Figure 1.--Skins is an Australian maker of sportswear. This is from a 2008 advertisement. I'm not sure how commonly this garment is worn. |
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Modern tights appeared after World War II. Conventions varied from country to country. They were worn by girls in America but both boys and girls wore them in Europe. They were at first generally worn for formal occasions or for formal occassions. By the early 21st century this had changed. We no longer see boys wearing tights for formal events, although Japan may be an exception. We see boys wearing tights informally, although this was not common. We also note usages like gymnastics, wrestling, and Winter sports. There continue to be significant differences as to wearing conventions. Northern European boys seem much more willing to wear tights than American boys. Gender conventions still vary widely, but as far as we can tell are not well defined. It is still not common in America for boys to wear tights, but we do see them being worn for gymnastics and wrestling. Conventions and the popularity of tights vary widely in Europe. Tights are not common in southern Europe, but are popular in several northern European countries. Climate appears to be the principal factor involved. Some images suggest that boys are wearing tights as casual clothing even when the weather is not cold. This does not seem to be a common convention, but available images suggest that it is occurring. Tights for boys entered mainstream in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific for swimming and sport fitness. Companies like UnderArmor (www.underarmour.com) and Skins (www.skins.net) supply tights for men, women and children as part of standard sporting "compression" apparel. Swimwear companies like Nike, Arena, Axis and Speedo supply swim tights for men and boys after research by Speedo revealed an improved level of performance thanks to both the smooth fabric passing through the water, and augmented performance due to bloodflow encouraged by the garment's firm fit.
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