International Legging Day

International Legging Day focuses on comfort. It's a day when leggings are worn everywhere, even in places they usually aren't worn, and a day to wear a favorite pair and then go out to shop for more. International Legging Day was founded by Fabletics, an activewear brand, "to celebrate the year-round style staple during the official legging season." Undoubtedly, it is the perfect date for the holiday, because it's the time of the year when the temperature begins to drop—the time when leggings are more needed. Kate Hudson, actress and Fabletics co-founder, has supported the day: in 2020, she hosted an all-day event on the Fabletics Instagram page with yogis, influencers, and a wellness coach. Hudson and Fabletics created the day in 2019 to mark Fabletics' sixth anniversary.

Leggings blend comfort and fashion. Narrow, comfortable pants date to the fifteenth century and were worn by men who were agricultural workers. Early pants similar to leggings were made out of wool, leather, or cotton. They kept their legs warm and provided protection while riding horses, hunting, and doing other physical labor. Women's leggings came about as an alternative to dresses and skirts, first appearing in the 1870s.

Wide-legged pants were in vogue for women in the 1940s. The forerunners to leggings gained steam in the fashion world and Hollywood in the years that followed. Audrey Hepburn wore slim, black pants in Sabrina (1954) and similar pants in the film Funny Face (1957). The elastic type of pants that we now know as leggings came to be after chemist Joseph Shivers, who worked for DuPont, created Lycra in 1958, a material colloquially known as spandex. The first Lycra leggings hit the market the following year.

Slim and stretchy, the new leggings revolutionized women's fashion in a few years and became the pants of choice for women. They were used for daily wear and for workout clothes. There was an expansion of colors and abstract patterns in pants in the 1960s, which permeated leggings, too. The popularity of leggings remained in the 1970s. Lycra began making leggings out of a nylon-spandex mix, which were shinier than the cotton-spandex pants. These were used mainly for activewear.

The actresses on Charlie's Angels donned leggings, and Olivia-Newton John renewed interest in them in 1978 when she wore shiny black ones in the final scene of Grease. Leggings went even more mainstream in the 1980s, at a time when the lines between sportswear and fashion blurred, in part because of a fitness craze, which lasted into the early '90s. The most visible person to wear them was Jane Fonda, who wore them in her exercise videos. Other celebrities known for wearing them in the decade were Madonna, Cher, and Debbie Harry. Mirroring the trends of the decade, leggings were often colorful and had patterns.

Leggings gave way to baggier pants in the 1990s, but capri leggings, often worn under skirts and dresses, were fashionable in the 2000s. By the end of the decade, sleek, full-length "liquid leggings" were the most popular type. Leggings remain versatile today. They can be worn for their style and to embrace both comfort and staying active. They can be leg length or capri length, be used as a base to provide warmth, and be made with different fabrics, patterns, styles, and colors. They are celebrated today, on International Legging Day!

How to Observe International Legging Day

• Wear your favorite pair of leggings while going out to shop for more. Fabletics is the most fitting brand to buy.
• Wear leggings in places you might not otherwise wear them, like in the office or at a classy restaurant.
• Share your look for the day on social media along with the hashtag #InternationalLeggingDay.
• Follow Fabletics on Instagram and Facebook and check their website for deals in honor of the day and their anniversary, and to see if they are hosting any events in recognition of the day.
• Buy a pair of leggings for a friend.

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