LoveHate: Leggings

I am well aware that leggings have been around for a while, I'd have to be living under a rock for the last couple of years not to. They've been everywhere, haven't they? In different lenghts, colours, patterns, materials (with the new lamé or latex ones being the new "it" item)... I don't think anybody suspected they would be around for so long. People wear them in winter, people wear them in summer. Some people wear them underneath skirts, some people wear them underneath long tops... and some, well some seem to think leggings are just like thin trousers (they're not! are least not in my humble opinion...).

Some people love them. Some people hate them.

I love them and hate them. For years now, I've been refusing to buy myself leggings. "It's just a passing fad" I would say to myself. "They look tacky" I would explain to people when asked about my refusal to accept leggings as acceptable clothing items.

Even though I hated leggings, I still had to admit some people could really pull them off. I specially liked them when paired with a laid-back boho outfit, rather than going all rocker-sexy. But my refusal to wear leggings continued. There were indeed times when I realized a nice pair of leggings would look rather cute with an outfit. What did I do in those tricky situations? I bought dark tights and cut the feet off. Talking about stuborn...

I've got to admit it, my disaproval for leggings wasn't really the leggings fault. I just hated how they looked in most people around me. I guess that's because this image became (and still is) a very common sight in Lima:

UGH.

But one day something changed. I'm not really sure what it was. I suddenly entered this store I've been going for ages (and they specialize in dark opaque leggings that I had until then hated) and saw what I thought was the most amazing discovery of my life. A pair of long black leggings.

This is my personal attempt at making them fit my style. I really do hope it turned out better than the picture above...

Sweater: Benetton, Tunic top: MNG, Leggings: Kidsmadehere

Sandals: random market

Jacket: Benetton, Top: random market and I sew the little mushrooms in it, Bag: Elle, Leggings: Kidsmadehere, Shoes: MNG

Hopefully my first attempts with leggings have managed to go slightly above the leggings-heels-miniskirt combo. I tried to come up with a combination for warmer weather and one that I can manage to wear now that winter is starting here in Peru.

I've got to say it, I love leggings now. They're versatile and fun, and quite quite comfortable.

I still haven't changed my mind about the usual combinations involving leggings, so guess that makes my relationship with them a love-hate one.