I’m not a fan. I’ll wear tights when it’s cold, but I hate wearing sheer hose when it’s warm.
Sally Hanson (and probably others now) makes a spray-on leg “make-up”. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve actually heard pretty good things about it. Might be an idea if you hate hose but don’t like the way your legs look, either.
I almost never wear them. I have a really good self tanner that I used on my legs to reduce the fish-belly whiteness, and that’s about it.
For a funeral I would probably wear a trouser suit.
Also, I have to agree - Hose=Dorky. However, my mom still wears them everywhere, even under pants, so there you go.
Pantyhose are WIERD. Somewhere along the line, it got decided our real legs were obscene and unprofessional. So they came up with fake legs to put on over our real legs. We complain about women wearing veils and the whatnot, but our own society has it’s own wierd norms.
For all those that like pantyhose, more power to you. But for the rest of us- thank god we don’t have to go through this bizarre ritual any longer.
Hooter’s is hiring! 
Listen, sister…I’m LEADING that parade! And I find them comfortable, too. I’ve never understood the hate.
Ditto in every respect, except replace “Lake Michigan area” with “Washington State”.
Yay! * 6.02x10[sup]23[/sup]
I haven’t worn pantyhose in years (since sometime in the 90’s at least) and I wear skirt to a conservative job every single day. My legs are fish belly white (the curse of a redhead) and my calves usually have wounds (the curse of a rower) but I don’t care, that’s just what my legs look like. (I do shave in the shower every morning so I never have to worry about that, at least) Like most I think pantyhose look unatural and dated. Tan colors always look obvious and dark colors just look cheesy and eighties-ish. I do wear black tights in winter.
I actually find it easier to walk in heels (yes, yes, I wear ridiculously high heels everyday) without hose as the natural tackiness of your feet helps you get traction in them. I do need to wipe them out occassionally or they will get kinda icky inside. But I rotate my shoes and generally never wear a pair more than twice a week so they stay relatively fresh.
If you’re wearing hose because you like the “held-in” feeling of the top, Id recommend switching to a light shaper and ditching the hose.
My personal rules:
No pantyhose with strappy sandals or mules.
If it’s too cold to wear strappy sandals, then wear pantyhose.
Pantyhose should be as sheer as possible - especially for “formal” events. They should match your skin tone or be one shade lighter.
The dreaded “suntan” (translation = Oompa Loompa orange) color should be avoided at all costs.
No white pantyhose unless you’re a bride or a nurse.
No white panythose EVER with black shoes.
Pantyhose are fine with peep toe or slingback shoes.
If you’re going barelegged, for God’s sake shave your legs and use moisturizer at a minimum. Ditto a pedicure - nothing worse than skanky looking feet.
My faves are the Donna Karan “The Nudes” collection.
VCNJ~
I use this during the “transition” period between winter fishbelly white and summer tan - the “nude” doesn’t add much color, but it makes your leg look finished and polished.
VCNJ~
I usually wear semi-dark hose if I’m going somewhere wearing a skirt or dress and don’t want to shock any little old ladies with my full-leg tattoo.
Okay, now those are just weird.
Here it seems that the only people who wear hose are over 50. I have trouble finding shoes that are comfortable without stockings of some sort and I’m not supposed to wear open-toed shoes to work. That seems to be another trend: It’s hard to find inexpensive women’s shoes that aren’t sandals or mules (or really ugly.)
What’s the prevailing opinion on sheer black hose with a long black skirt? I am planning my dressy outfit for a cruise and I was thinking of that. White ankles seem like too much with a totally black outfit (long skirt, flimy black shirt with a black tank underneath). The shoes are closed-toe pumps.
Serious question – do you wear slips? Just as pantyhose have been suffering a slow death the last few years, I’ve noticed the same with slips … and believe me, it hasn’t been a “good” noticing. It’s been a I CAN SEE YOUR PANTYLINES and I CAN SEE THROUGH YOUR SKIRT and GOOD GOD THE WIND JUST BLEW UP YOUR DRESS AND I SAW YOUR THONG kind of thing :smack:
That said, I’ve pretty much abandoned pantyhose. I use self-tanner to avoid the fishbelly white legs in the spring and early summer, and once a little sun kicks in later, I forget it about that.
But the thing is, there are times when I do wear them. Two weeks ago, the weather cooled down a bit and I wanted to get one more wear out of some boots. Too warm for the tights I wear in the winter, so I pulled out a pair of pantyhose.
Second example: I have a pair of dress sandals that are about 12 years old yet still fashionable. They’re strappy, but with thick straps and they look sort of retro. Anyway, when I got them I always wore hose. A few weeks ago I hauled them out, stuck my bare feet into them and by noon was in AGONY because the straps were digging into my toes – a problem I never had when I wore the shoes with hose.
Other than the boot incident, the only other time I wore hose was for my baby’s baptism, and I was in a very dressy suit and pumps, it was spring and like DungBeatle, it just seemed wrong to be without them!
Pantyhose is out girlfriend snap Living in a college town, I haven’t seen pantyhose in a very long time.
Ditto. I tend to get blisters if I wear hose, because my feet slide around in the shoe. I hate that.
Ellen Cherry, I’m 36, and no one I know has *ever * worn a slip. Slips are things that grandmas wear. Middle-aged people’s grandmas. Of course, you’re right that it’s not always a good thing, since an alarming number of people don’t check the opacity of their clothes in sunlight before wearing them.
I wear pantyhose to work if I have to, but if I can possibly get away with NOT wearing them, I don’t. I find them horribly uncomfortable.
I think california standards on pantyhose seem a little bit more slack. I routinely don my monkey suit without wearing pantyhose and no one cares. I see plenty of young girls doing the same-and I work in the downtown financial/legal area. Then again, I routinely wear jeans to work and have multiple piercings and no one bats an eye.
Older women still seem to wear them.
My impression around here is that I would definitely wear them to an interview but regular biz cas daily clothing does not require me to don them. I only wear it in “winter” when it’s a little colder.
When I visit DC for work I find that it is far more formal and uptight than it is around here. Maybe it is just the atmosphere in HQ specifically (I can’t speak to their private sector as I am usually there for training and/or mandated meetings) but everyone at my agency is in suit and heels all the time while around here it’s just when we interact with private sector clients.
My impression of interviewing in the Midwest at big firms (Chicago, MN and IN specifically) is that it’s very much part of the investment banking/law firm attire on a daily basis, if women choose to wear skirts.
If I’m wearing a skirt to a job interview, I’ll wear pantyhose, but that’s it. As much as I hate the things, and agree that they’re dorky, I just wouldn’t feel right showing up to an interview with bare legs.
I tend to wear jeans pretty much everywhere - so it doesn’t come up that often. But if I do have a situation that involves dressing up, I put on hose.
Yeah, they run, they get caught on things, they often don’t make it through the night (or destruct on removal), and they can feel weird if they twist at all or bunch oddly.
But I have great legs (they’re pretty much my only redeeming feature) and sheer hose makes them look even better.