Yes yes yes! I hate pantyhose also because they never fit properly (I’m short and fat, and they always bag around my crotch and ankles), and because they make my legs look like those of a really cheap department store mannequin!

I like to use Body Glide to take care of the (I hate this term) “chub rub” and go without.

And it still causes problems with my mother!

Well, I have learned a new phrase in the urban dictionary (chub rub).

It’s funny how powerful that message about appropriateness is. I’m thinking that even today I could get told to put on hose by my mom (even when she’s not wearing any!). But man are they uncomfortable.

As a 6′-3″ woman I can say I’ve _never_ worn comfortable hose.

This is one of the few areas my mom and I have called a truce in though. Any family event that she wants me to wear hose for she brings a pair for me and I wear them without complaining. She no longer expects me to own hose, and I accept that it is important to her at big family events. (I did put my foot down and refuse to wear them at my wedding though.)

I’m short. I love pantyhose. Or rather, tights. Sheer looks stupid. I only wear black tights. It mainly started in my goth phase but I was okay with hose before that too.

Why?

*They keep my legs warm
*I am pale as a polar bear and, while I feel no need to get a tan, there’s no need to blind people
*I hate the skin on my legs, it’s dry and I have huge pores, and scars from rollerskating
*I always forget to shave

Granted, now that I live on the east coast where it can get horrifically humid, I go barelegged in the summer, but I feel kind of naked.

I think it’s just a matter of what you are accustomed to wearing. I’ve never had the problems all y’all have.

I don’t think tights are actually panty hose (are they?), but then GhostGirl, you are the women’s undergarment expert. At least they’re not nylons. I have worn tights occasionally. I don’t find them as appalling. My feet don’t smell, they fit better, and they are less likely to run.

And Mindthing that is too funny that your mom brings them to events for you.

This reminds me of a scene from Legally Blonde when the Reese Witherspoon character horrified everyone by not wearing hosiery with her skirts at a Harvard Event. They couldn’t believe she was walking around bare-legged.

I never wear hose anymore (but used to). Now I just wear tights. Hose is definitely an East of Idaho thing as far as I can tell. Part of the problem is they come in such unnatural shades. And why would I want shimmer in my “flesh colored” hose? Eww.

Lecture time. Tights and sheer hosiery (”pantyhose”) are the exact same thing. The only difference is the denier–a measure of the density of the fibers used. A 2-5 denier is ultra sheer, that super fine expensive stuff you would have to sell your soul to buy. Anything over 40 denier is a tight.

On the other hand, in the UK and elsewhere, it’s all called “tights” regardless of denier.

Because of the thickness of the fiber, tights are actually less tightly woven than sheers (which usually also have more spandex these days), so they are stretchier and once they loosen up, they stay loose. Thus you find tights more comfortable. Also the fiber makeup means less sweating–nylon-spandex is fairly moisture retentive. Microfiber and cotton, common components of tights now, wick away moisture more readily.

I still have no problems with either of them. Being short has its advantages!

So going back to the article, I think that they are just talking about sheer hosiery then as the Baby Boomer thing, not tights. What do you think?

Well, sheer hosiery as a whole has declined dramatically over the past three years (it went up in the past year as manufacturers are catching on to the fact that the younger generation wants fun colors and textures), whereas tights have been going up hugely (it’s the leggings craze.)

But yes, absolutely the data indicates that the biggest decline in sheers is in our generation. Our parents’ generation also doesn’t buy tights all that much, whereas the younger crowd loves them.

Needless to say, the industry really hates summer.

Oh my god I know so much about hosiery. How the hell did that happen?

I would say you know a shocking amount about The Hose.

What struck me about that article is how it is the only time I can think of when I’ve heard of Baby Boomers following a Generation X trend in the workplace rather than expecting the other way around.

This is interesting. I’m a Gen-X/Gen-Yer (I straddle the line) that loves pantyhose. Always have. Always will. Think it’s a shame that more women of my generation don’t.

But of course, I complain on how people dress for most things in their life, so it doesn’t surprise me that this is the new thing.