Aug 13
Miss Manners recommends not studying the legs of others
Posted by editor at 8:09 am in workplace notes
Ah, the issue of hose/stockings/nylons. Whatever you called them.
Well-heeled gal confused about style expresses the concerns of Miss Manners on wearing hose to formal occasions. Any guesses on her opinion? It’s not hard to predict. She likey.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I thought if you wear shoes that show your toes, stockings are incorrect.
So confused…
CC
August 13th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Here’s what I always wonder about—-if you are not wearing stockings, what keeps your sweaty feet from sliding around in your shoes and feeling really icky? I hate that feeling and even though I dislike pantyhose. I dislike the icky feeling more. Something on my feet gives me better traction.
I think it’s fine to go barelegged. I’m not that much of an old lady. But I look at the Sexy City girls and wonder how they keep from sliding out of their Jimmy Choos.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I personally would never wear stockings with shoes that show my toes because that reminds me of my third grade teacher who did that and it just looked odd.
Ms. Kitty, I literally don’t sweat very much, except when I exercise, so I don’t have any issues with bare feet in shoes. The sweat seems to evaporate quickly. I’ve heard people put antipersperant on their soles in order not to sweat though. And I often have sort of the opposite problem: when I wear hose with shoes my feet do sweat and soon smell like cheese, which is just gross.
And, again, I think much of this is cultural including East v. West coast divisions, which explain why my mom insisted I wear hose…..
August 13th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Ms. Theologian, you read other etiquette columnists on the side? I’m crushed!
Mskitty, the answer is peds or something like them. You can get them in all sorts of configurations at Target. I have sweaty feet too, and they’re great. The peds, I mean. The sweaty feet, I’m not so thrilled with.
Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs makeup is great when you go w/o hose, by the way, especially for dressier occasions. Covers up bruises and nicks and little veins just lovely.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Oh, don’t be crushed. The link actually came from a contributor, GhostGirl, who works in underwear marketing….I think it has a fancier title though.
I don’t think Miss Manners makes much sense. At least I’m not sure she’s been to California ever.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I actually like MM and she’s very progressive on a lot of social issues … but she can be a bit hung up on appearances. I took her off the infallible list after she insisted that wedding invitations HAD to be engraved, not printed. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, they can be e-mailed if you want … the point is to get the information to people in an organized and timely fashion. And not everyone can afford engraving (which was the point that really got my goat).
August 13th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
She’s also a hoot! But there are some issues where I think she’s roughly 50 years behind where many of us are. Engraving!?!
August 13th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Yes, I was surprised at her response to the hose question. Pretty oldfashioned, I’d say. Thanks for the peds suggestion, but I’m not sure they would work with those shoes that are straps holding one’s foot to a high heel sole! Of course, that doesn’t happen to be my shoe of choice!
August 14th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Dude. It’s Apparel and Accessories Operations Manager for Client Deliverables Services. Get it straight.
I think the hose with toeless shoes thing went out in the 90’s. I remember when I was younger it was perfectly proper, even expected. Then suddenly everyone was expressing revulsion for the practice.
I actually agree with her on the formal occasion thing, unless the dress is long enough to cover. There’s just something weird about black tie and bare legs to me. But anything less than black tie, it’s totally not necessary. But she seems to say that anything remotely dressy requires it.