TikTok Bans 'Legging Legs' Trend: What You Need to Know

Yes, fashion trends often come in and out of style, but the "legging legs" craze taking over TikTok is something many users across the platform hoped would never return.

The hashtag #legginglegs — which has since been deleted on the platform and replaced with information about eating disorders or disordered eating — first went viral after women shared videos of themselves in yoga pants showing off the gap between their thighs.

As a result, other TikTok users have pushed back, saying the trend saying it encourages eating disorders and poor body confidence. "If you have seen this on social media, it's repulsing," user Holly Essler, who's also a therapist, said in a TikTok video.

"Basically it's a trend saying that if you have leggings and you wear leggings your legs have to look a certain way in them," she continued. "Again, this is disgusting. Do not let social media tell your body that it is a trend. If you have a body and you have leggings, you have legging legs."

TikTok has not yet responded to a request for comment.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans, experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. Another study from the National Institute of Health found that social media usage leads to body image concerns, along with eating disorders and disordered eating.

"Thank you for speaking up against these toxic trends that lead girls to so much insecurity and worse," one person commented on Essler's video.

Other TikTok users like Essler have also taken to the platform to share their frustration with the trend. Since @ashleyrosehartly posted her thoughts, her video has drawn more than 2.1 million views and 900 comments from other women who feel the same way.

"I just saw a new trend called 'legging legs' that's circulating on the internet & it's young people critiquing their legs in leggings & saying that the perfect legs for leggings is a giant square thigh gap & small legs...here to remind you all that legs are legging legs," @ashleyrosehartly wrote on her video.

One person replied on the video: "I have been crying for the past 4 hours bc I don’t have 'legging legs' and my bf has been trying to comfort me the entire time."

"I’m so sorry you’re feeling that," she responded to the comment. "Just know you’re beautiful no matter what. Trends like this are designed to be exclusive but keep shining ✨"

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TikToker @emilyxpearl also shared her frustrations. In her video, she explained how she woke up one morning to see that "legging legs" were trending and was appalled.

"Do we understand what we are doing to the younger generation of women?" she said in the video. "Do we understand that there are 15-year-old girls that wear leggings every single day that now feel that they cannot wear leggings because they don't have legging legs...the most stupid thing I've ever heard in my life."

"Do you understand that because of your video telling some little girl that she doesn't have legging legs, she now feels that she can't fit into society?" she added.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.