Where to Buy Meggings

Note: The Products section of my Fall, 2013 blog entry has my latest information about where to buy meggings.

Meggings continue to be a cutting-edge fashion item for men, with many references to them in the media and the Internet. But if a man wants to give meggings a try, where can he buy them? They're not available where most men buy their clothing, such as popular mall and Internet clothing stores. However, there are some alternatives that can work well. One is snug-fitting men's long underwear, such as these "Men's Baby Rib Long Underwear" from American Apparel:

which are online at: Men's Baby Rib Long Underwear I like this alternative least, due to how they bunch up instead of having a smooth, skintight look. There have been some suggestions that American Apparel sells these for men who want meggings, even though American Apparel is not prepared to actually describe them as meggings.

Another alternative are men's sports leggings, such as the Nike ones this college student is wearing:

Other names for these are track tights or running tights. These have the same smooth fit as meggings, but usually do look somewhat like sports gear rather than like a fashion item. Leggings such as these are readily available online and at most sporting goods stores. For example, eastbay.com has these: Eastbay EVAPOR Tights - Men's

 Finally, perhaps the closest alternative to meggings are basic women's fashion leggings, such as this "BDG Long Legging" from Urban Outfitters:

which is online at: BDG Long Legging. These are essentially indistinguishable from meggings, and because they are very stretchy, easily accommodate a male body as well as a female body. This situation is reminiscent of when skinny jeans were new for men, as meggings are now. Many men bought women's skinny jeans in order to get the "super skinny" look that later became available in men's jeans.

Recently though, actual meggings have become available, with no need to resort to alternatives. They're being offered by ASOS.com, which is one of the U.K.'s largest online-only fashion stores. They also offer meggings on their U.S. web site. Here are some examples:

and links to them on their U.S. site:

ASOS Meggings with Aztec Print

ASOS Skull Meggings

ASOS Stripe Meggings

ASOS Plain Meggings

ASOS seems to think patterns are good look for meggings, and I'd agree. Many may consider these patterns a more bold and more masculine look. I applaud ASOS for offering meggings as a fashion item for men, clearly distinct from long underwear or sports gear. From what I've observed on the Internet, while it's very unusual to see megging worn in public in the U.S., meggings do have some degree of popularity in the U.K. So perhaps it's to be expected that a U.K.-based retailer would be among the first to offer them.

Topman, another retailer based in the U.K., is now also offering meggings. They offer these black knee panel meggings:

They also offer a version in bright blue without the knee panel:

The knee panel is an interesting addition. To me, it gives the meggings more of a sports gear look, which could make them more acceptable to some people. Here are the links for them on the Topman U.S. web site:

Topman Black Knee Panel Meggings

Topman Bright Blue Meggings

Another source of meggings is sTitch Leggings, also in the U.K. There's an interesting story behind the company. The proprietors commented: On the 28th of October 2012 two young city workers wore ill fitting female leggings to a fancy dress party in north London. These two individuals alongside another mutual friend have now tasked themselves with designing, manufacturing and selling male leggings to the fashion conscious male. 

They offer a few styles of leggings, including these Logo Leggings:

You can find their leggings at sTitch Leggings. A unique feature of their leggings is that they include a back pocket, which I think is a great idea.

It will be very interesting to see how the meggings trend develops. What options will be available for purchasing meggings a year from now? Will more retailers join those I've mentioned, with meggings becoming more entrenched in men's fashion? Or will we look back on it as a short--lived fad? Feel free to add your predictions in the comment section.

Update June, 2013: Information about Topman meggings was added. Also information about sTitch Leggings was added.

Meggings: New and Old

This is the time of the year for fashion shows, and meggings, or male leggings are one of the hottest new styles among the male fashion crowd. It seems like practically every media outlet has picked up on it. For example, ABC News had some men give them a try:

A Google search for meggings will turn up numerous recent news articles about them.
Just last weekend at the Emmy Awards, the lead singer for Fun. wore shorts and leggings:

This might seem like a new fashion for men, but styles from the 60s and 90s are reminiscent of it. For example, the 60's rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders:

Grunge in the 90's was more rugged look, but it included men wearing tights or leggings with shorts. A classic example is Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam (top, left), and in this photo even Eddie Vedder (middle, right) has leggings:

What will be the fate of 2013's meggings? Will only an insignificant number of men outside of the mainstream wear them, or will they prove to be the successor to skinny jeans? As far as I know, they never reached mainstream status in the past, but there are some signs it's different this time. We have the precedent of men's skinny jeans, which seem to be getting more and more skinny. Leggings and Uggs are a popular combination for women, and a few men have been sighted wearing that combination as well:

With or without Uggs, many women now wear leggings instead of jeans as casual clothes, due to their extreme comfort. Some men have noticed that, and don't see why they should have to forego that comfort. Checking Twitter, while there is much opposition to meggings, there is support as well:

I think boys look so good when they wear stuff like skinny jeans, ugg boots, leggings, tight tops..

i LOVE how more and more boys r wearing leggings without a care !!!!!!!!!!!!

5 years from now it will be socially acceptable for guys to wear leggings. It happened with tight jeans and low cut shirts

jeans are getting tighter and tighter. soon boys'll be wearing actual tights again - medieval style

Boys should wear leggings,they have no idea what they're missing out on

If it was socially acceptable for guys to wear long spandex tights everwhere, I would! #MuchMoreComfortable


What do you think about meggings, and their future in men's fashion?

Urban Outfitters Male Shorts and Tights

I've been a long-time advocate of shorts and tights as a fashion for men, and the style is not new in the men's fashion world. Many men's fashion designers have shown the style, including well-known designers like Givenchy. For some examples, see this set on my Flickr page. However, I was still astonished to see the style go from the runway to a mainstream retailer, Urban Outfitters.  I mean astonished in the best sense, and I applaud UO for bringing this style to the public.

Here's the picture of the model from the product page, which is for the shirt:

Admittedly, they're just showing a single style, but it's right there in new arrivals and in their regular products pages, just like the more conventional men's styles. Urban Outfitters is a hip store, that many young people and hip people of all ages love. They're in a perfect position to help popularize a new style among people who are the most open to new fashions. I hope that happens in this case, and that this is the start a new mainstream fashion style for men. Go UO!

If any reader knows the background behind how Urban Outfitters decided to sell the shirt using the shorts and tights style, I'd be very interested in that.

Update February, 2013: UO no longer sells the shirt, and I have replaced the link to the product page with the picture of the model from it.