This Early 2000s Trend Is Finally Resurfacing

Before the athleisure movement—which deemed workout gear suitable attire for just about any situation—leggings served a more practical purpose. We’re sure you remember wearing them under dresses, long tunics, and denim miniskirts to add a little more coverage to your look. Though it’s been viewed as a tabooed pairing, designers, as they have such power to do, are showing it in chic new ways, making us reconsider our previous judgments.

In Miuccia Prada’s last solo collection for the brand before Raf Simons joined as co-creative director, she showed a lot of minimal dress and tailored separates, many of which were worn over a simple pair of black leggings. The silhouettes of the skirts ranged from full to slim, exhibiting the range of the pairing.

Prada’s runway was not the first time this pairing popped up. On the fall ’20 runways, designers like Missoni showed leggings under dresses and skirts in a greater range of colors and prints, while Salvatore Ferragamo opted for a more minimal pairing à la Prada. Albeit rather slowly, the trend is starting to surface among the bolder street style icons, as well.

How do we emphasize comfort without disregarding style? This pairing at its core is highly functional—leggings keep your legs much warmer than a pair of tights would and allow the wearer greater mobility than they would have in a flouncy dress or skirt.