Many of you know about my troubles with leggings. I do wear legging jeans in winter, tucked into boots. But I've never found a pair of actual leggings that I can tolerate. They tend to slide down on me, and I also feel like I am wearing pajamas. Not enough structure to them.

Yet, I've been intrigued by this talk of the skirted legging from the start. It sounded as if it might be a great solution to my silhouette boredom in winter. I really love the mock version I concocted with the BR modal dress and tights, and I wear it quite a lot. So I was eager to experiment with the real deal.

But the EFs were too pricey for this Canadian (whose $$ has just plummeted.) Plus I got worried about reports of thinner fabric (wouldn't be warm enough for my climate) and I wasn't sure what size to order.

So when Angie showed the BlackFive leggings with faux leather panel and zip and Lisa ordered them and I saw how great they looked on her, I jumped on the bandwagon, along with Una.

Now they are here. And...well... I'm not sure. This is way, way, way out of my personal comfort zone. I show them a few ways below. I've got different footwear on in different pics as well.

The pros: thick warm fabric, as Lisa reported. They fit and I don't think they are going to fall down on me. Nice blue-grey that works with my closet. Faux leather is soft and actually feels nice!

The cons: Having just had my birthday, I am now firmly in the "upper 50s" age group. And I have never in my LIFE worn a skirt this short. Does this qualify as age-inappropriate? Gaylene has a good test, something about sophistication. But I don't know how these read on me, or how I feel. Mixed, I guess is the best answer. And not sure whether to go out on a limb. Or if this is the limb to go out on.

Also, they feel like pajamas...very unstructured. I am all for comfort....but I'm not sure I would go out of the house in these! I definitely want to hide my rear with an oversized sweater. Or wear a structured jacket up top. I do have a couple that seem to work with them.

So. What think you? Do they move my style forward, or back too far to the teeny-bopper days? Are they sophisticated enough? A great casual look or a failed experiment for me?

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