Jenice goes to the mat for yoga pants

WHEN DID yoga pants become nam-nasty?

For years now, school administrators nationwide have banned middle- and high-school students from wearing yoga pants and leggings, calling them distracting to male students.

But now the negative tongue-clucking about the ubiquitous bottoms has shifted from teeny boppers onto adult women.

This latest round started in earnest in January after an online post by a Christian blogger about her decision to no longer wear yoga pants went viral. In her piece, Veronica Partridge says she asked her husband's opinion about the clingy clothing, to which he responded, "When I walk into a place and there are women wearing yoga pants everywhere, it's hard to not look. I don't, but it's not easy."

That persuaded the Oregon-based writer to swear off wearing hers in public without a coverup, lest they provoke lustful thoughts in male onlookers. "If it is difficult for my husband who loves, honors, and respects me to keep his eyes focused ahead, then how much more difficult could it be for a man that may not have the same self-control?" Partridge wrote on her eponymous blog.

Then, earlier this month, a Republican state legislator in Montana seeking to broaden his state's public-decency laws, told the Associated Press that "yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway." At the time, Rep. David Moore had been talking to a reporter about his introduction of a bill that would have made it illegal for people to expose their privates in public spaces. HB 365, which died in committee, would have outlawed "any device, costume, or covering that gives the appearance of or simulates the genitals, pubic hair, anus region, or pubic hair region." Moore was inspired to introduce the bill following a naked bicycle ride through his district.

After Moore's comment about yoga pants made national headlines, he attempted to brush them off claiming he'd only been making a joke. He told Britain's Guardian newspaper that it had been an "off-the-cuff remark in the hallway." The AP stands by its story, pointing out its reporter had had a lengthy conversation with Moore.

I think Moore meant what he initially said. Last year, Montana laid down some fairly archaic dress-code guidelines informing female legislators, "leggings are not considered dress pants." Even if Moore had only been kidding, his comment caused the blogosphere to shudder. A Huffington Post headline blared, "Back off my yoga pants!"

Who knew such animus existed for what's become a standard part of practically every woman's wardrobe? What people don't get is that yoga pants are all about comfort. A lot of women practically live in them. Some of us wear them better than others, as I found myself acknowledging late last year after a Facebook friend posted about women in Center City using them as street wear and questioned whether that was appropriate. When I called him on his statements, Greg Davis, a financial planner who lives in Mount Airy, said, "Let's just at least have a dialogue about it."

Fair enough. You may remember how back in 2013, Lululemon issued a recall after consumers learned that many of its pants became see-through when they bent over. Although that company suffered a public-relations nightmare, we know theirs weren't the only ones playing peep show, which is why celebrity fashion stylist Anthony Henderson always advises clients to pair theirs with a long top "so it hides your bottom."

Former Daily Newser Theresa Conroy, now a yoga teacher and owner of Yoga on the Ridge, owns 60 pairs and swears by them.

"There's not a lot of extra material. They're soft. They fit really well. You feel kind of pulled-together when you're wearing them," she said. "I'm completely comfortable in yoga pants."

She's never giving hers up.

Critics of the style need to get over it already.

Besides, if we let them encroach on our right to wear them on city streets, what will they come for next?

Our - gasp - Uggs?

Blog: ph.ly/HeyJen