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fashion
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Jeggings for the Office?
10 Sep 2010 by jcarpenter / No Comments
I knew jeggings had conquered the masses when my nine year old daughter delightfully shrieked, “Yes! Jeggings!!!” as I handed her a pair of teeny, tiny stretchy Paper Denim leggings that I had unearthed at Marshalls earlier that day. I was shocked at her new fashion lingo as I had only just recently picked up on the jeggings phenomenon. For my book-wormish and beautiful but not especially fashion-conscious daughter to be up on this trend means jeggings have permeated our fashion culture… right down to the fourth graders in Medfield, Mass. Silly Bandz are now SO yesterday and it’s all about those skinny and comfy denim wonders that look fabulous with tall boots and make just about everyone’s legs looks three inches longer. While in my family we have no shortage of leg length, mother and daughter alike both love any excuse to wear tall boots.
So follows the inevitable question that arises whenever a new trend meets the masses – Is this new look appropriate in the workplace? We currently have a “no denim” policy at our office which I must admit I find quite menacing at times. I mean, after all, denim could very well be the world’s most perfect fabric! Plus – what about dresses, skirts and suits that have a distinctive denim look but are not denim at all? And what about a sharp pair of denim trousers? I have been known to push the envelope on this topic on some occasions. There is no easy answer to the denim debate and now jeggings propel us into an entirely new dimension of the discussion.
I am with Jennifer Diana and Melissa McGraw at WorkChic.com in believing that jeggings are fabulous for casual wear but require much too much fashion expertise to carry them off appropriately in the office environment. I am not saying it can’t be done … but I am saying that most of us mere mortals would be challenged to create the right jeggings ensemble to balance chic and professional in a formal work setting. As we speak, I have no doubt that jeggings are making their way into HR handbooks all across corporate America as HR hawks with infrared goggles scan the cubicles of corporate land for jeggings atrocities. Lucky for me, I work from home a couple days a week so I can rock my jeggings regularly and impress my fourth grader when she gets off the school bus.
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