Women of the world, take heed....

I'm going to bring up a very serious topic, one close to my heart, one that many women the world over are uniting over. In fact my favourite fashion blog - http://www.gofugyourself.com/ - has started an official " watch " so that we may all be aware of the perils. Of what may you ask? Of leggings.

Yes people, leggings. You know, those footless hosiery type items that came into vogue sometime last year and seem to be everywhere ? Leggings. Here is what i want to impart to all the ladies out there : leggings are not - i repeat, ARE NOT - a substitute for pants. They are not stand alone trousers made to be worn with a blouse, or cute smock or funky singlet. They are essentially an undergarment, which means they are supposed to be worn with something. They are not intended to substitute for your favourite pair of jeans. Just today i saw a young woman, around the same age as me, wearing a cute layered singlet ensemble up top paired with skin tight black leggings. I mean these things were so tight she was either not wearing any underwear ( in itself hazardous ) or her g-string had been swallowed up by her hungry arse, because i could see every dimple of cellulite, every ripple of muscle, the exact shape of her arse cheeks and god knows what i would have been able to see had i been looking at the front of her ( thank god i was walking behind her, not towards her ) but i could see no trace of underwear. These leggings were leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination at all, and there in lies my problem with them.

I like to think i'm young, i'm funky, i'm fashionable but i do believe in some modesty. Like i've already said, leggings are not pants. Leggings are leggings. Leggings are opaque footless tights, they are heavy hosiery, and where does hosiery belong ? Underneath something else. I have no problem with leggings worn under a mini skirt or a dress - except the fact that they chop off the length of a womens leg making her appear " stumpy ", unless she's 6ft tall and a size 8 - but worn on their ownsome ? Tragic, tragic fashion mistake. If i can tell what underwear you're wearing ( if any ), how you like to keep your bikini line, or how much cellulite you may or may not have just by looking at your legs and bum encased in tight, tight fabric - there's something wrong.

So budding fashionista's of the world, lets take a stand against the legging. Lets say we will not stand for hosiery as outerwear, nor will we stand for underwear as outwear ( that means you hot pants ... if i can see your arse cheek at the bottom - THEY'RE TOO SHORT ). We will dress to fit our body shape, we will flatter our figures and drive men wild not with what we AREN'T wearing, but with what we are. We will dress to please ourselves, whether that makes other women jealous or inspired.

It is all well and good to say " I wear what i want , i dress how i like " but wouldnt you rather take that into consideration with what actually looks good and flattering on you? I am not saying we should all dress uniformly from the pages of Vogue ( hello, those clothes dont work on real people ) I am merely saying we can keep a signature style that is flattering rather than frightening. We can be quirky and fun without looking queer and funky. And, most importantly, we certainly can embrace pants and throw away the leggings.....