Bare legs is the state in which a person does not cover their legs with any clothing. A person may have bare legs for functional reasons, such as to keep cooler in hot weather or during physical exercise. Most modern swimwear is worn without any leg covering (exemplified by the

speedo Speedo International Limited is a distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England, known for its swim briefs. The company has roots in Australia but is no longer based there. Founded in Sydney in 1914 by A ...

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...

, trunks and

fundoshi is a traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males and females, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the ...

). The increased popularity of higher

hemline The hemline is the line formed by the lower edge of a garment, such as a skirt, dress or coat, measured from the floor. The hemline is perhaps the most variable style line in fashion, changing shape and ranging in height from hip-high to floor- ...

s in women's clothing has resulted in increased and increasing exposure of legs. Initially, the shortened dresses were associated with the popularity of legwear which continued to cover the legs wholly or in part, such as

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

and stockings. The introduction of the

miniskirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

and the

microskirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

saw a change to

pantyhose Pantyhose, called sheer tights, or tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Mostly considered to be a garment for women and girls, pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advert ...

tights Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concep ...

and other

leggings Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg warmers or tights ...

. However, there has been an increasing trend towards women not wearing any legwear with short dresses and skirts, and high hemlines, except on formal occasions. Men commonly do not wear leg coverings other than for

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

and sportswear in

leg fetishism A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

History

Bare legs have gone in and out of

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion i ...

many times in different cultures around the world. Examples of this fashion can be found as far back as 1066 with the Norman peasant class commonly baring their legs. Bare legs in England were a source of contention during the 1929

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

women's tennis tournament where a ban was considered and then ultimately rejected by English authorities, bare legs in women's tennis being the norm in both France and the United States at the time.''The Englishness of English dress'', Christopher Breward/Becky Conekin/Caroline Cox, p. 53
/ref> Whilst western women's fashions through the first half of the 20th century and beyond gradually made the revealing of the leg acceptable or even the norm, the absence of any covering was often seen as having particular sexual connotations. The popularity of pantyhose grew into a wardrobe staple throughout the 1970s and 1980s. From 1995 a steady decline in sales of pantyhose began, levelling off in 2006 with American sales less than half of what they had once been. This decline has been attributed to bare legs in fashion, changes in workplace dress code, and the increased popularity of trousers.

References

{{Clothing 2000s fashion