The definition of pants at Washington University has disappeared as female students replace traditional pants with leggings.

The number of female students going pantless has increased by 200 percent this semester. The sudden increase has been accompanied by mass confusion on campus, where students, professors and workers can no longer tell whether or not someone is in fact wearing pants.

“You get in trouble for everything these days,” Os Haig, senior, said. “Guys get kicked out of bars if their pants are too baggy, and girls get accused of walking around half-naked if their pants are too tight. It’s all just pants!”

The problem, according to Professor Yuriko Browne who teaches fashion design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, is that leggings and pants have merged to the point that they are literally indistinguishable to everyone under thirty-five.

“One day people will look at traditional women’s pants and see that they have gone the same way as the corset,” Browne said.

The trend has forced Whispers and other restaurants on and off campus to replace “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service,” with signs that also state that all patrons must wear pants. These signs are not useful, however, if no one can tell where pants stop and where leggings begin.

When asked the difference between pants and leggings, sophomore Gina Henshaw replied that there was no difference.

“What I don’t understand is when girls wear pants and a skirt,” Henshaw said. “I mean, pick one. You definitely don’t need both.”