This article was produced in partnership with Matador Meggings.
Activewear for men is a product category that pales in comparison to the huge market available for women. For men, the only real option when it comes to activewear bottoms is a pair of loose-fitting shorts – this is largely due to the male anatomy and potential breach of indecent exposure laws.
Men’s leggings have rarely been given a thought, and for those brands who do produce some form of tights or compression pants for men, they still require a pair of shorts worn over the top to prevent any glancing eyes. Matador Meggings is now here to put an end to that, with men’s leggings – meggings – that can be worn without a pair of cover-up shorts and without showing to the world what you’re packing downstairs thanks to their No-VPL (visible penis line) Technology.
What are Matador Meggings?
Matador Meggings is the brainchild of Valentine Aseyo, who, as a fully-qualified yoga instructor, realised that he was the only member in his class who was essentially banned from wearing leggings, lest he run the risk of showing off what he calls the male VPL (visible penis line). With a desire to fill a huge gap in the market and encourage guys to get in on the leggings movement, Valentine created these leggings specifically designed for the male body, and Matador Meggings was born.
Named after the famous traditional Spanish bullfighters – who are known for wearing tights – the modern-day version, Matador Meggings, have a raft of features and benefits for the active man (which are detailed below).
Their main draw, though, has to be the specially designed crotch area that hides any indication of your manhood, allowing you to run, train, practice yoga or even just head for weekend brunch in a pair of uber-comfortable leggings without the need for shorts over the top.
Everything you need, nothing you don’t
It’s not just a proprietary crotch-hiding pouch that makes Matador Meggings so beneficial for men. Matadors also offer a range of other useful features that other men’s compression pants are simply missing. Such features include a small loop on the rear to feed your gym towel or t-shirt through when you’re not using it and a non-slip, low-rise waistband to prevent your meggings from slipping down during use. Of course, being made from a figure-hugging compression material will minimise this risk, but extra protection is always a good thing.
Our favourite feature (and a first for men’s leggings as a whole) offered by Matadors is the pockets! All pairs come with a dedicated open pocket on the side for your phone – which expands to accept phones of all sizes – and a separate zippered pocket on the other side to look after your keys, cards and any other small essentials, with the idea being you can just take only what you need to your gym class and leave the bag at home.
Matador Meggings are all about fun and expressing your personality, which is why they are available in over 50 different prints and colours. This was another deliberate decision by Valentine, who would always see a sea of black or grey leggings being worn by men. Believing this to be somewhat boring, he came up with a huge selection of funky, unique and interesting patterns, ranging from slightly more muted camouflage to more in-your-face prints and other abstract designs.
In coming up with this wide range of styles, Matador Meggings fall perfectly into the festival clothing category too, making them the most versatile men’s leggings on the market.
And of course, as they’re designed for active men, Matador Meggings are made from a sweat-wicking and anti-odour fabric to keep you feeling fresher for longer and to help you cut down on the number of wash cycles you need to run in your washing machine.
Compress for success
Matador Meggings aren’t just your run-of-the-mill tights or leggings but are instead compression pants designed specifically for men. Compression wear has multiple benefits when it comes to staying active, chief among which is providing extra stability and support for your muscles. With this additional support – which also includes support to joints such as your knees – your body is better prepared and more stable when performing various lifts, such as squats.
The benefits of compression wear continue after you’ve finished your workout, run, yoga class or any other fitness activity, as the extra pressure asserted on your muscles helps to improve blood circulation, which in turn helps with the recovery process and minimises the risk of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). And let’s be honest, while you may think that soreness is a sign you actually did something at the gym, nobody really enjoys it.
Meggings for all occasions
We’ve talked up the benefits of wearing Matador Meggings to the gym or when you’re performing any kind of activity. But where activewear has seen real adoption is during a morning or evening walk or just something to wear to weekend breakfast with friends. So again, why should a man’s experience be any different?
Because of the cleverly designed soft cup pouch keeping you in place and preventing you from showing off to passers-by, Matador Meggings give men a comfortable clothing option to wear practically anywhere they can think of. Admittedly, you probably won’t wear them to your 9-5 office job, we appreciate there is a time and a place, but for every other situation, wearing a pair of breathable and comfortable meggings makes absolute sense. Get too hot in jeans? Too cold in a pair of shorts? Matador Meggings fill the void perfectly.
Matador’s mission is to give men greater choice when it comes to their workout gear and everyday clothing. Not only do meggings introduce a new clothing category for men to enjoy, but the sheer breadth of choice of prints, patterns and colours of Matadors means you can effectively have an entire wardrobe full of them to constantly have in rotation. The soft moulded crotch cup is the game-changing design men have been waiting for and gives them back some confidence to wear what has long been considered a women-only product.
A whole wardrobe of Matador gear
It’s not just leggings that Matador offers for men. While their meggings may be the hero product, the brand has taken the technology, comfort and fit and applied it to compression shorts and cycling gear. Matador compression shorts are the knee-length version of the brand’s leggings with the bottom half chopped off, giving men the exact same fit, comfort and soft moulded crotch up, just in a shorter design for the warm summer months.
If you don’t necessarily need extra support around your knees, for example, then the Matador compression shorts make a worthy alternative to the full-length meggings. Better still, you get the same huge choice of colours, patterns and prints to choose from and they retain the towel loop on the back and phone and zippered pockets on the sides.
Valentine, the founder of Matador Meggings, is also a keen cyclist, but often found cycling shorts offered by other brands didn’t have enough padding on the rear. So, he made his own. Matador now offers a new range of bike-specific gear in the form of biker shorts and biker leggings, which utilise the same breathable, sweat-wicking, high-quality fabrics as the brand’s regular meggings, and add a triple-layer of padding on the rear. This extra padding gives extra protection to your derriere for those longer cycle sessions or spin classes, while the soft crotch cup prevents you from exposing yourself when you stop off at a cafe or pub for a refuel.
Also in the Matador clothing lineup is a range of t-shirts and tank tops, which are both made from an incredibly soft fabric that feels silky to the touch. Like the meggings, they’re anti-odour and moisture-wicking, and even wrinkle-resistant! What else can a boy ask for? No matter how hard you try, you’ll never see a wrinkle in your Matador top, so you can throw it into a bag and have it looking like new for your session
The same prints and designs are replicated across all pieces of Matador clothing, so you can match your outfits entirely from head to toe, or mix things up. A pair of bright and loud meggings paired with a solid black singlet, for example.
Why Matador Meggings?
The idea of men wearing leggings is one that is usually met with disdain, but we’d also suspect the main reason being that the male anatomy isn’t always designed to pair well with tight-fitting clothing. This is the exact problem Matador set out to solve and, based on the brand’s, we’d say it’s certainly succeeded.
The inclusion of the removable crotch cup can also help boost the self-confidence of men who may be unwilling to wear leggings or wear shorts over the top of them if they feel they show too little. No matter how many times women say size doesn’t matter, it can still be a cause of anxiety for many men.
So, wearing clothing that may confirm their insecurities isn’t going to be something all men are going to be keen to do. With a pair of Matador Meggings, however, there is nothing to worry about. Every single pair has the exact same cup, giving off the same outward appearance. Not only has Matador created a product to help men perform at their best in the gym, but he’s also created a product that permits men to be themselves, whenever, wherever.
Our Matador picks
With such a varied range of products, choosing the best Matador meggings or a complete Matador outfit can actually be easier said than done. To help provide some inspiration, we’ve picked out some of our favourites.
Grey Camo Meggings
Camouflage is always cool, which makes the grey camo Matador meggings one of our favourite pairs. The solid black stripes running down the legs help tone them down a little, while the grey colouring makes them easy to pair with any colour top you wish.
With camouflage being a common pattern down the high street, these grey camo Matador meggings are perfect for wearing around town on the weekend. Pair them with a white or black t-shirt and either a pair of black running shoes or even some white sneakers and you have yourself a cool and casual weekend look.
Arrow Meggings
Matador is all about loud prints and expressing your style, and the Arrow Meggings are one of the hero products leading that charge. They couldn’t be more opposite to the sea of black and grey you see in your gym, but that’s exactly what makes them so appealing. Pull on a pair, throw on a singlet or even a matching Matador top and waltz your way into your gym or yoga studio. You’re guaranteed to have other gym-goers coming to ask you where they can get their own.
If you don’t see yourself wearing the Arrow Meggings in the gym, we’re sure you can see yourself wearing them to a festival. The breathable and supportive compression material will stay comfortable all day long and the side pockets give you a convenient place to store your phone, cash and keys. Say goodbye to bum bags and bag searches.
Black/Gray Shorts
Of course, not everybody is going to be into loud and crazy patterns, so for those who want to go for a more reserved look but still benefit from Matador’s compression technology and features not provided by other brands, there’s this pair of black and gray shorts.
With the ability to match with literally any top and any pair of running or training shoes you own and with Matador’s towel loop and pockets to hand, your workouts will never have felt better.
Marble Tank Top
A well-performing tank top is essential for a great workout as it allows for freer movement when performing lifts and curls. Matador’s Marble Tank Top is our pick here, not only because the fabric feels great against your skin, helps to wick sweat away from your skin to keep you cool and is anti-odour, making it good for several wears, but we think the design is great.
The white marble effect offers a refreshing change from the usual onslaught of solid white or black singlets on show in gyms and yoga studios, and it pairs perfectly with a pair of solid colour leggings or shorts.
Shopping from Europe?
If you’re based in Europe, we got some great news for you: Matador just opened its European Store a few weeks ago. This means you can now snatch these amazing gems without paying any customs duties or import tax or excruciating shipping charges. Matador offers free shipping to all countries in the European Union. Check out their EU store.
DMARGE readers now get an exclusive discount from our friends at Matador Meggings. Use code DMARGE for 10% OFF at checkout.