Shame of the full tights.

Battle of the Bulge wrote:

Wait a minute. You were wearing tights and the kid couldn't tell if you were a man or a woman? Hmmmm.

Well played.

I wear a pair of early 1990s Zubaz pants on all my winter runs.

easy one wrote:

What I find interesting about all this is, both tights advocates AND detractors question the opposition's sexuality.

Yes, that is interesting, it is a complex issue. Normally I would say it is gay to make clothing choices based on how the attire looks - especially when you're running and the only purpose should be to stay warm and injury free.

However, what if the clothing decision is based on you trying to AVOID looking gay? Certainly we can all relate to that. I don't see too many straight men wearing leather vest and assless chaps. It is common practice to avoid dressing gay, and being fashion-conscious for this reason is acceptable.

The question is what is the defining characteristic for tights - their functionality (which one might call manly), or how slim and sexy they make your legs look (which one might call gay).

anEconomist wrote:

because there are negative externalities involved here -

you want to look like a homo, fine but general population sees runners as wimpy dweebs totally out of touch - would be nice if runners were seen as a bit more with it, people might actually take more of an interest in the professional sport

Usually I really like the insight your posts bring, anEconomist, but this one is really bad. You generally preach open-mindedness, so who cares what the general population thinks? The judgmental ones don't matter. If someone sees me running [fast] down the road and thinks "homo," then I can't imagine that I'd ever care to associate with that person.

you are correct, this goes against what i normally try to preach and I am certainly hold nothing against homosexuals at allfor me it was just too much time spent in continental europeeverytime a dude works out there they feel that it is required to wear thread bare tights or worse (the dreaded white onesy) - it is just a fashion choice i have, i think guys look much better wearing shorts or pants and girls can pull off eitherso while i support the right of a person to wear anything, i think it would look better if we didn't get pulled the european waykind of like men wearing speedos on the beach - i just think it looks ridiculousthe rest of my talk on this thread i'm just trying to inflame people

R.L. Scribner wrote:

anEconomist wrote:

because there are negative externalities involved here -

you want to look like a homo, fine but general population sees runners as wimpy dweebs totally out of touch - would be nice if runners were seen as a bit more with it, people might actually take more of an interest in the professional sport

Usually I really like the insight your posts bring, anEconomist, but this one is really bad. You generally preach open-mindedness, so who cares what the general population thinks? The judgmental ones don't matter. If someone sees me running [fast] down the road and thinks "homo," then I can't imagine that I'd ever care to associate with that person.

runner39 wrote:

another thing, you are wearing tights running when it's cold out, if you were wearing tights and say going grocery shopping or hanging out well that's another story

touche, sir.

I think that you're looking at it backwards when you say that runners look like out of touch dorks when they wear tights. I think it works the other way around. People think that runners are dorks, so they consider the clothes that runners wear to be dorky. I say this because other sports have clothing that is just as ridiculous, if not more so. Most people don't make fun of the clothing that athletes in more mainstream sports wear.

look at baseball, for example. Those pants are more ridiculous looking than anything I've seen a runner wearing. Most people driving by the local high school or college baseball practice field probably aren't thinking "wow, those guys look stupid in those pants."

Of course, part of this issue is that baseball players pretty much only wear the things on the field, while runners wear them all over town, so the fact that they seem out of place probably has a lot to do with how weird it looks to the average person.

Personally, I put function over style within reason. I'm not too concerned if someone who I'll probably never see again doesn't like how I dress when I run. I prefer running pants over tights, but my preference isn't about fashion or what others think.

WOW- I can't believe the High School Harry attitudes about wearing running tights.

Most runners I know, and especially the good ones, are some of the least modest folks I've been around. Whether it's racing shorts, tights,or running sans shirt through town, most of them seem to be a lot more worried about comfort on the run than what others think.

To go on a 10 mile run wearing sweat pants just seems rediculous unless it is just bitter bitter cold. Why not just wear the basketball shorts and gu belt?

i like where you're coming from Harry.

StreetRat wrote:

WOW- I can't believe the High School Harry attitudes about wearing running tights.

Most runners I know, and especially the good ones, are some of the least modest folks I've been around. Whether it's racing shorts, tights,or running sans shirt through town, most of them seem to be a lot more worried about comfort on the run than what others think.

To go on a 10 mile run wearing sweat pants just seems rediculous unless it is just bitter bitter cold. Why not just wear the basketball shorts and gu belt?

You wouldn't wear sweat pants. You would wear running pants. They are very different.

runner39 wrote:

another thing, you are wearing tights running when it's cold out, if you were wearing tights and say going grocery shopping or hanging out well that's another story

I'm at work and wearing tights under my khaki's right now. Not sure if it makes me gay but I sure do feel sexy...

Aneconomist, I too am shocked by your reticence to embrace the tiny European Speedo fashions. I can remember the first Triathlon I did in a Speedo, I felt a little foolish at first but now I can wear them in a convenience store without blinking. Seems you have some further issues to work out before you can qualify as Free Minded...

Back to the original premise, I think that the guy who mentioned football players' pants and the fact that, while looking more ridiculous than tights, they get less grief. Maybe because if you taunt them they will stand and fight. If you taunt us we'll call you a name and when you chase us we'll run you to the point of exhaustion first and then turnaround and kick your ass...

a free, open mind has the choice to prefer one fashion over another (see the fountainhead - being alternative or mainstream on every issue defines you and therefore means you don't think freely) and that is all it isyou guys may wear want you want and i would always defend that right

How about you wear whatever works for you and don't care what anyone else thinks about it? I don't wear running gear because I think anyone thinks I look good in any of it, I wear it because it's what is comfortable to me when I'm running, tights, split shorts, half tights, pants, or otherwise. Get a sack and be who you are, for christ sake, effing bunch of pussies on this stupid message board.

who the hell said otherwise... it is a message board, people are giving their opinions you dumb ass

Yes, I do wrote:

How about you wear whatever works for you and don't care what anyone else thinks about it? I don't wear running gear because I think anyone thinks I look good in any of it, I wear it because it's what is comfortable to me when I'm running, tights, split shorts, half tights, pants, or otherwise. Get a sack and be who you are, for christ sake, effing bunch of pussies on this stupid message board.

Is this somehow related to shrinkage?

This guy told me he is no longer allowed to wear tights at his work's gym because they were "too revealing" and that the rule only applies to him. I think he was just trying to impress me.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

This guy told me he is no longer allowed to wear tights at his work's gym because they were "too revealing" and that the rule only applies to him. I think he was just trying to impress me.

is this a joke, a real story, or both?