sTitch leggings are causing a bit of a storm in the wake of their recent appearance on TV’s Dragon’s Den. The men’s leggings which have been dubbed “meggings” left quite an impression but failed to raise any investment as the infamous Dragons dismissed them as a joke. The panel of entrepreneurs has been wrong before, however, so do Meggings have legs?

Nothing new

“Meggings” are not actually an entirely new idea. Indeed they were voted as 2014’s biggest fashion faux pas. sTitch founders Luke Shipley, Joe Hollingworth and Tom Hunt clearly thought they were on to something having been inspired to create their range of male leggings after having to wear women’s styles to a themed party.

Extreme Skinny

I suppose “meggings” could be seen as a natural progression from the super skinny jeans that are currently all the rage. Some of those styles are already of the spray on variety and celebrities like Russell Brand and Justin Bieber favour male leggings for their casual looks.  Where celebrities go the mainstream does not always follow though as some things are maybe just a little too extreme. sTitch leggings are pretty loud too which may put many potential wearers off.  Fashion tastes are fairly muted right now which is not in sTitch’s favour.

Androgyny

The sTitch team say “we will strive to design and produce garments that liberate the modern man from conventional male fashion.” Here they do have some sort of point as fashion has crept relentlessly towards androgyny since women first started wearing trousers. Recent trends for boyfriend jeans and skinny jeans have contributed to the tendency as have celebrities like Harry Styles announcing that they wear women’s skinnies for a closer fit.

Weighty Issues

So are male leggings the next logical move? Probably not methinks. Firstly men tend to be more conservative than women in their dress.  Then there is the fact that men may not want certain areas of their anatomy quite so publicly displayed. It should also be said that whilst leggings look good on a finely honed male body, they are not so appealing stretched around flab. Not that this has deterred many less than slender women from choosing leggings.

So as a fashion statement male leggings may struggle unless there is a new trend for long jumpers or smock tops for men in which case leggings may come to the fore. I could see them becoming popular in the gym or for some sports like skating where freedom of movement is helpful. The Dragons dismissed the gym idea but I think they are probably wrong about that. However, that is a niche market and not the mainstream.

Conclusions

All in all I doubt that most men feel liberated enough or confident enough to wear “meggings”. Celebrities and those with toned bodies may be early adopters but it is hard to imagine a high street full of men in leggings. It is an interesting thought though! Stranger things have happened!

Article by Sally Stacey