You Need to Have an Opinion on Meggings {Fashion Notes}
Men's tights or "meggings" as they are currently called need further discussing before they are brainlessly adopted by the man on the street.
Your first reaction might be that they look familiar. Indeed, you might have already spotted classical dancers, winter sportsmen, Canadian tree-cutters wearing grandpa long-johns, toreadors, American footballers, and visited the National Gallery or the Louvre and seen men in tights before, in this life...
In 2012 however, they signal a fashion trend to be pondered over, before we all decide it is going to make it into 2013 and even, perhaps, turn it into the Year of the Meggings.
First of all, as a woman, let me say "welcome to the club of the budget-sucking tights". If you are serious about this trend and even foresee it becoming a lasting piece in your wardrobe - like the classical women's tights - you should be made aware that tights get very easily laddered. This physical property is a boon for the tights industry. Some wagging tongues have even suggested that the industry do it on purpose by dipping tights into chemical solutions that fragilize the material so that it has a shelf-life of a few hours only.
Tights in your wardrobe means high turnover of tights and constant replenishing, pretty much like toilet paper in the bathroom. So think carefully before you vote for his trend. There is a financial perspective to keep on it.
Secondly, from a woman's perspective once more, seeing men in tights can be sexy although so far what is preoccupying is to see that most of the meggings shots posted on Tumblr are really not meant to seduce women but rather the gay constituency and porn fetishists. Some of these tights are not meant for walking on the street obviously and will make you appear to be rude, because the next thing will be the need for a law prohibiting the wearing of extremely slashed, see-through and highy revealing meggings. Children's eyes will need to be shielded by parents etc.
The difference with their, let's say, weggings counterparts or women's tights seems to be that usually women keep their skirts atop their tights while for men, this will be optional. While Henry the VIIIth showed us a sartorial direction by keeping a man's skirt and cod-piece on top of his own tights, basically meggings are a call for offering to the naked eye all that can be sculptured by a good, tight megging.
This can be good if done in taste and with humor. But it could also become a pretext for all sorts of exhibitionists to display their wares and feel legitimized by fashion at the same time as they strut by holding a copy of Vogue under their arms. By the time the legislation figures out how they can put a limit on meggings, many eyes and minds will have been hurt, or even traumatized with "megging-shock".
Now an important question -- Is it good for men to wear meggings, i.e., is it healthy, vs. is it sexy or cool, or elegant? Could meggings affect their fertility levels?
Obviously the age-old debate on boxers vs. briefs needs to be transferred onto the debate on meggings. And here a cautious answer would want to stress that there might be some impact on sperm count as tights will keep reproductive organs closer to the body, warmer and potentially less fertile. So men will need to remember that meggings might factor in their reproductive strategies. You might hook a dame but then, you will need to know when to shed your meggings.
There is also a risk accrued for men's mental health, to go downhill. Behold the rise of the megging-wearing man as typical fashion victim. It's not for you, but you wear meggings nevertheless because, well fashion magazines say theyr're hip.
Made more vulnerable (see below), more like sexual objects to be weighed from all angles by evaluative feminine, hetero and gay male eyes, men start feeling the pressure of being on constant display. Indeed, chronicler Ben Smithurst who ran a test for Grazia Australia said "You’re constantly aware of your own genitalia, which is unexpectedly stressful and deeply weird. "
Do you need more competition in your life, besides that moment when you have to go to the men's public restroom?
A reverse feminist perspective on the question might be that it's good to push men to feel more vulnerable, like women, by exposing their wares, in the name of sexist egalitarianism. But then, a realistic feminist perspective already anticipates seeing Kleenex tissues and chicken scallops being strategically pushed inside meggings just like there are padded bras and silicone chicken scallops in women's push-ups. The risk with meggings might be that it will turn men more deceitful and artful. Considering the huge number of natural masculine flaws deriving from their testosterone levels, this might just become too much to tackle. Next, they will become highly accessory conscious, perhaps even precious. I mean, do we want to see men in meggings studded with Swarowski crystals?
On the other hand, you can fake it for a while, but not for ever. A good, healthy leg of man with supple and strong muscles will be a very good indicator of health while encouraging them to work out more.
So, what is your stand on meggings?
