Leggings under a dress- questions - YouLookFab Forum

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Leggings under a dress- questions

shiny

Veteran

Okay I confess, I have been mostly snoozing through these discussions, thinking this is not a look for me. But now I am tempted to give it a whirl, but I forget all the rules! Can you help me out?

1) Did Angie blog about this? I seem to think she did, but can't find it now. So maybe I dreamed it?

2) Where do you find your leggings (the kind that hit just below the knee, like clamdiggers)? If you are petite, what luck have you had in particular?

3) Most importantly: how short does the dress/tunic have to be for this to work?

I just bought the ATL sleeveless ruffle shirt dress - this one:
http://www.anntaylorloft.com/c.....ory=Petite

.... except that it hits me much, much lower. It hits just above the knee on me. Will that work with leggings? Or should I have it shortened?

I'm assuming black leggings - I will leave the colorful leggings to the younger set; I wouldn't pair this with my clams because they have a rolled cuff and are too casual, I think, for this dress. I have tried this on with my COH Elson's and I'm on the fence. I don't know if I'm just not used to the look yet, or if the hem needs to come up, or they'd work better with my UO super skinnies (which are like leggings)?? (Yes, I will post photos when I get the chance).

4) Finally, if you have photos of dress with leggings to share with me, please do!! Apologies for making you re-post. I am sure I've seen your photos already, but I wasn't thinking then about how to make it work for me... so now I'm going to study every detail!!

Thanks!

General

21 replies

Latest reply was from Kristen

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

She did blog about it. Here you go:

http://youlookfab.com/2007/07/.....o-spend-7/

http://youlookfab.com/2007/08/.....-leggings/

I’m glad you're giving leggings a whirl, Shiny. It can be a FANTASTIC look and the most stylish cities in the world (in my book anyway), are still absolutely obsessed with the item.

You shall need to experiment. Heels and flats will work. Dressy and casual interpretations will work. Woven tops and knit tops will work.

As for the leggings, I like them very thick and very black. I just bought the BEST pair at Macys with little exposed side biker zippers. I unzip them a bit so that they form a vent on my calf. Love them:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/.....sn_results

LoP

Veteran

Hi Shiny! Leggings look is everywhere in the Netherlands right now. I blogged about it for fun recently. Nothing too different, but might be food for thought...

Link: http://www.legacyofpearl.com/3059425

Maya

Veteran

My just-above-the-knee dress is too long for leggings. I need it to hit around mid-thigh, and I suspect this might be because I am petite (even though my proportions are not). I also like my leggings to hit mid-calf.

However, I don't get much use out of my leggings because I have nothing to wear them with! All my tunics and dresses are either too long or too short (except those sweater tunics from UO, which aren't going to work at this point). I am having the hardest time finding the right length. It needs to be about 32".

I too like my leggings very opaque. I have them in black, gray, and white, and all are real leggings, not footless tights. If you're wondering why I have 3 pairs of leggings and nothing to wear them with: I used to have a few summer tunics from when I was smaller, but had to give them away.

bella

(website)

Veteran

This is my one and only attempt at the look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2.....479403309/

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

This is actually my new favorite thing to wear- both leggings under dresses and skirts. At first I thought "been there, done that- in the 80's/90's", but then I saw the pictures posted here, and it looks so chic when done well.

Here are some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....481057589/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....477054361/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....511912218/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....511912196/

I like the thick, opaque cotton version (really more like pants than tights)
I just got a pair from Kohl's- they are the Simply Vera Wang kind, and I really like them.

Antje

Veteran

Hi shiny, it's a fun look, good for you for trying! My most recent set included two outfits with dress/leggings. I got my leggings at Nordies' BP department.
http://s291.photobucket.com/al.....l09-part2/ (password: youlookfab)

planetamy

(website)

I just recently got two pairs of opaque leggings from Express, one black and one purple.

I LOVE them for two reasons 1) it's windy here most days (I live near the ocean) and with leggings there's no need to worry about flashing 2) I work retail and some of my dresses/skirts are too short to work in comfortably, leggings solve that problem for me.

Here's me in a pink dress with the purple leggings:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8.....532751997/

And here's me going all-out 80's:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8.....532751997/

planetamy

(website)

Also, if there's a New York & Company in your area, you should check them out. They have a ton of great leggings for CHEAP, especially if you have a coupon.

http://www.nyandcompany.com/ny.....=cat850058

these are $9.95! I'm not sure how opaque they are, as I've not tried them on yet. Also, NY&Co has jean-like leggings that I thought would be a cool alternative (both temperature-wise and hipness) to black or skinny jeans under a dress/tunic.

Hope that helps
Amy

shiny

Veteran

Thanks for the links and photos - You are all so cute in your leggings!!

Angie, INC makes a petite legging but without those zippers. I may have to make a trip to Macy's. But first I'll dig around here, I do have ankle-length leggings somewhere; I can experiment first by scrunching them up.

For this dress -
http://www.anntaylorloft.com/c.....ory=Petite

... will black leggings be too much black? Should I opt for white instead? (I would wear with the silver flats, and possibly a cardigan or colorful cami for a pop of color). I like the NY&Co leggings, they look very opaque.

Also this dress isn't a knit. It has lots of structure. Will it still work? Or should I stick to jeans underneath? (I guess I need to take some photos - will do that when my camera-woman gets home from school).

Chewy, I also love your leggings with the lace detail - where did you get them?

Anyone try Target for leggings?

My big problem with leggings is that it can be hard to keep my kids from borrowing them. Both of them adore leggings and wear them quite a bit - in bright bold funky colors and wild patterns too! I guess if I got boring black, they would keep their hands off.

shiny

Veteran

Ooh... I just thought of something: I could try this dress over my white jeans! That could be cute....

Antje

Veteran

White jeans sound fab! I would not pair that dress with black leggings.

tarzy

Veteran

Shiny - I think you'd look great in leggings and a tunic or dress. I agree that proportions are key.

I'm still on the fence about me in leggings. On the one hand, I love the idea of an alternative to jeans, especially on warmer days. Everyone seemed to like this look I posted before - it's a structured sheath (LOFT). I'm just not sure if I would actually wear it on a normal day (sitting at my desk for a few hours of freelance writing, errands, running around, etc.) It feels a bit dressy to me:
http://i387.photobucket.com/al.....1090-1.jpg

I just brought this home from LOFT to try. Angie has advised me to look for structure, which this doesn't have, but this seems more casual to me, which I like. I could see this working for casual day-to-day. However - I think the top is too voluminous for my already large chest:
http://i387.photobucket.com/al.....G_1096.jpg

shiny

Veteran

Ooh, Tarzy I like both outfits!!! You give me hope that this new dress of mine, which is also structured and hits me about the same place and is also black, will work with leggings.

I don't think the second one is too voluminous. I think it works because the length is shorter - if the length was longer, then it might be too much fabric. Does that make sense? I do think everyone needs a casual, easy knit dress like this for summer. Is that a white cami underneath? This was my idea too - bring in contrast at the neckline.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I think a structured dress with leggings works great!

The lace ones I got at Susie's Deals for $6! If you have one near you- they are worth checking out. I wasn't sure that I would wear them, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money trying them out. Now that I know I will wear them a ton, I am buying nicer ones (with no lace). Kohl's has the Vera Wang ones for $20, and the hosiery is buy one, get on half price right now. They have brown and black.

I just saw this dress

http://www.nyandcompany.com/ny.....d=cat60070

I am considering it for use with leggings

yublocka

(website)

Veteran

Shiny I love your new dress. Can't wait to see you sport pics of it with leggings. I agree that white jeans could be a great look too.

Here's some of my leggings examples to add to your list:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/y.....225256166/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/y.....225256166/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yublocka/3448429655/

http://s622.photobucket.com/al.....G_4368.jpg

I wear leggings a lot. Which is funny, because I don't wear tights all that often. Strange!!

Louise

Veteran

I love love love leggings and dresses. Here's one of my favourite outfits

http://i594.photobucket.com/al.....0_1043.jpg

I like that i can get away with a shorter dress but still feel covered up x

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

Shiny, I've been trying on leggings with dresses for a couple of weeks now, and I can't say I'm exactly enamored of it yet. I think for my body type, it will look better if I wear them with a shorter tunic than a dress; I like my legs and I like how long they are, and leggings seem to shrink them in ways I don't like. Here are a few with and without shots so you can see the difference:

Navy cotton dress and white jean jacket
With: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k.....883677092/
Without: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k.....883677092/

Purple knit Target dress:
With: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k.....883677092/
Without: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k.....883677092/

I also threw on a t-shirt of DH's, to see if I liked the length better than I did the dresses. Turned out to be the answer! (Ignore the XXL-ness of the shirt. Doesn't fit him anymore either! *g*)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/k.....883677092/

So for me, I think I will like leggings more with tunics than dresses. Now I just need to start buying tunics, lol. But it took a lot of trial and error to get this far!

Asha

Oooh, I'm excited to see pics with leggings of you in that dress. As for the too much black issue, I say just try it. If it was black jeans, I'd say, yes that's too much black. But black leggings, plus lightening it up with a cami or cardi, bag and flats - I think it could look great and not like too much.

tarzy

Veteran

Kristen - you are literally shrinking before our eyes! I think you look great in both - with leggings and without. The leggings just make the outfits more casual. When you want to be a bit more dressy - go without and show off those great legs. Lucky you - It doubles your options!

yublocka

(website)

Veteran

Kirsten you should totally get into the leggings again. Both those dresses look great with and without them. Tarzy is right - you now have 4 totally different looks!!

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

Tara and Tam-- ooooh, I can't believe I didn't ever really think about it like that, but the leggings could work to dress down the outfit. I guess because I've been so focused on finding dresses that were already casual style, it didn't occur to me that they could be accessorized to be up or down casual. LOL! See how unused to casual I am? Thanks for the idea!