I don’t think the issue is whether or not tights are allowed, it’s whether or not they are required: fifteen years ago, showing up to a formal event with bare legs would have been very close to showing up with bare feet. It would be Remarked On. It would have been seen as a deliberate choice to really stand out, to make some sort of definite statement. Is that still the case?
I really don’t think it is. It can’t be, in a world where formal strappy high heeled sandals exist.
Yes, I’m well aware, as a woman who’s lived in the northeast for 37 years. And the consensus is also that corsets make a woman look curvier and more “womanly” but we’ve jettisoned those from everyday wear and even most formalwear too. And rightly so.
Well the whole point of the thing was “do I need to go to the store and buy some” so if I was going to bring them, I might as well just wear them. I wanted to avoid a trip to the store if I could manage it.
I wore a longer dress to the same party last year but there were MANY women in cocktail dresses, so I knew it would be ok this year. I don’t have many “dressy” dresses and the only non-cocktail-length one I have is the one I wore last year. Didn’t want to wear the same dress and couldn’t really afford to buy a new one.
For those who care, I decided to go without hose (after my friend said she wasn’t going to wear any, so I knew I’d at least have a sister in shame) and noticed that many other women were likewise in cocktail dresses without hose. Hooray!
I’ve been to two formal fundraisers lately, and the consensus was that just about anything goes, except nude hose is out.
Other than that, anything goes – from the leg coverings to the length of the skirt. I saw black sheer hose with black pumps paired with below-the-knee dress, I saw black sheer hose with stilettos paired with above the knee cocktail dress, I saw patterned tights and knee high boots paired with solid colored dresses, I saw tights with boots that looked appropriate for horseback riding paired with balloon mini-skirts, I saw tights with open-toed booties paired with tweed skirts, I saw bare legs with every length imaginable.
Personally, I think women should focus less on what’s fashionable and more about what looks good on their particular body type. Cause, let me tell ya, a balloon mini skirt doesn’t look good on anybody.
I’ve already weighed in, but I would like to say that, in my opinion, you are definitely warmer if you have on hose. Yes, they are extremely thin. Yes, it’s not much. But yes, I feel warmer if I’m wearing hose.
As I said, I’ve gone all-tights. But the warm value is still there with hose, I maintain.
Cute story: I have twin sisters, Cara and Leah. When they were very little my mother used to dress them in stockings, or “leotards,” as my mother called them. The little girls were confused. Leah had her leotards*; where were the caratards? 
*pronounced more like “leah-tards,” for anyone who might be confused.
How about leg make-up, or spray on panty -hose?
Does that actually work? I mean, really? Because if it does maybe I’d try it (but never tell anyone).
Straight man’s point of view here: Skip the hose if its not stockings and garter belt, and skip the panties in either case. Sorry, we’re all alike, and we only have one thing on our minds.
Just curious–where do you live? I live in Central Florida, and pantyhose sightings are few and far between here. Black tights (the thicker cotton/spandex variety), on the other hand, are fairly common, as are other colored tights. I have a burgundy pair and a forest green pair that I wear with black dresses and boots.
I bet if we set this up as an appropriate poll, we’d see a correlation with 1) age and 2) shapeliness of poster’s legs. The younger and better looking the poster, the more likely they’ll vote no hose.
From my straight man perspective, I’ve got to say it doesn’t matter. It’s like the color of your dress- it might make you look better or worse than other options, but there’s no rule per se.
The last time my gf forced me to accompany her to a formal event, she wore no panties and no hose. That was the best part of the event.
Haven’t tried it myself. The two reviewers on Amazonwho weren’t the manufacturer himself :dubious: said yes, it works. But apparently one such product is better then another.
Central Mississippi. I figure it’s due to the huge numbers of conservative people here - heck, you still see ladies wearing white gloves, and some places still do Cotillion.
It stands to reason that they do have some effect on trapping body heat. Otherwise, folks wouldn’t complain about wearing them in the hot weather.
Pantyhose suck (my only possible exception are some types of sheer black with certain outfits. But that’s for other people, not me. Heh).
On the other hand, I love tights*. That may sound contradictory, but my reasons:
1 - they’re thicker and thus warmer in winter
2 - they’re a definite color and thus feel like more of a conscious decision related to your outfit instead of your body. I’m not trying to make my legs look “better” (and thus also believe there is something inherently unsightly about my legs!), because you can’t see my actual legs at all in tights
3 - patterned and colored tights are fun! This isn’t me (and I wouldn’t wear yellow) but it’s a great example of what I like to do: wear an outfit (dress or skirt with shirt, sweater, etc.) that already has at least one bold color and wear tights in a different color. That makes the berry tights a deliberate part of your outfit’s style. If she was barelegged (or even had black tights), the overall look would be completely different.
Granted, point 3 isn’t for everyone. But when I wear, for example, a brown corduroy skirt (above the knee, not a full-on mini) and finely-knit light grey cabled sweater (with maybe a peek of a colored camisole at the neckline) and then chevron-patterned fuchsia tights, I’ll get a ton of compliments (including from people who love the look but say flat out that they wouldn’t have the “guts” to wear such bright tights).
I tried it once and it sucked. It was expensive, hard to get even, the can barely had enough for one application, and it smudged even after it was “dry” …so I’d say skip it.
I used to have a boss who dressed like this, and I loved the look. Unfortunately she was a corporate lawyer, so this look didn’t go over real well in the office because of all the stodgy old farts.
Sally Hanson has a line of spray-on leg makeup that works. The really odd thing is that while it calls itself spray-on and is, in fact, a spray, the directions tell you to spray it into your hand and then apply it to your legs.
But it does work, and you have to scrub it off with soap, that is to say, it won’t just rinse off in plain water. (I would feel funny about wearing it to the pool, though I suppose that’s the idea.)
Here, let me help you out:
Anne Hathaway
Kate Moss
Natalie Portman
Blake Lively
Diane Kruger
Those are all in black tights. Some people wearing black tights does not advance the argument that it is uncouth for a woman to go to a formal event with bare legs, much as some women wearing pants does not prove it is uncouth for a woman to wear a skirt.
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