Tights As Pants Were Trending All Through 2023 — I Tested It Out

The viral pattern begs the query: can we *want* pants? I got down to discover a solution.

This text was initially revealed on January 25, 2023 and has been up to date.

You could be questioning how I ended up right here. Nicely, because of a sequence of life selections and an unreasonable period of time spent on TikTok, I’ve been referred to as on by forces larger than myself (celebrities; my For You Web page) to analyze a urgent difficulty: Do tights qualify as pants?

The thought first crossed my thoughts in November 2022, when Kendall Jenner stepped out in Los Angeles carrying a Bottega Veneta leotard and navy sweater plucked straight from the runway with nothing however sheer pantyhose on her legs. Just a few months prior, Bella Hadid was pictured grabbing a slice of pizza in New York Metropolis carrying boxer briefs in lieu of precise shorts simply days earlier than Kylie Jenner attended Loewe’s spring present carrying white lingerie with tights. In hindsight, these now-viral seems to be had been harbingers of the style business’s newfound love affair with pantless ensembles.

kylie jenner in loewe. I’m obsessed pic.twitter.com/h3sCD5ishf

— GĒS (@HFrunway) September 30, 2022

Take the Fall 2023 menswear shows, the place tighty-whities had been styled with knee-high leather-based boots at Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, and JW Anderson debuted an assortment of leggy underwear seems to be. At couture week, Dior served up skimpy ruched bodysuits as stand-alone outfits whereas Ronald van der Kemp introduced theatrical blazers with black underwear peeking by way of.

Don’t even get me began on the Spring 2023 ready-to-wear exhibits. Del Core, Coperni, Aniye Records, Alessandra Rich, Victoria Beckham and Bottega Veneta every supplied their very own iterations of going pants-free, be it by way of bare-legged fashions sporting embellished underwear or glossy briefs paired with pantyhose. Suffice it to say, this model has been months within the making. And as TikTok predicted, it was in all places in 2023.

On the app, #tightsaspants has amassed over 590,000 views and rising, with many creators citing the eldest Jenner sister as their inspiration. Because the  subversive aesthetic grows in visibility, nonetheless, it has been met with strongly worded dissent and contentious questions — the primary one being, “Why?” However I, for one, see the enchantment of not carrying pants. In any case, placing collectively an outfit must be simple. Why not simplify issues by scrapping one in all its primary parts? With that in thoughts, I made a decision to place the tights-as-pants look to the take a look at.

For cautious inexperienced persons like me, an outsized blazer layered atop your leotard is an accessible entry level to the pattern, because it provides some comfy protection. This may be simply thrifted or bought at retailers like Dynamite and Simons. Come time to decide on a bodysuit, go for one with bikini backing as an alternative of a thong, which will be discovered at Zara (pictured), Everlane, Skims or Velvet Rose. Lastly — and I can’t stress this sufficient — carrying sun shades, regardless of the solar having very a lot set, provides a layer of anonymity that makes the entire thing really feel extra attainable.

The following (and most essential) step in venturing out with no pants is accepting that it is going to be a bit complicated for everybody. Some may visibly pity you for forgetting your trousers, others may assume that you just’re attempting, and failing, to move your blazer off as a costume. To organize for these reactions, I received some follow. After three days of carrying my bottomless ensemble round my house and learning the easy aura of these on my TikTok feed, I used to be capable of muster up the boldness to truly put on it out on the planet.

Upon coming into a crowded bar on a Friday evening, I felt an uncommon breeze on my legs (anticipated) and a few lingering stares (additionally anticipated). As I sat nursing my negroni sbagliato, I admittedly had bother convincing myself to stand up and stroll round. However as soon as I did, I used to be hit with a welcome realization: no person cares. Positive, I might really feel eyes on me from the encircling tables as I handed by. However that momentary chagrin was usurped by the giddy sense of feat I received from carrying such an experimental outfit.

Fairly quickly, I felt a liberating sense of delusion kicking in. (“That is completely regular.”) Adopted by baseless overconfidence. (“I don’t want pants like all of you!”) Then got here the essential questions. (“Do they assume I’m Kendall Jenner?”) I’ll have been pantless in public, however in my e book, I used to be serving a high-fashion hosiery look. Herein lies the great thing about the tights-as-pants pattern.

As a result of it seems to be a tad ridiculous on everybody, it really works on everybody, no matter age, size or gender. And although nay-sayers have deemed it an impractical celebrity fad, this model has been round for many years. Risqué tights-based ensembles had been particularly fashionable within the Sixties, when hosiery was worn to push back on traditional expectations of womanhood. Actor Ann-Margret famously paired a crewneck sweater with nylons within the 1964 film Viva Los Vegas. And mannequin Edie Sedgwick was famend for her signature uniform of leotards and stockings throughout the identical decade. When you get previous the preliminary wrongness of carrying tights as pants, it may be fairly empowering.

Would I do it once more? Really, sure. Will or not it’s a part of my common wardrobe rotation? In all probability not. The ethical of the story: Don’t dwell in concern of looking weird. And in the event you, like me, resolve to be more and more untethered to traditional fashion rules, contemplate biding adieu to traditional bottoms, even only for one evening. You could study a factor or two about your self.

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