Warm it up!
Think Madonna from the 80s and you’ll conjure up a blonde girl with a netted skirt, half shirt, and a leg warmer. The trend of the iconic leg warmers continues to this day, in various colors and lengths. A leg warmer is a garment that covers the lower legs, look similar to socks but is thicker and, usually, footless. Made of various fabrics like wool, cotton, or synthetic fibers, the leg warmer varies in length depending on the stretchiness of the fabric. Commonly worn between the ankle and just below the knee, you can wear it anyway you want.
Leg warmers are used for several activities – cycling, hockey, skating and hiking among others. Dancers, too, use leg warmers in order to keep the leg muscles warm and prevent cramping or other muscle injuries. They prefer to pull it up to cover the lower parts of the thigh as well. These warmers usually have a pad that grips the floor so the dancer does not slip.
Thanks to popularity of movies like Fame and Flashdance, and craze of aerobics, leg warmers became a fad in the late 1970s and early 1980s when they became fashionable among teenage girls, and later was adopted by boys in Berkeley in the San Francisco Bay Area. They started being worn with leggings, jeans, tights or part of aerobic wear. But it soon ran out of popularity just to come back again during the beginning of the 21st century. Then, the warmers started being made of cotton, leather, fleece or nylon inspired by
popular Japanese cartoons in the West. Like the eclectic style of the 1980s, the leg warmers were endorsed by pop stars like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. Worn over jeans or over skirts they gave an element of color and depth to the bright outfits of that era. Designers such as
Y-3 even put them as a part of their runway collection.
The leg warmers are more than just a garment that keep the legs warm. They can be used as a fashion statement or as part of regular casual wear. They can be worn under miniskirts or give a layered look to long T-shirts. Nowadays, demure leggings are more in style as compared to the colorful ones from the past. Wear your leggings with boots or go adventurous and wear them over your flats. Select your perfect pair at beverlyheels.com.
