I have worn regular nylon and shiny Lycra tights and leotards for many years but it wasn't until leggings became popular that I discovered how pleasant and comfortable cotton/lycra leggings could be. Their buttery soft feel is beyond compare and I have enjoyed wearing them, figuring they were the ultimate in comfort. I was wrong.

About a year later I found a pair of Danskin leggings that felt different from any leggings I had worn before. The fabric had the same soft feel as cotton but firmer feel and more intense colors.  They were very comfortable when worn and unlike cotton did not loosen up after being worn for a while. They were made with Dupont Supplex nylon and Lycra.

Supplex is Nylon made from a special micro thin fiber that is given a special treatment so that it has the cottony-softness of cotton with the durability of nylon.  It clings and conforms to the legs even better then cotton and withstands repeated washings much better.  Since my initial discovery I have been replacing my cotton leggings with Supplex nylon.

I found the address of the Danskin outlet in the Orlando phone book, so I was surprised when I saw a Danskin Sport Shop at a different location in the new International Designer Outlets shopping mall on International Drive. It appeared that the outlet had moved to a different location.

I parked the car, feeling very nervous in my black leggings.  I kept telling myself the moment had come. Still it took me several minutes before I got out of the car.  Now feeling very exposed, I stood by the open car door nervously fidgeting. I was just stalling as I pulled up my leggings and straightened out my top.  Terribly self-conscious in the bright sunlight, I shut the car door and quickly walked across the parking lot to the store. There had been no other cars or people in the lot when I had gotten out of the car. But just as I was about to cross the last traffic lane to the sidewalk three cars pulled in off the street. I had to stand there as all three of them slowly pulled by in front of me before I could get inside the store.

The place was huge.  It was not your normal cramped and crowded outlet store.  The racks were separated for easy access and scattered all a giant size store.  I was in tights heaven and started looking for the Supplex leggings.  

After several minutes of searching I could not locate any, so I went over to the service desk for help. The girl behind the counter was more then eager to help, calling over another girl to take her place at the desk.  When she came around the counter I saw she was wearing navy blue leggings with a short waist length light blue top. I followed behind her watching her intently as she told me the leggings were not grouped together but were scattered around the store on small racks.

Finally stopping at a rack stuffed in a corner of two large windows she turned and asked do you know what color and size she nee…. Oh my, these are for you, aren't they? She managed to recover while I answered her question. She was a very pleasant, cheerful person who didn't seem at all surprised that a man would be wanting to try on leggings, tights and unitards. "That outfit really looks nice, were you looking for more dark colors or do you want something brighter? When I told her I would consider both she went over to some other racks and started pulling leggings. While looking, I asked her about the location and if they had moved the store. It turned out there were two stores and the other one was still open down the street.

I was still standing in the front floor to ceiling window when I noticed that a steady stream of people were coming into the store. I knew that soon I would be spotted buy some of the other people shopping. That happened quickly, a group of three teenage girls soon came over by me as they looked at clothing.  One girl turned, saw what I was wearing and started giggling.  Soon all of them were giggling and whispering among themselves about my leggings, as one after another they each came over and peeked at me.  

I spent over an hour looking around and selecting various colors of the Supplex leggings to try on.  She even located several styles of Supplex unitards for me to try.  We each soon had a double handful of clothing for me to try on.  She escorted me back over to the service desk so I could use the fitting room.

It took me quite some time to go through the number of garments I had selected. I kept getting excited by the thrill of trying on the garments. They had the same buttery soft feeling as the cotton leggings only heavier and they fit better. Several times as I tried them on both girls came over to the door and asked how I was doing. The one in Navy blue leggings brought over a couple more pair for me to try, as they were colors we hadn't seen earlier. I finally narrowed my selections down to six pairs and asked her to hold them for me while I looked at the other store.

I wasn't feeling as nervous when I arrived at the other store. It was much easier for me to leave my car and head for the store even though I had to park much further away then I had before.  Walking outside in the bright sunlight is always a hard thing to do when dressed in leggings.

I wandered around the store until I again had my hands full of selections that I wanted to try on in the fitting room.  I was still nervous but nothing like the other store.  The young lady at the service desk gave me a funny look as she told me I could only take six items into the room, but I could hang the extras outside and exchange them as I tried the others on.

It took me some time but I finally selected two pair of black stirrup leggings, and ankle leggings in Khaki, Denim Blue, Hunter Green and Gold.  As I paid for the leggings I had a wild idea.  I decided to wear the black stirrup leggings, so I asked if it was possible to put them on before I left the store.  The other girl on the register snickered but said it was ok.  Smiling, she cut the tags off one pair and handed them to me.  I could hear the three of them snickering as I walked the length of the store to the dressing room.  

I could not believe the excitement I felt as I changed into my new leggings. It was the same pair I had tried on a few minutes before but now the felt entirely different. The intense black color of the nylon made the cotton leggings look like they were dark gray rather then black.  I was almost floating as slowly walked to the counter and picked up my package.  As I left I asked the girls if they knew where I could get a copy of the Orlando paper.  They directed me to a bookstore across the street in the main Beltz outlet building.

Still feeling exciting I decided to walk over rather then going to my car. It was an excitement that I have never felt before as I walked to the corner waited for the light and crossed over to the other building.  It took me several minutes but I finally located the store and got a paper.  I looking for the store I became disoriented and exited from the opposite side of the building.  Rather then go back in I again walked around the outside of the building on the open sidewalks. It was so stimulating and exciting.

I then headed back to the first store and bought four of the six pairs of leggings I had set aside. In addition to the first six I now had Baby blue, Lime Green, Fuschia, and Shiny Purple stirrups. Before the day was over, in addition to the Danskin stores, I stopped at numerous stores on International Drive area including TJ Maxx, Target, Marshalls, and Burger King.  I was enjoying myself so much that I made plans to go out in leggings every night that I was in Orlando.

Tuesday, I made extensive plans for the evening. I was going to an early movie, have dinner, and spend the remaining time shopping in a large mall.  Again I left my pants in my room as I scooted out the door and into my parked car.

I was dressed in my new pair of baby blue leggings with white top, socks and sneakers.  I was early for the show but I discovered a K-Mart in the same shopping center with the theater, so I wandered around in the K-Mart until it was time for the movie to start.  

This K-Mart had a stock of shiny nylon leggings in colors that I didn't have. The look on the faces of the two sales clerks at the fitting room was a trip when I came up with six pairs of shiny exercise tights to try on. She couldn't really believe that I wanted to try them on.  I heard them break into giggles and laughter when I stepped around the corner into the fitting room.

I picked out three pairs of the leggings, in yellow, orange, and lime green, that I bought along with a number of other things from the store. There weren't many people in the store but they only had one cash register working and there was a line of people waiting to check out.  I always feel terribly exposed when I am standing in a line wearing tights, and this time it was worse.

As I was standing there a lady came by with her shopping cart and stopped when she saw me.  I ignored her but she stood there for several seconds staring before she turned her cart and quickly disappeared down the nearest isle.  She returned several moments later with two of her friends in tow and they stood off to the side and watched me as they talked and giggled.  I really wanted to get out of the store right now but unless I through down my new tights I would have to stand in line. The three of them didn't make it any easier as, still snickering two of them got into the line behind me.

It was almost time for the show so I was walking back when passed two girls sitting on a bench.  Both girls were in their early twenties and were wearing black leggings and tee-shirt tops, but one girl had on shiny black leggings and looked like a fox. I had just walked past them, when one said, "OH MY GOSH, that's a guy!" They argued back and forth about whether I was or wasn't wearing leggings, for a few seconds before they started following me.  I could hear them talking as they came up behind me.  Then one called out, "Nice outfit, those colors look nice on you."  Now this has happened before and that is all that is usually said so I just usually ignored them.  But, when I didn't reply, one girl came up by me and said again. "Excuse me, I said that's a very nice outfit you are wearing."  

I really didn't want to stop on the busy sidewalk and talk but I hadn't ever had anybody go to such trouble to continue a conversation about my leggings. The first girl was obviously enjoying herself, with a very impish twinkle in her eyes she said. "I really like those colors, they look so nice together."  We both enjoy wearing leggings, they're so comfortable and easy to wear, so when we saw you, we just had to stop you, and ask you how you like wearing them. I mean, we've never seen a man wearing leggings before, and this would also, like, kind of settle an argument we had with some friends the other day."

They had gotten into an argument over a newspaper article by Dave Barry.  He had written about a story in the New York Times where the fashion designers had come up with some new styles for men.  One of them was a large men's shirt worn over a pair of tights or leggings.  The girls had thought that men would enjoy leggings if they would just try them.  The others who said they would never see a man wearing leggings or tights as pants had laughed them at.  So to help them prove their friends wrong they wanted to take a picture of me wearing my leggings out in public.  They pleaded with me until I finally agreed and waited while the one girl ran to her car and got a small camera.  Then they quickly took several pictures first with one then the other of them there on the sidewalk in front of the shopping center.

When I finally got up to the show I realized I should have bought my tickets earlier.  There were two long lines in front of the ticket booth.  I had to stand there while the line slowly worked it way up to the window.  I could tell from the buzz of the conversation that my clothing was the main topic of conversation.  There was a group of teenage girls and their dates that were having a delightful time talking about me. The boys would say something and the girls would giggle and cover their faces. I enjoyed the show and shopping, but Morrison's cafeteria was harder.  It was crowded and I had to stand in a long line waiting to be served.  

Next stop was the shopping mall, where the plan was to enter through a department store and slowly walk from one end of the mall to the other, investigating all the shops that could have leggings for sale. Any stores that had leggings in my size, I was going to pick out several pairs and try them on.  I would also stop at a number of other stores while in the mall.

As with any plan it was much harder to do, then to think of.  I was starting to feel panicky and tried to talk myself out of going into the mall.  Of all the locations I have worn leggings, I have always had the hardest time in shopping malls.   I parked near J.C. Penney and as I entered the store I got a reaction from two ladies who were just leaving. "OH MY GOSH!  Do you see him?" the first said.  Then I heard her friend gasp as they walked past me.  I enjoyed listening to their reaction and comments as I continued on into the mall.

I really didn't have any problems as I looked around in Penny's.  It wasn't much different from the stores I had already visited.  Then I got to the mall itself and it was different, it was wide open, brightly lit, and busy.

A cold feeling of panic enveloped me as I got a few yards into the mall.  I had felt exposed and self-conscious yesterday but this was worse, much worse.  I was having a panic attack.  I suddenly wanted to be anywhere else, doing anything else, but walking around in a crowded mall wearing skintight Lycra leggings.  To calm myself, I stopped and looked at the display showing where the stores were located in the mall.

As I took some deep breaths I tried to locate the special stores I always try to visit, such as The Limited, Express, Learner, Rave, Body Shop, Scribbles, and most Department stores, especially when shopping for leggings. This is for several reasons. One, they stock the more comfortable brands of leggings. Second, I enjoy the surprised reactions I get from the salesgirls in these stores.  Since men don't usually go shopping in these stores a salesgirl will usually come over and ask if I need any help.  

When I tell them I am looking for leggings and they usually ask, "What size does she wear.  Even if they have already seen my leggings, when I tell them that the leggings are for me, it seems to come as a surprise.  They always look down at my legs to see if I am kidding.  They are usually surprised, shocked, or find it funny. But the reaction that I liked the most were those that really became involved in trying to help.  You know, show me the leggings, help find the correct sizes, help with the selections, offer suggestions about color and patterns, and check if I needed help while in the fitting rooms.

I had by this time relaxed enough that I continued on into the mall. This day however I had a very interesting and different reaction from a saleslady in the Dillards department store in the south end of the mall.  

This store had the exercise leggings in the lingerie department and they had Danskin Supplex leggings priced only a couple of dollars more then what was being charged at the factory outlet.  They also had a 60% off sale on their closeout rack.  I had picked out several pairs of unitards, thong briefs and leggings when the saleslady came over.

She was short, dark haired, in her late thirties and had a slight European accent when she asked me if she could help.  Still feeling embarrassed following my panic attack.  I told her I needed to use a dressing room to try on the leggings.  

Puzzled, she stared at me for several moments before she asked "Are you sure you want to try these on, they are ladies leggings."  When I said I did, she led me to the dressing rooms, but she was still puzzled. I thought that she had already seen my leggings, but she was staring very intently at me now as she said  "Oh yes, I understand now, the leggings are for you to wear, like the ones you wear now, yes?"  I nodded my head yes as she went on.  "If you need anything, call and I come help you, my name is Risa."  She had a funny little smile on her face as she closed the door behind me.

I was trying on the first pair of leggings when she knocked at the door.  "There is a large three sided mirror outside the dressing room on the end.  "You get a better view with it," she said. Then she asked my size and said, "When you get the first pair on, come out and we see how they fit you.  The size varies on these garments and I may need to get you other pairs to try on, so I help you with the fitting."  

I have had salesclerks be helpful before but never anything like this; she was up to something, so I decided to see what would happen.  I put my top back on over the dark red leggings and went out to use the triple mirror.  Risa was right, it really was an improvement over the room mirror. As I looked in it I momentarily forgot about Risa and her offer.

Silently, she came up behind me, and before I realized it, or could say anything, Risa was helping me.  First she straightened the fabric at my ankles, knees and legs. Then had me pull on the elastic waist to see how tightly it fit, then said.  "These do not fit right, you need try on another pair and I get you some others." She said as she left.  

I came out of the dressing room with another pair on just as she returned with three more pair of leggings and some additional clothing, which she laid across the nearby chair. "All of the matching Tee-tops, and other accessories to go with the leggings, are on sale this week, so I brought you some to try on. I also took the liberty in bringing you some support briefs, they will help smooth out the tummy, and give you a nice smooth line under your leggings.  

In the stack were leotards, tee shirts, thong briefs, and another unitard. I had certainly discovered what would happen, when Risa helped. I began to understand what she had been smiling about when I tried to tell her I really wasn't interested.  Risa was one of those personalities that only accepts yes as an answer as she ignored my objections and hustled me back into the fitting room to try on a pair of support briefs.  

I had never worn anything like them before.  Called Wacoal Shape Pants, they were cotton/nylon with 21% spandex.  The legs were cut very high in the sides and they had a double panel in the front over my tummy. They fit like a beige coat of paint and my front bulge was almost completely smoothed over, you could still see it but it no longer stood out so prominently, especially under lighter colored tights and leggings. "Much better," Risa said as I stepped back out to the mirror.

The fitting went on from there.  I would put on a garment and Risa would tug and pull, checking the fit, until she was satisfied.  It became very embarrassing when I tried on the leotards she had selected for me. Risa had given me the thong back style leotard, and I had to take my top off as she examined the fit.  While I was in front of the mirror, a girl came in to use one of the dressing rooms.  I heard her snicker and in the mirror, I saw her look of surprise, as she stared at my leggings and thong back leotard. The next time I looked up, she and a friend were doubled over laughing.

With the two giggling girls watching my every move I really didn't want to try on the bra tops and thong briefs.  But Risa insisted however, saying that I couldn't make an informed decision without trying them on at least once.  "I will deal with rude young ladies," she said.

As I was changing I heard Risa admonish the two girls for their rude behavior and told them she would not put up with that behavior. She ran both girls out of the fitting area.  Hearing that, I went ahead and tried on the thong briefs and bra top over a unitard. I stepped out of the fitting room to discover that while they were outside they were positioned themselves so they could see the fitting mirror. I was certainly getting a reaction but one that made me want to crawl under the carpet and disappear.  

Even with the distraction of the girls I was so impressed with the assistance from Risa that I ended up buying much more then I should have.  I left the store with three more pair of Danskin Supplex leggings, in Ecru, Raisin, and Eucalyptus, a unitard in a cream color called Linen and three pair of Beige Wacoal support briefs, one of which I was wearing.  Surprisingly she never asked me why I was wearing leggings.

It had been a most surprising evening that I enjoyed very much. Fitting well with the other reactions I had received.  I couldn't believe anything further could possibly happen. Then when I returned to my motel I discovered that all of the parking spaces in front of my room were taken.  In a panic I drove around the motel several times trying to find a spot close to my room. I finally had to park in the far back lot several hundred yards away from my room in the main building.  Oh God, I fervently wished now I had my pants with me as I sat in the car hoping for a miracle. The only way I could get to my room was either walk completely around the brightly lit front of the motel or take the short way through the center courtyard where the pool was located. Neither was a popular choice. After seeing the crowd around the pool I finally decided to walk all the way around the building.  Half way to my room I had a car honk as they passed me. The two couples inside the convertible, waiving and whistling as the passed.

It was two weeks I will always remember.Seeker

• Re: Leggings in Orlando (Overcoming the Fear) - Seamless at - 26.04. 22:47:43
  • Leggings in Orlando - Seeker at - 26.04. 23:09:56
    • Re: Leggings in Orlando - Seamless at - 27.04. 02:16:27