I vote yay. In the early 80’s, I wore jailbird striped red, white and blue legwarmers over jeans with high heeled red pumps. I also wore bright red legwarmers over acid wash jeans tucked back into flat suede, maroon ankle boots. It was quite an eyesore. But those were the types of crazy wardrobe pairings you wore back then. Looking totally hip and cool sporting the vibe took priority over flattering your body.

This time round, legwarmers can look flattering. The simplest way of achieving a long lean line is by keeping the colour of the hose, shoes and legwarmers the same (see the pictures on the left). A monochromatic approach like pairing grey with black will also work (see middle picture). You don’t need to keep the components on the foot and leg the same colour (see picture with the purple legwarmers). But the greater the contrast between the components, the higher the risk of shortening the leg line. The way I wore legwarmers 25 years ago cut my leg line in several places. It looked hideous and I’m learning from that mistake.

I like the way legwarmers add self-colour textural interest to an ensemble. They also keep you warm, especially when you wear them inside boots. You could use chunky socks instead of legwarmers to achieve the same aesthetic effect with boots. But personally, legwarmers seem the more fun option probably because they’ve become a retro blast from the past. Plus they’re visually more appealing than socks on the foot area when you match them with pumps or ballet flats.

So what’s the verdict. Do legwarmers get a stylish yay or nay? Alhough I turn 40 in six months, I plan to find an inexpensive black pair and have fun experimenting with a few sophisticated trendy looks. Would you wear them?