Hated nylons when I started wearing them, with a garter belt, back in the late 60’s, but only because pantyhose were the trendy thing then and I would have been laughed at by my peers if they had caught a glimpse of the simply ugly garter belt my mom gave me.
Love pantyhose, and care not that they are supposedly out of fashion.The bare-legged look is fine for sundresses and skinny girls who work out and tan, but for those of us who are pale and plus size and need to look professional, pantyhose smooth and firm and make little veins less noticeable. Plus I hate the feeling of bare feet in dress shoes. And they do help keep you warm in the winter, though I often wear tights instead. I simply could not wear a dressy dress and have bare legs. And you really wouldn’t want to see that, trust me. In fact, I have a very bad bruise on my calf right now, and even with sheer pantyhose at church yesterday, it was a lot less noticeable than it would have been if my legs were bare.
Nylons back in the forties, according to my mother, were very much a sign of refinement and no longer being a child who wore white ankle socks with dressy dresses. They were a coming-of-age symbol, and sexy, too. One of my old stuffed toys is filled with old nylons, some with the seams!
Forgot to add: If they’re so horribly out of style and only frumpy little old ladies wear them, why does every department store have a rack with a large selection of brands, sizes, styles, and colors?
I haven’t noticed huge displays of bullet bras or bloomers.
Lots of reasons:
Not all older women that wear them are “frumpy old ladies”- IMO, women 40+ tend to wear them.
There are a ton of older women.
A lot of corporate women have to wear them.
Those that do wear them have to buy a lot because they always run.
Quite a few women buy stockings for sex (the gartered stocking look is hot to a lot of people)
It seems to me that the racks of pantyhose have gotten much smaller. I remember the big racks of Leggs as a kid (the eggs fascinated me). Now they are down to an endcap at Target. Their hosiery section seems to have way more tights and support products (such as assets brand) than actual pantyhose.
I wear tights a lot - with skirts or shorts, layered with thigh high socks or knee highs, boots, anything really. Whenever I say this, people are like, tights are different from nylons! That gets me confused because when I look at the composition of most tights, they still have nylon in them. Others say the difference between tights and pantyhose is the opacity, but if you look at retailers like ASOS or urbanoutfitters (certainly not for the more mature), there are plenty of sheer “tights” being sold; what makes something like this tights and not nylons (or vice versa).
Anywhere, I love them; they are so versatile. Here are a few looks I like:
I wish I lived in a climate where they weren’t necessary. I’ll wear skin-colored stockings in the spring/fall and patterned/colored tights in the winter with skirts or shorts. Sometimes I’ll wear garter stockings, but only if I know my boyfriend will be in a position to appreciate my wearing them.
I hate them and I totally don’t see the point. My legs are pre-tanned, I don’t need the color, and as others have said, they rip and tear so easily it’s ridiculous.
I also wear tights in the winter if need be, but I haven’t worn a pair of nylons in several years. Oh, and I’m 35 - so I guess just on the cusp of the REBELLION!
This made my inner 12 year old come out. You said “position”…snerk.
I forgot to put my age before: I’m forty and a half.
I don’t have any trouble with hose tearing…I think I’ve had the same couple of pairs for about a year now. I get some that have a high spandex content (in the leg, not the panty!) and wash them in a lingerie bag on the delicate cycle.
I’m 32 and I HATE them. (Pantyhose) They’re hot, itchy and uncomfortable and I hardly ever wear them. Fishnets are fine, because they have “holes” so you can get air to your legs, but nylons are just, ugh.
Getting dressed up? Dress, skirt, suit, for a wedding or other somewhat formal occasion? Absolutely, I will wear pantyhose on my white stubbly legs, I wouldn’t leave the house without them. But this happens maybe once a year, if that. In the summer I wear sundresses, shorts, skirts, and I don’t care if my white stubbly legs are exposed for everyday, especially in the hot summer. I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend money and time slathering on ‘leg tanner’ (awful blotchy orange stuff!) or ‘leg makeup’. I’d rather pick up a pair of cheapo pantyhose and wear them once…I do remember the panty-girdle and stockings day, back in, oh, middle school, I was in my early teens. Then the mini-skirt arrived and pantyhose were invented because of that…I swear, the topic of ‘hose for women’ is equivalant to ‘ties for men’. Maybe everyone ought to wear unisex jumpsuits and be done with all the nit-picking!
Age 40 here. The times I do wear a skirt/dress (rare), I just sport my whiter-than-white skin tone, which borders on transparency enough to show veins through it in places. I wouldn’t try to cover my legs with tights in a swimsuit, so I’m not going to be ashamed of my legs otherwise. I may feel differently later in life.
Frankly, I find it rather offensive that those women with extremely pale skin tone are expected to hide their legs, as if being white was somehow shameful or offensive. Can you imagine the outrage if black women were expected to hide how dark their legs are?
Nice double-standard there.
(Not - this does not apply to women of any skin color with scars, prominent veins, or other blemishes, who may choose to conceal such cosmetic defects. This is an objection to the idea that inherently pale skin is to be hidden even when healthy and unmarked.)
I totally agree. Pale skin tone can be damn sexy, I feel. Wear them if you want, don’t wear them if you can’t stand them. I was just pointing out that one of their so-called purposes (making the skin look tanned) is totally wasted on me anyway. I see absolutely no point in wearing something that is almost the exact color of my skin anyway!
Iknow. I just didn’t want people to think I was saying that I could go without but pale women could not. Fight the power! or don’t! It’s all up to you!
OK since my questioned seemed to be answered as today’s women don’t love nylons, let me ask, why did the women before WWII go nuts over them. Why did they come back so fast after the war? What did women in the 40s see in them that today’s women don’t.
I don’t get white people wearing them to look tan, actually. Ok, so if the rest of you is white and your legs are brown. . . how is that an attractive look? So, then you’re wearing something the same color as your skin and unless you’re trying to cover up wrinkles or marks, I don’t see the point in that.
And if you ARE trying to cover up marks, they sell spray foundation for legs just for that purpose.
There is no doubt they can be sexy, if on the right woman and if untorn. Maybe it was just a way for women to wear shorter skirts and still be “decent”, as it were.
I just didn’t want people to think I was saying that I could go without but pale women could not. Fight the power! or don’t! It’s all up to you!