hose are any of various styles of men's clothing for the legs and lower body, worn from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, when the term fell out of use in favor of breeches and stockings. The old plural form of "hose" was hosen...
worn by men in Europe from the 13th to 16th centuries (the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period) were a form of leggings, as are the trews
Trews
Trews are men's clothing for the legs and lower abdomen, a traditional form of tartan trousers from Scottish apparel...
of the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
. Separate leggings of buckskin leather were worn by some Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. These were adopted by some Long Hunters, French fur trappers, and later by mountain men. They are the leatherstockings of James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
's Leatherstocking Tales
Leatherstocking Tales
The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and...
. The Buckskins, were mostly a dull grey brain-tan, not the bright, glossy vegetable tanned leather commonly used today.
Cowboys wore leggings of buckskin to protect from chapping caused by riding, wear and tear to their pants, and bites from animals, such as snakes or insects in the scruff, such as ticks.
In many places, especially in colder countries such as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
or Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, men and women continued to wear wool leggings into modern times, often as an additional outer layer for warmth.
The linen pantalettes
Pantalettes
Pantalettes are undergarments covering the legs worn by women, girls, and very young boys in the early- to mid-nineteenth century....
worn by girls and women under crinoline
Crinoline
Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman’s dress into...
s in the mid-19th century were also a form of leggings, and were originally two separate garments. Leggings became a part of fashion in the 1960s, as trousers similar to the capris
Capri pants
Capri pants are mid-calf pants worn in warm weather. Variants end below the knee and calf...
pants but much tighter. Fashion designer, Patricia Field
Patricia Field
Patricia Field is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer.-Life and career:Field was born in 1941 in New York City to Greek and Armenian parents, who emigrated from Lesvos, Greece. She was raised in Astoria, Queens and has claimed credit for inventing the modern legging for...
, claimed, while advertising on the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
, that she invented the modern leggings for women in the late 1970s.
Military leggings
Since the late 19th century, soldiers of various nations, especially infantryInfantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, often wore leggings to protect their lower leg, keep dirt, sand, and mud from entering their shoes, and to provide a measure of ankle support. At first, these were usually puttee
Puttee
A puttee, also spelled puttie, is the name, adapted from the Hindi patti, bandage , for a covering for the lower part of the leg from the ankle to the knee, consisting of a long narrow piece of cloth wound tightly and spirally round the leg, and serving both as a support and protection, worn...
s—strips of thick woolen cloth resembling a large bandage—were wrapped around the leg to support the ankle. They were usually held in place by a strap attached to the cloth. Later, puttees were replaced by some armies with canvas leggings fastened with buckles or buttons, usually secured at the bottom with an adjustable stirrup that passed under the sole of the shoe, just in front of the heel. The soldier placed the leggings around his calf with the buttoned side facing out and adjusted them and the strap to achieve a proper fit. Leggings typically extended to mid-calf and had a garter strap to hold them up and were secured with a tie just below the knee. Military leggings only extended to the bottom of the knee and buttoned to the bottom button on the knee-breeches. They are sometimes confused with gaiters
Gaiters
Gaiters are garments worn over the shoe and lower pant leg, and used primarily as personal protective equipment; similar garments used primarily for display are spats....
, which only extend to the high ankle and are worn with full leg trousers.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
foot soldiers were referred to as legs by paratroopers and other U.S. forces that did not wear the standard Army leggings issued with the field service shoe. Late in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, after experimenting with general issue of high-top combat boot
Combat boot
Combat boots are military boots designed to be worn by soldiers during actual combat or combat training as opposed to during parades and other ceremonial duties. Modern combat boots are designed to provide a combination of grip, ankle stability, and foot protection suitable to a rugged environment....
s and jump boot
Jump boot
Jump boots are a type of combat boot typically associated with soldiers assigned to parachute units...
s for their soldiers, leggings began to disappear from military service. In 1943, the United States Army modified their field service shoe by adding a taller leather upper that reached to the lower calf; secured by a combination of laces and buckles, the new design was designated the Type III Field Boot. However, the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
retained canvas leggings throughout the war, and even used them in combat as late as the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
; they were referred to as Yellow Leg troops by North Korean and Chinese
People's Volunteer Army
The Chinese People's Volunteer Army was the armed forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army belonged to the People's Liberation Army , the People's Volunteer Army was separately constituted in order to...
Communist forces.
By the 1960s, the old style of field shoe had given way to combat boots in most military forces, and leggings of any kind were obsolete. Leggings, usually bright white and often made of patent leather
Patent leather
Patent leather is a type of japanned leather that has been given a high gloss, shiny finish. The process was brought to the United States and improved by Newark-based inventor Seth Boyden in 1818, with commercial manufacture beginning September 20, 1819. Boyden's process, which he never patented,...
or buff
Buff
Buff may refer to:* Buff , a pale yellow-brown colour* Buff , a multifunctional article of clothing produced by Original Buff, a Catalan company* Buff * A form of Status effect, a temporary beneficial effect in some video games...
are now worn primarily for ceremonial purposes..
Modern leggings
Leggings in the form of skin-tight trousers, a tighter version of the caprisCapri pants
Capri pants are mid-calf pants worn in warm weather. Variants end below the knee and calf...
ending at mid-calf or near ankle length, made its way into fashion in the 1960s and were worn with a large belt and slip-on high heels or ballet flat
Ballet flat
Ballet flats or Dolly shoes are derived from a woman's soft ballet slipper, with a very thin heel or the appearance of no heel at all. The style sometimes features a ribbon-like binding around the low tops of the slipper and may have a slight gathering at the top-front of the vamp and a tiny,...
-styled shoes.
Leggings made from a nylon-lycra blend (usually 90% nylon, 10% lycra) have traditionally been worn during exercise. Nylon lycra leggings are often referred to as bicycle or running tights, and are shinier in appearance than those made from cotton. Some have racing stripes or reflective patterns to further distinguish them as athletic wear and provide extra safety. However, beginning in the 1980s exercise-style leggings have also been worn for fashion, and as street wear.
Leggings made from cotton-lycra, or a cotton-polyester-lycra combination, are more typically worn for fashion, but are also worn as exercise wear. Cotton-lycra leggings are available in many colors, prints and designs; but black, navy and various shades of gray remain the most commonly worn.
Wearing black leggings under long, often diaphanous, skirts was part of a general fashion trend of wearing gym or dance clothes as street wear that evolved along with the fitness craze and under the influence of the movie Flashdance
Flashdance
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
and the long-running Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
. A more recent trend has been the wearing of black leggings with miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
s.
Opaque leggings are sometimes worn by women without a skirt. However, unless the woman is also wearing a very long top, her buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
will be exposed. There may be a visible panty line
Panty line
A visible panty line is the situation when the outline of a person's underwear is visible through the clothing. The underpants may be seen as a ridge or depression in the clothes, or as a result of the clothing material being sufficiently transparent....
.
By the early-1990s, leggings were actually outselling jeans
Jeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
in many parts of the United States. It was very common to see leggings worn with long oversized t-shirts, oversized sweatshirts or oversized sweaters, slouch socks and Keds
Keds
Keds is a brand of canvas shoe with rubber soles, introduced in 1916 by U.S. Rubber , later acquired by Stride Rite, and currently owned by Collective Brands....
. Fashion turned against leggings in the late 1990s.
In 2005, leggings made a "comeback" into high fashion, particularly in indie culture, with capri
Capri pants
Capri pants are mid-calf pants worn in warm weather. Variants end below the knee and calf...
-length leggings being worn with mini skirts and dresses. Consequently, leggings are also now popular to wear with oversized, long sweaters, denim mini skirt, plaid skirts, short dresses and even with short shorts. Ballet flats and Converse Chucks
Chuck Taylor All-Stars
Chuck Taylor All Stars, or Converse All Stars, also referred to as "Chuck Taylors", "Converses", "All Stars", "Chucks" or "Cons", are canvas and rubber shoes produced by Converse. They were first produced in 1917 as the "All Star," Converse's attempt to capture the basketball shoe market...
are common footwear with leggings. This trend towards tight pants can alternately be seen in the resurgence of skinny jeans
Skinny jeans
Slim-fit pants or skinny jeans have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening that can be anywhere from 9" to 20" depending on size. Other names for this style include pegs, drainpipes, stovepipes, Asian tight-pants, cigarette pants, skinny pants,insolent pants or skinnies...
.
Men have also begun to wear leggings more frequently in recent years as long underwear, and for more casual physical activities such as walking, hiking or gardening, replacing the old standby, sweatpants. Leggings are also worn as a fashion trend by men on the London electro-music scene.
At the Marni Men's show during the Fall 2007 Fashion Week, outfits with leggings designed solely for men were introduced.
Men's leggings, dubbed "meggings" (as a combination of the words "men" and "leggings") have been presented as the latest fashion trend for men at Spring/Summer 2011 fashion runways, supposed to be styled and layered beneath shorts and preferably with large, baggy, loose or long tops such as t-shirts.
Shiny leggings
Shiny leggings—leggings that have a shiny, metallic (laméLamé (fabric)
Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic yarns, as opposed to guimpé, where the ribbons are wrapped around a fibre yarn. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other...
), or wet-like
Wetlook
Wetlook is the enjoyment of a person or people wearing wet clothing. It can also refer to the act of getting wet while wearing clothes, and having fun either in doing so or in watching others do it...
appearance—emerged as a popular fashion trend in the late-first decade of the 21st century, particularly in 2008 as reported by Stylesignal and other trend forecasters. These leggings are most often a blend of nylon and spandex
Spandex
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's...
and come in a variety of colors, although most commonly in black, silver, or gold. These types of leggings are notable for their leather, or even latex-like appearance and are most often worn as evening or clubwear
Clubwear
Clubwear is a general term for the type of provocative, revealing, or fetish clothing that is worn to nightclubs featuring a sensual atmosphere with a very relaxed dress code...
.
Shiny leggings were featured on fashion runways by many leading designers and were further popularized by celebrities such the Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad
Lauren Katherine Conrad is an American television personality, celebutante, and fashion designer. She came to prominence with her starring roles on the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off series, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and...
, Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
, Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato
"She’s got the range, the full emotional spectrum, incredible control… Vocally, she’s the best thing Disney’s had since Christina Aguilera."—Producer Toby Gad on Demi Lovato's vocals...
, Olsen Twins, Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
, Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
and Frida Sanden
Frida Sandén
Frida Sandén born 20 May 1994 is a Swedish singer who represented Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 where she placed 8th. During 2008 and 2009 Frida has participated with a role in the musical Hujeda mej vá många sånger alongside her sister Mimmi Sandén and Hanna Hedlund amongst...
. Popular makers of shiny leggings include Members Only
Members Only
Members Only is a brand of clothing that became popular in the 1980s with the Members Only jacket. The brand was created in 1975 and introduced to American markets in 1979 by Europe Craft Imports .Members Only was renowned for their brand of jackets, which were first introduced in 1981 and...
, Kova & T and American Apparel
American Apparel
American Apparel is a clothing manufacturer in the United States. It is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that also performs its own design, advertising, and marketing...
.
Jeggings
JeggingsJeggings
Jeggings are leggings that are styled to look like tight denim jeans. The "j" in the name refers to not only to their appearance of jeans but also the fact that they were first worn for jogging in early 2009...
are a recent variant of leggings. They are leggings that take certain attributes from jeans, such as colour and style and particularly a coloured seam down the side, thus a mixture of the two and hence the adoption of the name "Jeggings". Some styles have even taken the jean-like look to such lengths as adding faux pockets and faux zip-flies to add to the look.