I’ve just found out according to Shine UK, that apparently stockings and wearing them, went out in the 1980′s. Obviously these trends vary worldwide, but it I’m told that the last time wearing ‘pantyhose’ was fashionable was when Meg Ryan was in her heyday and we all wanted to dress like Princess Di. Luckily I don’t give a damn about being in fashion then isn’t it?!
It seems that at present, everyone is all a twitter about how Princess Katherine has ‘brought back’ the wearing of stockings with her sheer clad pins, but I have to wonder… did they ever really disappear? Perhaps it is simply the circles I move in, but I can’t say I was really aware of a significant absence. It may also be to do with where you live, but in Melbourne, wearing hose of some description ( be they pantyhose or my personal preference- stockings) is really a matter of necessity for climate.
Some years ago, when I moved to Sydney, I was horrified by the lack of properly attired office workers out there. I’d see girls enmasse on their lunch breaks in sharply tailored black suits, faux pearls and knees that looked like tangerines. I’d no sooner have gone bare legged than have gone bra-less, and couldn’t figure out why they did. So I started to ask around.
The general consensus was two things; firstly it was too hot and humid in Sydney to wear them (although not too hot apparently for black suits), and that the girls who did wear them, was a matter of company policy to present a more polished image. These numbers were few and far between. Mind you, that was almost ten years ago and every time I’m there now I’m still shocked at how many office girls forgot the other half of their skirts!
Reading this latest article in Shine UK, the overwhelming sentiment seems to be that people saw wearing stockings / pantihose as “uncomfortable”, “painful”, and oppressive. To quote the article-
“First Lady Michelle Obama, though known on occasion to sport the legwear, is not a fan. “I stopped wearing pantyhose a long time ago, because it was painful and they’d always rip,”"
And I have to wonder, what are these medieval torture devices these ladies seem to have experienced? I must say I’m not a fan of pantihose myself, although I do find that compression hose certainly have their uses. But still, in all my experience the biggest complaint I have about them is that they just aren’t sexy. But painful? What are you wearing? And how can this possibly be worse than the paralysing stilettos we still continue to wear nylons or no nylons?
Forgetting the matter of what is ‘proper’ when dressing, it seems to me a total no-brainer that you would choose to wear stockings rather than to go barelegged for the most part. The girls I know who do go barelegged, are always the ones forking out for spray on tans, ending up with streaked legs the moment it rains. These same girls are the ones seen standing by the side of the road shivering in their ‘state of undress’ at 3am.
For me, wearing stockings not only makes sense when it comes to regulating body temperature and colour, but they are just so much more chic. Shiny or matt, there is the way they feel as they hug your legs. (Maybe because I buy the kinds without the inbuilt spikes Michelle Obama seems to have experienced.) Wearing a dress without stockings makes me feel naked.. and not in a good way.
So I’d like to know your thoughts and experiences. Have you experienced these “killer” pantyhose that so many seem adverse too? Have you always worn them or never? Do you only save stockings for special occasions or do you make every day on occasion?
~ * ? * ~
See I am with you Candice; I love my stockings/pantyhose ~ particularly during a Canberra winter to keep my legs warm when I wear my skirts and dresses! I really don’t understand why some ladies describe wearing pantyhose as torture. Yes, I get ladders and holes. Yes, it can be annoying when you are going to the bathroom, but seriously, having a bad leg day? Stockings hid a number of sins.
And who can resist pretty patterns like bows or polka dots or lace decorating you pins? Sounds like a winner to me!
xox,
bonita of Depict This!
~ * ? * ~
Bonita recently posted..Cherished Collections Blog Tour ~ My Mother’s Pearls
As a sydney sider I do have to say that sheer stockings have been out for awhile. They’re just not done. Even in winter. Even if you’re wearing a short mini-dress to a club in the middle of winter. Stockings are only worn in weather over 20 degrees here for religious purposes or you forgot to shave. I do personally own a few sheer pairs but that’s because I had to hunt them out to match my vintage dresses as black opaques don’t gel with a lot of vintage items.
However, I wear stockings every day in winter (trousers are not my friend!) and they’re certainly never painful. Ok, except those Leona Edmiston tummy sucky ones. But serves me right for wearing them to yum cha. If anything, they just drive me nuts when you get the pair that go riding down to your knees and you have to keep dashing off the bathroom to re-adjust them.
Wild Tea Party recently posted..Happy Bastille Day
To clarify the Australian terminology for the overseas ladies:
Panythose = built in undies, goes from toes all the way up to your waist
Stockings = held up with a garter belt, a nice one of course!
Tights = heavier style of pantyhose, thicker & usually black in colour, perfect for winter
2 yrs ago I changed workplaces from a tourist area [Gold Coast] to a city [Brisbane] & found that pantyhose/stockings were expected to be worn all year. My compromise for our hot & humid summers was flesh coloured fishnet pantyhose. Yes, they are a little annoying as they go all the way from the toes to your waist BUT they stop chaffing on the inner thigh, look great & still allow some airflow onto the skin of the legs – perfect compromise!
I have recently returned to working back again on the Gold Coast & when I first started I was the only girl who wore stockings, but now 3 months later [yes it is also Winter here] many of the other girls in the office are following suit
Now, after wearing stockings everyday when I get dressed on the weekends I hate putting on jeans or pants – because it means I can’t wear stockings. Yes I am certifiable!
[...] Kawaii Mama is surprised to hear that nylons are making a comeback because she, for one, never stopped wearing [...]
I agree wholeheartedly SKM! Here in Perth, tights and patterned tights are the norm, but there are a couple of sheer hose wearers on my morning train ride. So many people seem to find them such a hassle, which I don’t understand. The only time anyone will see my bare legs in public are in summer with capris or shorts.
I love my hosiery collection! Everything from fully fashioned nylon stockings to opaque patterned stay-ups. I used to very strictly on wear stockings, however I’ve loosed my rules and include stay-ups and even pantyhose (for emergencies and high splits only- oh why do manufacturers make such lovely knee length dresses and then include a split up to my rear end??) Just like wearing nice underwear, the hoisery really makes a different to my outfit and my mood.
Now, if you can include a post on the benefits of slips and pettiskirts……
I for one love wearing pantyhose. I love the feel and the support it gives my legs and hips. I also hate the feeling of the bare skin between my thighs rubbing against itself. Pantyhose are great! That said, I don’t always wear them. I love wearing sandals and other open toe shoes, and I don’t think the stocking/pantyhose toe seam looks all too nice. Am I the only who has this peeve?
Well, that’s summer. Come winter, it’s all about the hosiery! I have also had plenty of girls, including my own mom, tell me that they are old fashioned and out of style. My hairstylist also tried so hard to convince me to not to wear any hose on my wedding day! Haha, she eventually gave in. ;P
zakniteh recently posted..<3
I adore stockings and hate pantyhose.
I even wear compression stockings rather than pantyhose.
I find hose very restricting around my tummy and frankly quiet boring.
But stockings are alluring and ultra sexy.
I do require a quality suspender belt not anything boudoir as they just flick off
half way through the day (very akward at work).
Brands like Freya and Fantisie work well for day wear rather than pleasure State
that always let me down.
Seamed stockings are my favourite.
Growing up, stockings were for special occasions and going out. As I started waitressing, they became something I always wore in my wardrobe. To me, shoes are more comfortable with stockings. Even as I was ballroom dancing, to put on my dance shoes without stockings was just wrong, and uncomfortable. I also like that stockings hide a lot of my Eczema scarring.
Unfortantly, I have had troubles wearing them, and it really comes down to my weight. Having put on a lot of weight recently, I find it very hard to get ones which fit me. Full stockings which fit my thighs, are too large for my waist and fall down, patterns get distorted past the knee.
These issues are my own, which I am working on changing, but still, it is hard to find good quality ‘actual’ plus size. Especially when you want something as adorable as black seamed tan/nude stockings (which also seem to be harder to find)
I’ve tried stay-ups, but the plastic tape makes them impossible to sit in the right places, I think they are torture items! But if I could find true plus sized stockings, which I can wear with a garter (which both have the right stretch) and nude/tan with a black seam, Oh I would be so happy. I am quite tempted to attempt making my own, using a thicker denier, but I am doubtful you can get the colour I am really after.
Anyone in the brissie area who knows where there are decent quality ones, let me know
I wore hose and stockings a lot in High School (I’m 19 now, graduated and finally away from those ninnies) and people thought I was nuts. It was already “weird” enough that I took the time to put on a skirt. I really appreciate seeing another lady in hose. They look polished, sophisticated, and feminine… and those are things that will NEVER go out of style.
In the southern United States, stockings have never gone out of style. Being a rollergirl, I’ve realized that today they are frequently replaced by leggings.
To commiserate, I recently began a quest for garter belts, and they’ve been near impossible to find.
You’ve obviously never taken a peak hour Sydney train without air conditioning in the middle of summer. I’ve done so a few times and can confirm that it’s a very, very unpleasant experience. Having sweat dripping down your legs is dreadful, and I imagine it would be doubly awful were those legs encase in stockings or pantyhose. Unfortunately that’s the reality of the city’s woefully underfunded public transport system. I’d wager a guess that most of those tangerine-kneed women you see go barelegged because they can’t stand the feeling of sweat being trapped between their legs and their stockings. I wear stockings often, but in the middle of summer I don’t hesitate to bare legs to the public. Yes, even in the office!
Something to consider: these women (why on earth would you refer to grown women working in a professional environment as girls?) probably view your pinup work as a touch too risqué. Certainly, someone who bares a significant amount of flesh in traditionally erotic (stockings, garters) attire might want to hold off judging other women on their decision to bare their own flesh. Something else to consider: I like a lot of your looks and often come here for style inspiration. One of my aunts, however, who had to put a heck of a lot of work in to carve herself a niche in a traditionally male dominated field over the past four decades is absolutely aghast at my eschewing pantyhose for what she remembers as the most painful, irritating garments of her teenage years. She would no sooner chastise her staff for going barelegged than she would institute an officewide policy that only promoted her male employees. You look pretty for a living, and I can appreciate that, but there are plenty of women, or as you’d call them, girls, who have other priorities. In fact, the “girls” I know who go barelegged don’t even like spraytans. Either they feel they’re dark enough or they don’t care for that look. Perhaps you should broaden your social circle?
This post strikes me as incredibly patronising and I have to say I’m disappointed in you, SKM. If you want to show off your underwear to the world, I’m totally okay with that, and won’t judge you one way or the other. In return I’d hope you extend to me the same courtesy, and not question my decision to wear a short skirt and sandals in January. My colleagues don’t, the higher ups don’t, my clients don’t and not once has my pa handed me my messages while staring disapprovingly at my blindingly white bare legs.
I read the same article that you did and wondered the same exact thing! I’ve always worn pantyhose because in this hot Florida weather, it actually keeps my legs cooler and stops me from chafing. I’m 18 and I had no idea I was so “unfashionable”. I think pantyhose are classy and chic.
How bizarre! I wear stockings/pantyhose/tights everyday?! I can’t imagine wearing bare legs to work, let alone braving the winter climate in Tasmanaia without them. Its times like these I’m thankful I don’t worry about being ‘in’ fashion. x Fran
I… have never worn sheer stockings. I have sheer black ones and printed ones but not the flesh colored ones. There’s something very vintage about them though!
Mavis recently posted..Edinburgh Part 1
I dont’ know anyone under 60 that wears them and I don’t get why anyone would wear them. I don’t tan (faux or sun), my legs are extremely white and I don’t wear hose. The handful of times I’ve worn them, they’ve ripped within an hour. They aren’t cheap so it’s a waste of money. I just don’t get why one would cover their legs with hose. What exactly is the point? What job do they do? I understand the fashion reasons behind coloured tights (no for me as well) but why nude hose?
Ditto this. I wear cotton or wool tights in winter to keep warm with skirts/dresses but if it’s warm enough I refuse to wear nylon pantyhose. I too am pale as can be and still run around in skirts and dresses. I think the biggest discomfort is the actual compression, be it on legs or tummy, pantyhose aren’t comfortable.
I love my pantyhose for work skirt/dress, I wear stockings only on occasion and tights in fall/winter. But I go without when wearing thong or peep toes sandals.
But, I am always surprised about how much hate they receive even on my side of the ocean (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) from some of my friends… I think they actually help in the heat as they reduce chafing of the upper thighs…
I love the look of the seamed ones! But find it really difficult or pricey to find. I always think of my grand-mother’s story of when they were young (in the 40-50′s) but quite poor, with her sisters, they use to tint their legs and have their brother draw lines on the back of their legs to create the look of the seamed stockings!!
I wear all sorts of hosiery! I’ve not yet got to the traditional stockings that need a garter belt yet – I think they’re incredibly sexy but can’t see myself going to the effort in the super-limited amount of time I have to get dressed for work. I wear nude pantyhose strictly in summer, with tights or patterned pantyhose (I love lacey styles) the rest of the time to spice up my office outfits. The nude pantyhose is usually reserved for the hottest days – as someone who is unfortunate enough to have thighs that actually touch, I think they’re invaluable to stop chafing on stifling Sydney summer days. I think some people perceive that they’re sweaty but I buy the minimum denier I can get and find they breath wonderfully, I can barely tell they’re on most of the time.
I feel “unfinished” if I dont have pantyhose on with a skirt. I can wear them on days up to 30C. Thats my cut off for pantyhose.
Wearing a pair of fine, shimmery and silky pantyhose gives me a luxurious feeling as well. And because I dont tan they help even out my skin tone without the mess of fake tans.
In Melbourne winters I sometimes will layers two pairs of tights for warmth and I love to layer tights as well. One of the nest things I found for summer were the “toeless” pantyhose where the toes are open and you can wear sandals without having that little seam showing.
[...] dressed, lingerie, Secrets, You Need To Know No Comments » Wow! It seems that after the last post on Pantyhose, I’ve discovered that I am not a freak after all… the rest of you have just been hiding [...]