Apr 29, 2010

Leggings = Not Tzniut!?

Borrowing this from Wolfish Musings. I hope he/she doesn't mind :)

Leggings Under A Skirt Is Not Tznius?
Perhaps someone can explain this to me.
A friend of Eeees recently received a letter from her kids' school. In short the letter said that it was a violation of tznius rules for a woman to wear leggings under her skirt (even if the skirt is of the proper length).
For the life of me, I can't figure this out. How are leggings any worse than tights? On the contrary, I would think that leggings are better than tights since it is less form-fitting on the exposed lower leg.
Can anyone please explain the logic of this to me?
The Wolf
Nu? What do you guys think? I wear leggings under EVERYTHING. Most of the time they don't show. Am I crazy untzniut?

9 comments:

HSaboMilner said...

don't ask me, I wear leggings and sometimes skants....

Maybe bc they are worried if you are comfy in the leggings you will wear them without the skirt on top?

SusQHB said...

I've never heard this before. But it reminds me of when this really pious rabbi called my friend into his office to tell her she was not tznius enough for his tastes and she needs a long skirt and to wear socks etc. She merely replied, you wouldn't have noticed if you weren't keeping your eyes away from an immodestly dressed girl. That quieted him up.

Someone protesting leggings under a woman's skirt needs to control his imagination...

shualah elisheva said...

sounds like a crazy chumra to me. i wear tights and leggings under skirts all the time, and have never heard anything about it being untzanua.

we're a little more chill, we jews of texas. never heard anything so stringent, at all.

[obviously, the previous comment is a huge joke, and no offense should be taken by anyone.]

YC said...

Check out the Daati Leumi Community in Israel and see that leggings and pants under skirts and in fashion.

Mark said...

Chaviva - Can anyone please explain the logic of this to me?

Sure. It has nothing to do with leggings per se and everything to do with control. Those people that choose to live in communities (and send their kids to schools) that wield this kind of control have voluntarily relinquished some of their autonomy regarding the way they dress (and do certain other things). Nothing wrong with it, it's a choice that people make.

Unknown said...

Mostly it has to do with what is the trend. The Bais Yaakov system tries (and sometimes fails) to keep the girls from wearing clothing that is too trendy and leggings are very in now. They have a set of beliefs in regards to gashmius and this apparently goes against it. These are not my beliefs but a lot of people do seem to go along with it.

Chaviva Gordon-Bennett said...

The debate got a lot uglier over at Wolfish Musings, I think because there's some unrelated mudslinging.

I firmly loathe leggings, especially when girls wear nothing BUT leggings and a shirt. I think it's tacky, ugly, and few look good in them. But under a skirt? Come on people.

HSaboMilner said...

Chavi - i posed your question on a private messageboard I belong to - and this was one of the responses I got, which makes some kind of sense, I guess:

"They are a "look." They state (not scream) faddy & in some places, that is a big no-no.

They are usually worn with short skirts. Really short. And tight.

They are footless, therefore showing a bare white foot which is easily discernible. Again, bare feet are assur in some communities.

They shrink & they go very short, so sometimes you see a good few inches of bare leg as well.

They accentuate the shape of the leg. Thick & black, you'd think they were the ultimate bullet-proof stocking, But somehow, it doesn't work. "

Talia Davis said...

That is way not cool. I wear leggins (there is no 'g' in that word in my world) under my skirts all the time.

Sounds like more men making stupid choices. Put them in a skirt in the middle of winter and 2 feet of snow and then they can tell me not to wear leggins.

Doesn't make sense. Leggins are just thicker tights. If you wear socks and boots, there are no toes showing...

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