High Fashion Report – Meggings

Meggings

Early last week I took a visit to the London College of Fashion and I have to admit, I felt incredibly inferior on arrival. After all, these young, avant-garde and incredibly tall creatures are the next generation of the fashion industry. If that’s not enough intimidation to cause your senses to collapse into a puddle of gibbering goo, there’s always the fact that some of the student-fashionistas make Lady Gaga look like another high-street window shopper.
The major trend I spotted circulating amongst the boys was meggings or man-leggings teamed with huge, loose fit, cotton Tees. It seems the skinny jean has been given the boot and replaced by a whole new level of skinniness. I must admit that I do love this look: it’s simple, easy, and practical, being that most of these boys spend a lot of their time in a studio. The downside: all of these guys were very tall and very slim and I definitely think it’s a trend only to be donned by the long legged “iron-board-boys”
OK, I know this trend has been ridiculed more often than Hitler but (this is where I get on my ‘Fashion Equality’ high horse) if certain girls can go out in skin tight jumpsuits, badly crafted from cheap net curtains, with nothing but two plasters keeping them dignified and lawful, then us boys can wear spray-on-tight leggings. However, oversized upper wear is essential. No one needs to see your (in the words of my Nan) meat and two veg clad in shiny, skin-tight spandex. Ever! *ahem* moving on.

One of the forecasted trends for next season’s menswear is Man-leggings under shorts. Cargo, denim even micro-suit shorts. When I first saw this future trend, I couldn’t help thinking I had seen it before. After a short while I discovered why. In 2007 Sam Sparro wore ripped, denim shorts over new-rave print Meggings in one of his music videos. In fact I think he debuted digital print leggings way before they hit the shelves of PRI-MARNI and went global, but I think it’s only in the last couple of seasons that menswear has acquired this new element of fun and that’s why it is catching now and didn’t three years ago.

I have also seen guys wearing Man-leggings as part of an uber-skinny suit or with the oversized, low-cut T and blazer ensemble. In-fact the Senior Commissioning Editor of British GQ recently conducted a personal experiment and decided to don a pair of black sequined leggings conjured up by Belgian designer Martin Margiela as part of a casual day suit.

“the response was fantastic. This must be how an X Factor winner feels the morning after the vote. Pretty girls smiled, tourists stopped me for a shoulder-hugging snap, builders wolf-whistled and colleagues cheered (mostly).”

I think he looks awesome [Below far right], and if he strolled into my office I would definitely be a cheerer. I mean come on it’s so much more fun than wearing black suit pants:

I haven’t yet ventured into the world that is the megging, not through any intention to avoid it but for the pure fact that I can’t seem to find a pair of shoes that don’t make me look like I’m just about to go water skiing… maybe it’s also a trend just for guys with small feet? [I think the meggings pushed up under shorts shown above would be the way round this? Ed]