August 28, 2009
Dear clusterflock
Happy 50th, Panti-Legs:
Though the convenience of not having to wear a girdle or garter belt was a plus, what helped pantyhose take hold was the rise of the miniskirt in the mid-1960s.
For the fashion-conscious woman looking to wear a skirt shorter than stockings are long, pantyhose were the perfect fit.
Sheila hates ‘em. I’m a one-per-leg girl myself. Where do you stand?
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In case it’s unclear, I hope men share their opinions here. Especially the ones who’ve worn a pair.
I love a bare leg. I love a stockinged leg — one per leg. I entertain the occasional pantyhose fanta . . . wait — what was the question again?
I can’t just now recollect how they were part of the costume, but I once wore a pair of Donna Karan opaque black panty-hose as part of it, to a Hallowe’en party. If I remember the rest of the costume in the near future, I promise to divulge.
For the record, I was not in drag for the party. I only did drag once in my life. And that at Southern Baptist College, for the “Miss-What’s-It?” contest. I came in second.
Also, for the record. I have no experience with garters and hose. Neither putting them on myself, nor taking them off a partner.
Rick, I could tell you what it’s like, if you’d care to know. Either putting or taking.
P.S. Ick ick ick ick ick. Why why why why why?
Should I rant about health care or Quentin Tarantino or hosiery? Which will make me sound least ridiculous — least likely to be dismissed as a crank?
I think that hosiery may be safest.
Get tipsy, dear heart, and divulge your many opinions on all three topics! In a conflagration!
I like silken knee socks. just above the knee. that bit of sexiness of leg showing between the skirt and sock is to die for.
You mean some kind of silk-stocking naughty-nurses grindhouse thang?
Okay. That’s too easy.
Maybe I’ll whip up a proper tripartite rant and unleash it later. In the wee wee hours.
(I didn’t think you meant anything so obvious, Amanda Mae. I was just messin’.)
But I am beginning to conjure up a soliloquy in the form of a bar-room diatribe delivered to a stunned and silent Quentin Tarantino. Health care and hosiery enter into it.
I carried this watch in my ass.
Deron, you just spared me a whole heap of work.
I just wear pants. My leg hair is too thick to tame, or at least to keep tamed.
I love tights most of all, in many different patterns and shades.
Really sheer pantyhose feel icky to me. They are very restricting.
Stockings are great. Especially worn with sexy heels and without panties.
Amanda, the way you describe that sexiness of leg made me forget myself for a second there!
Tights are different. Tights are groovy.
Plus everything else Amy said.
I am mad for tights—mostly beautiful Italian wool ones, the last two winters, which I darn when they get holey—but pantyhose are only for job interviews, and rarely even then. I don’t really mind them, per se, but I mind their fragility. I always get a run within five minutes of putting them on. Also, I hate the colors of the fleshtone ones—always completely wrong, no matter which shade I choose.
Sheer black pantyhose are okay; they do this optical illusion thing that makes one’s legs looks thinner; but my legs (below hem-level, at least) are among my better features, so that’s not a perk I tend to get excited about.
An ex-boyfriend was really into thigh-high stockings, but I found them useless and annoying. Unless you have to go out of your way to get laid, I guess.
India, you live in New York. I am thinking that maybe getting laid in cars (other than taxi cabs) might be unusual or even exotic for you. But for girls in Texas and California and the Midwest, pantyhose can be awkward and even ludicrous.
Lucy? You shuttle between New York and Ireland. Do you shift preference with respect to hosiery?
Speaking from a wild lack of experience, I imagine that getting laid in cars is awkward and ludicrous, pantyhose or no.
There is no way I can reply without showing myself in an even more ridiculous light than I did bringing it up in the first place.
Sheila, I knew this would be a scandalous question. It’s why I asked.
Well, setting aside matters of automotive eroticism, I look at it this way. It is possible to look appealing in a pair of good opaque solid or patterned tights and little else. But honestly, wouldn’t the (recent) memory of someone wearing pantyhose be something you’d have to struggle with in order to banish it from your mind? I know I would.
Let me rebel against the widespread hate and say that I love sheer pantyhose and wear them daily.
But you have to spend the money to buy quality, subtle, properly fitting hose that looks and feels good, and you have to take the time to prepare them (with Hosiery Mate), put them on gently and carefully (instead of desperately yanking them on because you’re already 5 minutes late), and have yourself be regularly manicured, pedicured, and waxed.
Otherwise the complaints about them being scratchy, too loose/tight, prone to pills/picks/snags/runs, and looking cheap / cruddy / awfully colored will be true for you too.
If you do go through the effort, they add a lovely, subtle smoothing, polishing, finishing effect to an outfit, and feel pleasantly silky soft.
Oh, the issue is not sheer hose, but how many legs? Depends on the context.