After seasons of fashion shows and billions of dollars worth of sales, it's time to wake up and smell the cold pressed juice, leggings in 2017 are considered pants.
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The debate is back in the zeitgeist again after two teenagers were refused from flying by United Airlines for wearing tights. The offenders were flying on discounted or free tickets where the dress code for such passengers states they must be "well-groomed, neat, clean and in good taste".
Fair shake of the sauce bottle if the young women had just smashed out a CrossFit session and boarded the plane in fabric still wet from wicking sweat away from their bodies, instead they were wearing the most inoffensive covering known to modern man. Some tights these days, save for the popular 7/8 style, even cover a lady's ankles, just as King George III intended.
The "rules" surrounding what people can and can't wear are fracturing. Cargo pants, the uniform of white men on European holiday, are even back in vogue after being reclaimed by the new Lara Croft, a plethora of "off-duty" models like the Gigis and Kendalls and the Jennifer Lopez's of the world (who actually never let them go).
Blokes like Mark Zuckerberg in a hoodie and Steve Jobs in his dad jeans and white New Balance kicks were onto something - comfort equals productivity.
Men in suits - especially ones that aren't tailored - look frumpy and uncomfortable, women wearing vertiginous stilettos they can't walk in is a mild form of torture. The activewear boom has taken off around the world and leggings are set to be this generation's jeans, according to Nike chief Mark Parker.
Karl Lagerfeld was early to the trend when he sent models down the runway in sneakers for Chanel's summer 2014 couture collection in Paris.
"You can be in fashion without being a victim," Lagerfeld said at the time when the fashion press expressed horror at not seeing models tottering on sky high heels.
While some Australian labels, like Lorna Jane, have come under fire for not catering to all body shapes and carrying sizes above a size 16 for a pair of $100 tights, Kmart has a more egalitarian approach with its activewear range starting at $8 for sizes 6 to 20.
Leggings are no longer the uniform of Kayla Itsines clones or gym fit bodies, the sales figures don't lie. Around the world, the sporty inspired attire industry is worth about $360 billion. In Australia alone sales are expected to increase by more than 20 per cent in the years leading up to 2020.
A recent study by Victoria University says a desire to exercise "anywhere and anytime" is driving growth, as more women try to fit informal exercise into busy schedules.
Julie Stevanja, founder of Stylerunner, an online store for fashion focused sportswear for women that is one of Australia's fastest growing businesses, agrees and even coined the term "enclothed cognition" after she launched the site five years ago. She believes the idea that clothes helps determine a person's behaviour is a driving force behind her success.
"People want to make healthier lifestyle choices. Sometimes the first step is actually associating with it, wearing something that makes you feel healthier," she said. "I think if you are in your activewear, you're probably more likely to buy a green juice than a milkshake."
Despite allowing the wearer the freedom to drop and downward dog at their desk whenever they want or need, cotton blend and Lycra kit is also a gift to the time poor who can save hours on ironing and money on dry cleaning. Not to mention the bright colourways and patterns some boast are more fun than an IKEA ball pit.
In an attempt to take down the trend last year the Washington Post opined that by wearing leggings in places other than the gym: "We are saying to the people around us that our own comfort is our first priority. We are expressing a new kind of modern vanity where dressing down, rather than dressing up, is the power move."
"What we wear sends a message to the world. An Hermès handbag makes a statement about wealth and luxury. A pair of four-inch Louboutin heels makes a statement about sex and power. Yoga pants make a statement about comfort and modernity. When we board a flight or run to the grocery store swaddled in cotton-lycra, we are saying to the people around us that our own comfort is our first priority."
Amen.
Here's hoping more people break free from the shackles this sledge attempted to tighten and wear whatever they want, when they want. Even when flying.
