How To Make Better Outfits With Men’s Leggings
Creating fashionable and aesthetic outfits with men’s leggings isn’t necessarily easy. I have written about the difficulties of styling men’s leggings before. But for me, I have found a few things that really help to make men’s leggings fashionable and stylish.
I realize everyone will have their own opinions on this, but I figured I would share a few elements that can really help you out when wearing leggings.
Also, I am talking about my specific body type. I have more of a rectangular body type meaning my shoulders are about as wide as my hips. The things I do to style men’s leggings may or may not work for your body type, but I’ll discuss the logic behind my actions and that should help you put into practice what I am doing for your body type.
Start with an oversized top
The oversized top is a big help when wearing leggings. The leggings leave nothing to the imagination and they really define your lower silhouette. By making your top bigger and baggier and more shapeless you can help to offset your figure and have a more complete look.
Think of the rules around yin and yang. Wearing leggings is like yin and the bigger oversized top is like yang. The two elements balance themselves out your shape is more appealing to the eye.
I have also found that the bigger tops help to generate the look of bigger and wider shoulders and it also hides the fact that I am a bit bigger around the middle than I would like to be. Something that leggings can really accentuate is the weight we carry because they don’t hide anything - this can mean they are hard to pair with other form-fitting clothes unless you really have an athletic physique. I do not have the tightest core and therefore a bigger top helps to create longer lines and better connect my leggings to my shoulders and offers a complete look.
Bigger button-downs work great.
To start the best-oversized top is a button shirt. If you are like me you have a few in your closet already. Wearing them unbuttoned ads to the way they lay and flow on your body and the unbuttoned look also adds some texture and layering which helps with the silhouette even more.
Here are a few examples of a bigger button-down paired with leggings or skinny jeans.
Sweaters and sweatshirts work great too.
Really any top that fits a bit bigger and wider and longer than your top is going to work great. The idea is to accentuate your shoulders and counterbalance the tight leggings. Sweaters and sweatshirts are great because you can add in additional aesthetics like a knit or a graphic. You can also play around with sleeve length and the style of the neck with shirts that don’t have a collar or buttoned sleeves.
Below is a nice example of wearing a bigger sweater with leggings
I am not saying you can’t wear tight and clingy tops but it is important to remember your silhouette and how the outfits lays on you. tight tops paired with tight bottoms can draw the eye to your middle. If you are like me that can make you look rounder than you really are. I use bigger tops to build up my shoulders and break up my silhouette which makes me appear taller and fitter than I really am.
Layers are your friend.
When wearing leggings for fashion there is not much you can do with your lower half. For this reason you need to build up your look and one of the easier ways to do that is to add to your outfit. Layers are just simply more layers of clothing and accessories.
Drop hem shirts are awesome
One way to layer is to wear a bigger button-down shirt over a drop hem t-shirt. You unbutton the oversized shirt and voila - a layered and easy look. The drop hem does a few things. It adds length to the look and can poke out underneath the shirt giving the layered look more depth but it also adds modesty. The drop hem covers your front and rear and keeps your outfit much more modest.
See the two examples below where the drop hem is used to lengthen a shorter sweatshirt and add a layer effect.
Drop hems also pair great with sweatshirts or sweaters as an undershirt and again they can stick out the bottom and add to the outfit look. These mid layers can be the kind of detail your outfit was missing and they can add a “je ne sais quoi” to your outfit.
Scarves and Jackets Help A Lot
Shirts on top of shirts can only take your layering so far. Here’s where a jacket and scarf can really help add a bunch of layers and you can reuse the same jacket across multiple outfits.
Scarves are great because they can do a number of things at once. They lengthen your torso and help connect your lower tighter silhouette with your shoulders. They also add a pop of color and texture and can make your base outfit more dynamic. Want to change your look? Switch scarves and bam you have a new color scheme in a jiffy.
Similar to drop hem shirts scarves can also be used to create a bit more modesty in your outfits with leggings. Longer scarves can hang down in front and help obfuscate the bulge in leggings.
As far as jackets are concerned I suggest going with a longer jacket. It will make the layering effect easier to accomplish and will wrap all your layers and colors up in a nice envelope. The length also helps keep your buns warm when it is cold outside. Leggings aren’t the most insulated especially when paired with thong underwear so the jacket is utilitarian as it is fashionable.
Take a look at the below examples where I use a jacket and scarf to build up my layers.
Footwear and Leggings
This is arguably the place I have dragged my feet the most. See wat I did there? Anyway - leggings again are skin tight. We need a way to balance that and finish the look. In the same way that I use bigger oversized tops I also really like to ave bigger chunkier shoes.
Given it is winter I have aopted for a nice pair of black leather boots. I keep the laces nice and loose and then layer a wool sock ontop of my leggings and it really helps to pull the whole look together.
Anoter option is to go hig contrast wit your footwear. Black leggings and white shoes works very well for this. The contrast does a similar thing that the chunkier boots do and they help to break up the leggings and clearly define your feet.
I have noticed in many of the images where I am wearing my grey chukkas that the leggings kind of blur into my feet and make my feet look really small and it looks unbalanced. The contrast look or when I wear boots I don’t notice the same issue and the outfit feels more complete.
Leggings Really Do Matter
Lastly I want to talk about fabric and color choice for leggings. In my opinion a matte finish to your leggings really does matter. Matte black is the most versitile and will be the easiest legging for you to style. I generally use the matte black legging as my staple choice for fashionable wear.
Cotton leggings also tend be more matte than polyester or spandex leggings. Cotton leggings are also much more comfortable.
Cotton also tends to look better with all of my natural fiber tops. Big oversized button downs are generally cotton. So are my drop hem t-shirts and sweatshirts and sweaters. Have a continuity of fabric makes the whole outfit come together.
If you want to have the leggings really standout in your outfit - like a wet look or leather legging - just realize you’ll need to pair down the rest of the outfit. One of the things that I have been focused on is making sure all my tops are neutral colors. This allows them a greater versatility to wear with jeans, chinos, or other pants, and if I want to have a colorful pair of leggings on I can because the top is more muted and won’t clash or “fight” with a statement pair of leggings.
Explore A Bit Of Flair!
One of the things I have been personally exploring is looking and feeling more feminine while wearing leggings. That is my personal flair. I have been exploring crop tops and longer hair and feminine accent colors to try and create a more androgynous look. That’s my thing. It doesn’t have to be yours.
Here’s a quick example of a men’s crop top and leggings to make an androgynous look.
I have seen some really cool outfits with gents layering blue jean jorts over tights. I have seen guys really diving into the athletic leisure fashion side of leggings. The above ideas are just that - ideas. Making your own way in the world of mens leggings and fashion is a blank canvas and incorporating your own flair is really important. Which brings me to my last point.
Be Sure To Have Fun
In the end this is just an article about wearing men’s leggings for fashion. In reality there are no rules to fashion. Only opinions. Wearing mens leggings for fashion should be a personal and fun way to express yourself. We all have different desires and tastes and how we wear leggings should reflect ourselves for and for most.
If you want to see more inspiration for men’s leggings outfit follow my instagram account - feel free to drop me a message if you ever have questions about using leggings in an outfit - I’d be happy to help!
