by Rachel Wagner

I never wore leggings growing up. I would never think to wear them as pants even tho that’s what a lot of the girls around me were doing. From a suburban public school system to working at a grocery store and then working at hair salons, it seemed like people wore leggings every single day. I couldn’t relate. Like why do you need to be that comfortable? And could it even be considered comfortable to have your entire body shape shown? Even a miniskirt or tight jeans cover you in a way. Spandex seemed constricting or over-exposing or something to me.

But then corona happened and I started riding bikes more with my son and playing soccer here and there and then I started to jog and run so spandex and stuff became more and more relevant. I noticed right away that having the right clothes made me more physically efficient. The tight sports bras and the cute tennis skirts made me perform better. Seriously. When you have on an outfit that feels like nothing, you’re winning. And if you can wear it in a way that would make you feel like you could go anywhere on the fly for the rest of the day, then you’re double winning.

That has always been my philosophy with regular clothes too–make it so you’d be good to go everywhere and feel good. Doctors or the store or school or work or with a dude or whatever. Now I have to plan for working from home and possibly working out at some point. I know I might go on a hike or bike ride that day and I might stop at my moms at some point or maybe I’ll run into a guy, so all those things have to get factored in. Might decide to wear leggings and a little shirt then instead of stockings and a skirt. It’s simple and looks good. I mean, like I said, I’ve been working out.

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Other pieces on this topic: Shoe training and body modification & Men at the park & To be fetishized & Cardio is mad addictive

My books: 
– Jacob’s Hip: Poems
– FEM: New Millennium Beauty & Fashion
– Abandonment Issues: Alive in New Jersey
– Back Like I Never Left: Dating as a Single Mother

My bookstore: Ten Dollar Books