Leggs Everyday Thigh Highs. It is about all I ever use.
They are cheap, well made, last pretty well, stay up by themselves pretty good, they are by far the most comfortable and convenient hose you can wear. They are much cheaper than pantyhose, esp since if you get a run in one leg, you only lose half and can still use the other one…effectively making them last twice as long as pantyhose.
If you are going to do a lot of walking, then you can add a garter belt, but just going to work or whatever a garter belt is not needed.
(Apologies to the women if this is seen as a hijack.)
Bettie Page and Dita Von Teese were/are models whose images are fetishized, by some. But I think it’s inaccurate and unfair, in Bettie’s case at least, to describe them as “fetish models,” as if that was the whole purpose of what they did. (Dita apparently did some deliberate work for the fetish market, but her ordinary burlesque thing is not that, and I suspect her own motivation originates in aesthetics, not a desire to cater to extreme sexualities, per se.)
Again, anything–even things without any apparent sexual content–can be fetishized, so the mere fact that something is fetishized doesn’t make fetishism its raison d’être. The vast majority of men and women whom Bettie Page’s look and aesthetic appeals to are not fetishizing her. I quite like curvier women in stockings, heels, etc., and I rather like some of the “period” hairstyles and such associated with burlesque, but none of those elements are psychologically necessary for sexual gratification or an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression, which is what “fetish” actually means. (I like many other women’s looks, too.) I’m reasonably confident that most of the women in the thread and buying from these sites, and their partners, are not fetishists.
Back then, garter belts weren’t designed to be pretty, I suspect.
And if one did want to show off to be sexy, you probably wouldn’t want it as an everyday thing, but more of a “for a special fella” kind of thing.
FWIW, back when I regularly wore pantyhose (when it was rare for a woman to even wear a suit with slacks to work; a big 8 accounting firm and the dress code was DEFINITELY skirt suits only), I tried garters / stockings for a while. I was so used to pantyhose that the bare bit of leg, rubbing against the skirt lining, REALLY weirded me out at first. Felt like I’d forgotten my underwear!!
Look, I’ve been steadily creeping up size by size and am just now getting serious about putting a halt to it, okay? The hill I’m prepared to die on turns out to be not going from 14 to 16 in pants.
My wife has some of those. Works great for holding her hockey sox up. Sexy? Not. Unless you’re turned on by being chased by a crazed woman waving a big stick.
Luckily for you, they sell size 12 and 14 in Lane Bryant. So, you’re already there. Congrats, etc. etc.
Really, I think what zweisamkeit was irked with wasn’t so much your personal desire to be a particular size- that’s entirely up to you- but that your post made it sound like there is something utterly reprehensible about shopping at Lane Bryant. Maybe for you it personally is, but your post read as more of a general statement. Well, to me at least.
Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to be - it’s just a sore personal subject right now with me, especially with the whole “bringing out last year’s warm clothes… oh shit I need all new pants” thing.
I’m pretty sure that many of the most famous images of Bettie Page come from her work specifically as a fetish model. They were taken while she worked for a man named Irving Klaw, doing shots of bondage, spanking, D/s role play, that sort of thing. Men could even request photos or films including their specific turn-ons. If that’s not being a fetish model, such a job does not exist.
Most of those images were destroyed by Klaw as he tried to avoid prosecution. Some remain. But you are right, those are the images that made Bettie famous. She was gorgeous in plain old cheesecake photos, but fetish gave her a career as a model. All of it was staged though. It was just art. Dirty filthy art. The best type.
Oh, and I was kind of drunk and got overenthusiastic about costume authenticity and ordered a girdle. I have no idea what came over me. (If it looks good, though, hell, I give in.)
So these stay up consistently? I tried a few different brands of thigh highs about 10 years ago and found that they all slowly migrated down over time. After a couple hours of wear, I found myself regularly tugging at them to keep them up. Definitely not cool.
Perhaps it’s just something about the shape or contour of my legs though.
Holy crap, y’all - I ordered on the sixth and they got here today!
On the other hand, though, their hosiery sizing chart sucks balls. I seem to have purchased the Saggy Baggy Elephant’s stockings. If said elephant were particularly long of leg.
