Don’t mock the meggings

Unless you venture into the depths of east London, or accidentally walk into Central St Martins or a rehearsal at the English National Ballet, you won’t often see a man wearing leggings as part of his daily ensemble.

They are, admittedly, occasionally seen on red-faced young professionals wheezing home on Boris bikes, but most of us prefer to wear them in the confines of a gym or secretly layered under trousers in winter where they are wholly justified as “thermals”.

But male leggings, or “meggings” as they’ve been branded, are America’s latest fashion export after being thrown into the spotlight by sartorially adventurous celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz and Justin Bieber. BOY London’s version sold out on Asos in every size between XS and XXL — suggesting that the megging may well be replacing the ever-shrinking skinny jean on British soil too.

Yet, while many men will probably be a little bewildered by these new form-fitting arrivals, the megging has made appearances since 2007 in menswear shows by Marni, Alexander McQueen, Martin Margiela (a sequined black pair) and Calvin Klein Collection, where they functioned as a more casual alternative to the trouser.

More recently for autumn 2012, Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci fused monochromatic military tailoring with modern sportswear, sending models down a catwalk wearing leggings with structured shorts and kilts, tough leather boots and boxy jackets that gave outfits a harder military edge and proved more successful with the London fashion scene.

But is it only the young, confident, athletic man who can pull off the look I wondered as I ventured out into conservative Kensington in two Givenchy-inspired outfits — which, incidentally, are vastly removed from what I usually wear — my skinny legs exposed, not knowing what the reaction might be.

In minus degrees Celsius, my thermal leggings didn’t provide much comfort or warmth at all. My first outfit was worn without shorts (Russell Brand and Noel Fielding’s adaptation of this trend) and I felt vulnerable knowing that the tight-fitting burgundy

Lycra probably didn’t leave much to the imagination. Worn in this way the megging is pretty impractical and wasn’t exactly the liberating experience I’d heard it was.

However, the meggings did look better under shorts and gave an extra edge, not to mention a warming layer, to an already punky outfit. As with the first pair, they turned a few heads and raised an eyebrow or two, but this time people were looking interested rather than amused.

I’m still unsure whether I’d own a pair, but at least I know men’s e-commerce sites are stocking them if I am ever converted.