Why we all love legging it

Lisa Armstrong | August 05, 2009

I FINALLY got my head around leggings -- and then leggings around my thighs in a way that seemed relatively successful -- this year, a full 30 months after their first appearance outside a gym since the early 1990s.

That's it, I thought. I can do this. Therefore, according to the Law of Sod, in another three or four months they'll begoners.

By rights they should be dead already. It's two years since Nicolas Ghesquiere put gold metal leggings on the Balenciaga catwalk and Beyonce snapped them up for pound stg. 12,000 (about $24,000); she's still rocking the 80s look on her I Am... tour, courtesy of Thierry Mugler's show-stealing costumes. It's a year since Lady Gaga hit the ground in her Catwoman high-shine leggings. That's a lifetime in youth trend years. Yet leggings, having momentarily slowed down towards the end of last summer, are back stronger than ever. In Britain, River Island has sold 750,000 pairs of leggings over the past 12 months. Marks & Spencer sells more than one pair of leggings every minute.

According to Averyl Oates, the buying director at Harvey Nichols, where cashmere or Ottoman leggings ring in at about pound stg. 400 a pair, they will still be hot come late (northern) winter, early spring. How did this dead cat bounce come about? Why has the most influential force in the business -- the public -- taken to leggings the way it previously took to skinny jeans, a trend that lingered in the spotlight far beyond its allotted 15minutes and can accurately be said to have transcended from passing fad to wardrobe necessity? On a subliminal level, leggings mark the end of a decade's obsessions with big breasts. The erogenous focus is switching to legs. On a practical level, leggings may ultimately have even more longevity than drainpipes, simply because they're more comfortable and more forgiving now that we've learned to wear them under dresses, tunics, oversized boyfriend jackets, baggy T-shirts, mini-kilts, cocktail dresses and other ingenious thigh-concealers. This is not the early 90s, when the only way to wear leggings was with a teeny tunic or patterned shirt. Although teenagers are choosing to wear their leggings increasingly with skimpy tops (presumably to differentiate themselves from their more cautious mothers), wearing leggings now comes with numerous safety clauses.

Even the age issue seems to have been packed off to the style mortuary. Leggings are just the job to help legs that may be slightly past their best or have what Jane Shepherdson of Whistles delicately calls "the corned beef effect" of mottled skin. Oates agrees: "We've noticed women wearing them across the age divide. To be honest, there's no such thing as age at Harvey Nichols. It's more about mental attitude. Actually, leggings or treggings (trousers-cum-leggings) are great for older women as they give them the opportunity to wear something form-fitting without revealing too much skin."

The more ingenious brands now offer support leggings and styles, courtesy of Damart, that promise to burn off calories while you wear them (that would probably be true of most clothing, strictly speaking). But the main sell is that being black (unless you're really up for a challenge), any pair is optically slimming and as Belle Robinson, co-owner of the Jigsaw chain, notes, "a brilliant way of putting a twist on a classic outfit, whether it's a little tweed jacket or a sprigged tea-dress". Robinson had just finished shooting Jigsaw's autumn catalogue when we spoke, and hadn't planned to use leggings.

"But the model showed up with her own pair and whatever we put on her just looked more youthful and a bit edgier worn withleggings".

For those with ostentatiously good legs, there are leggings that offer advanced degrees in treacherous style challenges (laser-cut leather leggings from Rodarte spring to mind: worn in the wrong way, they look like congealed vermicelli). In other words, leggings offer the complete course in fashionology, from the Janet and John early reader of plain matte black to the PhD of stretch chiffon and sequins leggings from the cult brand Les Chiffoniers. Like the denim trend of the early noughties, leggings have spawned a cluster of premium brands, including Lindsay Lohan's own range and Kova & T, the label started by Roman Abramovich's girlfriend Dasha Zhukova and her friend Christina Tang, which spawned a craze for wet-look leggings. It took all of six weeks for approximations of Les Chiffoniers and Kova & T to filter on to the high street. At about pound stg. 8, for the cheapest pair at H&M, up to pound stg. 35 at Topshop, leggings are proving to be the high street's God-sent (or Balenciaga-sent) recession buster, albeit one that has eaten into sales of trousers.

"Leggings are hard to beat," says Yasmin Yusuf, the creative director at Miss Selfridge. "We're finding that our customers wear them during the day to tone down little tunic dresses and whip them off at night when they want to ramp it up. Given that you can wear them with cropped T-shirts or shirt dresses, they're one of the most versatile pieces in a wardrobe."

Miss Selfridge has more than a dozen categories -- leather, wet look, patterned, lace, cut-out, metallic, denim, geometric, slashed, latex, liquid -- and three lengths, knee, mid-calf and ankle.

"I knew when I was in LA last September that they were going to get a second wind," Yusuf says. "They had made the journey from American Apparel to all the really upscale boutiques such as Kitson, where you could buy leather ones for $US1300 ($1585). Until then, leggings had been merchandised as accessories, but now retailers are arranging their looks around them, specifically shoes and jackets. In 2006 girls wore leggings with flat pumps. Now women are using them to draw attention to an amazing pair of heels."

None of this has passed unnoticed by designers, who filled their autumn-winter 2009 collections with what might best be described as extreme leggings, from Alexander Wang's black bandages, worn with tourniquet stretch minidresses, Meadham Kirchhoff's heavily embroidered leggings or Gucci's oil-slick shine leggings to Stella McCartney's silk ones that seemed to be attached to stalactite-heeled boots.

Even so, the continuing appeal this summer has taken retailers by surprise. "We're selling many more shorter dresses than we anticipated," says Shepherdson, "because women feel confident when they can wear them with leggings: the shorter length looks much more modern and sharper now, but it's difficult to wear in summer without the comfort blanket of thick black tights."

There is one sector of the population, however, for whom leggings will forever be a barbed issue: men. That alone will seal their success for a while yet.

Divorce, It Seems, Can Make You Ill

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: August 3, 2009

Married people tend to be healthier than single people. But what happens when a marriage ends?

New research shows that when married people become single again, whether by divorce or a spouse’s death, they experience much more than an emotional loss. Often they suffer a decline in physical health from which they never fully recover, even if they remarry.

And in terms of health, it’s not better to have married and lost than never to have married at all. Middle-age people who never married have fewer chronic health problems than those who were divorced or widowed.

The findings, from a national study of 8,652 men and women in their 50s and early 60s, suggest that the physical stress of marital loss continues long after the emotional wounds have healed. While this does not mean that people should stay married at all costs, it does show that marital history is an important indicator of health, and that the newly single need to be especially vigilant about stress management and exercise, even if they remarry.

“When your spouse is getting sick and about to die or your marriage is getting bad and about to die, your stress levels go up,” said Linda Waite, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago and an author of the study, which appears in the September issue of The Journal of Health and Social Behavior. “You’re not sleeping well, your diet gets worse, you can’t exercise, you can’t see your friends. It’s a whole package of awful events.”

The health benefits of marriage, documented by a wealth of research, appear to stem from several factors. Married people tend to be better off financially and can share in a spouse’s employer health benefits. And wives, in particular, act as gatekeepers for a husband’s health, scheduling appointments and noticing changes that may signal a health problem. Spouses can offer logistical support, like taking care of children while a partner exercises or shuttling a partner to and from the doctor’s office.

But in the latest study, researchers sought to gauge the health effects of divorce, widowhood and remarriage in a large cohort of people over time.

Among the 8,652 people studied, more than half were still married to their first spouse. About 40 percent had been divorced or widowed; about half of that group were remarried by the time of the study. About 4 percent had never married.

Over all, men and women who had experienced divorce or the death of a spouse reported about 20 percent more chronic health problems like heart disease, diabetes and cancer, compared with those who had been continuously married. Previously married people were also more likely to have mobility problems, like difficulty climbing stairs or walking a meaningful distance.

While remarrying led to some improvement in health, the study showed that most married people who became single never fully recovered from the physical declines associated with marital loss. Compared with those who had been continuously married, people in second marriages had 12 percent more chronic health problems and 19 percent more mobility problems. A second marriage did appear to heal emotional wounds: remarried people had only slightly more depressive symptoms than those continuously married.

The study does not prove that the loss of a marriage causes health problems, only that the two are associated. It may be that people who don’t exercise, eat poorly and can’t manage stress are also more likely to divorce. Still, researchers note that because the effect is seen in both divorced and widowed people, the data strongly suggest a causal relationship.

One reason may be changes at the cellular level during times of high stress. In an Ohio State University study, scientists analyzed blood samples of people undergoing the stress of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. The research focused on telomeres, which insulate and protect the ends of chromosomes; with aging, telomeres shorten and the activity of a related enzyme also declines.

Compared with a control group, the Alzheimer’s caregivers showed telomere patterns associated with a four- to eight-year shortening of life span. Dr. Waite said the stress of divorce or widowhood might take a similar toll, leading to chronic health and mobility problems.

None of this suggests that spouses should stay in a bad marriage for the sake of health. Marital troubles can lead to physical ones, too.

In a series of experiments, scientists at Ohio State studied the relationship between marital strife and immune response, as measured by the time it takes for a wound to heal. The researchers recruited married couples who submitted to a small suction device that left eight tiny blisters on the arm. The couples then engaged in different types of discussions — sometimes positive and supportive, at other times focused on a topic of conflict.

After a marital conflict, the wounds took a full day longer to heal. Among couples who exhibited high levels of hostility, the wound healing took two days longer than with those who showed less animosity.

“I would argue that if you can’t fix a marriage you’re better off out of it,” said Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, an Ohio State scientist who is an author of much of the research. “With a divorce you’re disrupting your life, but a long-term acrimonious marriage also is very bad.”

OMEGA 3 IS THE SECRET OF LONG LIFE

By Dana Gloger

EATING oily fish can help ensure a long life as it slashes the risk of heart failure by a third, scientists have discovered.

As a result, they say the fatty acid found in fish oil, omega 3, should now be taken daily by everyone in Britain.

Oily fish has long been known to help those with existing heart problems, but just 500mg a day – the equivalent of two three-ounce portions a week – could also cut the risk for healthy people.

The “compelling” new evidence could reduce heart attack deaths in the UK by up to 30 per cent – without a need for extra medication.

Heart disease is still the country’s biggest killer and scientists at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans looked back at 30 years of research.

They say people with existing heart problems should take “at least 800 to 1,000mg” of omega 3 each day – the amount found in three to four 3oz portions of oily fish a week.

Half that amount of fish would provide enough omega 3 for healthy people – the equivalent of one supplement capsule.

Although the substance is considered an “essential fatty acid”, omega 3 is not produced naturally by the body, and therefore it can only be obtained through diet or supplements. The Food Standards Agency recommends mackerel, tuna and herring as the best source of the oil, which according to previous studies can also protect against strokes and cancer.

But it has previously sounded warnings about eating too much oily fish, claiming that it can contain low levels of pollutants that might build up in the body.

Experts say there is no harm in men and most women eating four portions of fish a week, but girls and women who might later have a baby and those who are pregnant or breast-feeding should limit their intake to two portions a week.

Dr Carl Lavie, who led the study which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, said: “This isn’t just hype.

“We now have tremendous and compelling evidence from very large studies ... that demonstrates the protective benefits of omega 3 fish oil in multiple aspects of preventive cardiology.

“And we are talking about a very safe and relatively inexpensive therapy.”

Last night the findings were hailed as a true breakthrough in tackling heart disease, which kills 200,000 people a year in the UK. Around 275,000 Britons suffer heart attacks each year.

Nutritionist Carina Norris said: “This is great – very welcome research. It shows that omega 3 is one of the closest things to a true superfood.

“It is involved in so many areas of health, especially the heart and brain, and it is really good news that they have now found it can also reduce the risk of heart attacks in healthy people as well as those with existing heart problems. Those who don’t like fish can just take a supplement instead.”

The British Heart Foundation welcomed the research last night and Linda Main, dietician at the charity Heart UK, said: “These findings could be a radical way of cutting heart attacks.”

But she warned that adding omega 3 to a diet needed to be coupled with overall healthier eating.

Cold Temperatures Improve Sleep

Avoiding caffeine, sticking to a schedule and drinking a glass of warm milk are the usual tips for a good night’s rest. But the right room temperature can also play a crucial role.

Studies have found that in general, the optimal temperature for sleep is quite cool, around 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. For some, temperatures that fall too far below or above this range can lead to restlessness.

Temperatures in this range, it seems, help facilitate the decrease in core body temperature that in turn initiates sleepiness. A growing number of studies are finding that temperature regulation plays a role in many cases of chronic insomnia. Researchers have shown, for example, that insomniacs tend to have a warmer core body temperature than normal sleepers just before bed, which leads to heightened arousal and a struggle to fall asleep as the body tries to reset its internal thermostat.

For normal sleepers, the drop in core temperature is marked by an increase in temperature in the hands and feet, as the blood vessels dilate and the body radiates heat. Studies show that for troubled sleepers, a cool room and a hot-water bottle placed at the feet, which rapidly dilates blood vessels, can push the internal thermostat to a better setting.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A slightly cool room and a lower core temperature are optimal for sleep.