Just a thought

[joann07]

Its interesting how we all pretty much like to wear pantyhose, tights, stockings, etc., but something just dawned upon me. Now, we all know that the majority of women prefer not wear pantyhose, or any type of hosiery, and so the bare leg look is pretty much the norm these days.
I don't know if anyone has pointed this out before, but if we crossdressers are the ones who pretty much wear hosiery then we should be easy to spot. Right?
Think about it. If you're out in femme, or in drab, look around and see if you can spot another woman wearing hosiery along with a nice outfit, or dress. Look closely and see whether she could be a crossdresser. She could be a real woman or maybe not.

I know I've seen some attractive attractive ladies wearing hosiery, but now its got me thinking.
If I could spot a crossdresser, I would just give her the Ok nod and continue on with my business. That would be kind of a subtle guesture, or sign, that we crossdressers can do if we spot one another.
Its just a thought.

[SandyR]

Good point. My wife more often then not does wear hose. I think its sorta raised in the late 70's 80's thing. I mean black thigh highs with leather was the thing to wear durring the 80's. I am planning my 1st ever trip all bare next week, I hope if work allows me some spare time on th road....

Hugs.

SandyR

[Sue Too]

To each his own. I personallly dont care for pantyhose unless I'm wearing a very short Mini in public. With a mini they tend to enhance and show off your legs, but for normal street wear I prefer thigh hi's or hose with garters.

Susan

[Jodi]

JoAnn, I have several gg friends that I go out with occasionally. They do a lot of criticism, both constructive and destructive, on my appearance and presentation. One of the things that they have pointed out to me is the wearing of hose in the summer with open toe shoes, especially fashionable high heel sandals--a definite no-no. They have pointed out to me that they will occasionally see hose with sandals, but only on older women and with low heeled or flat sandals. Sheer summer hose with closed toe pumps is OK, but the pumps should be worn with an appropriate outfit, ie a business suit, but not with a sundress or shorts. Their comment to me has been that hose with sandals just shouts "tranny". They have made other comments on appearance, ie, An overload of jewelry, bright red lipstick in the daytime, heavy blue eye shadow, and black hose with white shoes will all shout "tranny". This is several gg's viewpoints. For my own presentability when going out, I listen to them.

Jodi

[Kendra mtf]

Hi Joann, you are so right, not many women wear nylons. Let me tell you about a women that works in the office at the company I work for. She is 25 years old and pretty tall, she wears real sexy clothes every day but no nylons. Bummer, until one day she comes in wearing these real fine fishnets. You couldnt tell unless you got real close (which I did) I thouht they were pantyhose. Anyway I complimented her on how good her legs look and ever since she wears nylons about three times a week. I told her about hotlegsusa.com, I said this is where my wife (hehe) gets hers and about two weeks later she is wearing shiny suntan peavy pantyhose, a littleblack dress and pair of black pumps. When I came in at the end of the day from my route she thanked me for turning her on to that website as she felt so sexy. Every man that comes in that door stares. She always told me that men talked to her boobs at the front counter but now they stare at her legs.

[queenmandy85]

I always thought we stood out because we were the most beautiful and glamourous women on the street.

[JessicaDC]

I never wear pantyhose. I try to look as much like the girls out there as possible. I do wear stockings and garters if I'm aiming to play or if it's a sexy occasion. But pantyhose? I don't particularly find that sexy...

[LaFem]

Of course you want to wear sexy hose of some kind. It"s who you are.

[stacie]

Its to warm for pantyhose, plus its summer time so so off those legs.

[Cheryl T]

My S.O. says she wears stockings with a skirt at all times, unless it's too warm.
Since I've remained hairless this summer I haven't worn hose at all as it's much too warm for me. I tan fairly well and with a good moisturizer my legs present nicely without the need for stockings. Of course, when it gets cooler that will change things.
For now...bare is beautiful.....

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Sad but true points about women and hosiery. I've already come to realization that when I ever go out the house if I want to attempt to pass, I will have to go barelegged or wear pants Being that I rarely if ever see GG's wearing them anymore. How I miss the 70's and 80's. Jocelyn

[windycissy]

Most of us have an obsession with wearing stockings. After all, they are the ultimate badge of femininity and they feel sexy on freshly shaved legs, but for a number of reasons women hate to wear them:

1. They are HOT and STICKY in the summer.

2. Pantyhose are a pain in the ass - anyone who has had to cope with them in the ladies room knows what I mean....

2. They run easily and what girl needs to spend her hard-earned money on that?

I have come to love the feeling of a skirt or dress swishing against my bare legs, but I can't wait for fall and the cooler weather when I can wear nylons and tights without branding myself as old-fashioned or a tranny!

[teresa jeen]

try the sheer to waist,nude will work fine. there so cheep you can either ride-em high or leave-em low.

[Jenna Lynne]

I think maybe it's a day wear vs. evening/office wear thing.

Lately I've been keeping a sort of running tab in my head of what I see women wearing when I'm tooling around town in the daytime. The only ones who seem to take the trouble to look nice are the ones who are on their lunch break from an office where they're expected to dress nicely. The rest are in grubbies. And flat shoes. And of course no hosiery, unless maybe it's socklets under some white tennis shoes. (Ugh.)

There's usually a touch of femininity somewhere -- jeans with a top that has some glittery trim, or the sunglasses tipped onto the top of the head to hold the hair back. Or dangly earrings but no makeup. Or maybe (on the younger women) a black tank top that shows off their back tattoos and contrasting pink bra straps. That's not a look that I could get away with, even if I were 20 years younger!

I have to say, though, today I saw a 19-year-old girl walking down the street in broad daylight wearing a hot pink (and tight) wraparound top and a flowing floral skirt that had that sort of ... what is it called? ... handkerchief hem. Oh, and heels. And if she was biologically male, she's way short and has been taking hormones for a couple of years. Yow! (On the other hand, she was by herself, and there was a kind of transvestite "out for a walk" air about her route, which seemed aimless.) I was thinking, "Yeah, that's what I look like on the INSIDE."

So I guess the trick (which I have not yet worked out) is to find a look for myself that says "feminine" and yet is not over-the-top for the social setting. My suspicion is that it's possible to get away with one or two carefully chosen items that are just a bit more femme than average. And one of those MIGHT be hose -- though not with sandals, as noted. Maybe with a nice pair of closed-toe flats. But hose with red lipstick and long flowing blond tresses and dangly earrings, not a chance.

Or just wait for winter, when it's cold and hose are back in style!

***Jenna***

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Most of us have an obsession with wearing stockings. After all, they are the ultimate badge of femininity and they feel sexy on freshly shaved legs, but for a number of reasons women hate to wear them:

1. They are HOT and STICKY in the summer.

2. Pantyhose are a pain in the ass - anyone who has had to cope with them in the ladies room knows what I mean....

2. They run easily and what girl needs to spend her hard-earned money on that?

I have come to love the feeling of a skirt or dress swishing against my bare legs, but I can't wait for fall and the cooler weather when I can wear nylons and tights without branding myself as old-fashioned or a tranny!

I agree with #1 completely. I understand not wearing them during the summer time.
#2 I guess probably not easy in the ladies room.
#3 It depends on the brand you purchase and how one takes care of them. Yes ultra sheer or 100% nylon cheap 99 cent brands will run very easily. I've had brands that have lasted for months. I also take care to keep my nails properly trimmed. Jocelyn

[sandra_j_gervais]

USA Today ran an article on this subject this spring. The hose manufacturers are really suffering because sales are way down. I have not seen one woman wear hose this whole spring or summer. Winter, yes; but not now. I suppose an evening dress or gown might require hose (after 6 pm) but not during the daytime. Definate no.

[krisla]

I went without hose the last time I wore a skirt and I actually liked it. It was less hot and I like to blend in. But I must admit I love the feel of hose, fear-not everything cycles hose will be back in style.

Krisla

[sterling12]

I often see women wearing hosiery. But, only during certain situations and certain types of women.

The type of woman that I am familiar with who wears hosiery is very "girly-girl." She is typically better looking than most in her age group and probably a bit vain about her looks. A couple of direct quotes I get from these types of ladies: Terri says, "I like to dress up, even at work. But, I do catch a bit of grief from a lot of these women who have let themselves go and just given up." Patti says, "Most of these gals can't get away with out wearing hose, their legs aren't good enough and they need to hide a lot of blemishes and problems, too bad they don't try anymore."

It should be noted that both of these women are petite, very body conscious and work at it, and they love to wear dresses, especially when they go out. I don't know if they are a stereotype for women who wear hose, but I have also seen the same trait in others.

I see these women when they are out dancing, or involved at work. The exact opposite is what I see at the local Wal-Mart. If the gals aren't working, standard uniform is capri pants, plain top, and no makeup.

So, I see both sides of it. Yes, a lot of women don't wear hose anymore, or at least not as much. However, just an estimate on my part, but I see about 10 to 20% percent who will continue to wear hosiery on a fairly regular basis.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[karenph]

I rarely see women wear hose at work. There is this one lady whose legs look absolutely dynamite in hose but she rarely wears them. Everytime I see her in hose I yearn to wear them.

Has anyone noticed that more Asian women are wearing hose...

Karen

[Karren H]

I see women in stockings all the time.. At work when ever a woman wears a skirt or dress, she almost always wears them.. And when I go downtown.. Its the rule rather than the exception...

Karren

[Charleen]

I'm always looking to see how woman dress. I work in a tourist town and spend alot if time on the streets geyying attention for the Ghost Tours my company does. Day time nary any hose. At nite, less then half wear stockings even dressed to the nines.Hey, it's Florida where it's still in the high 80's to 90 even at 9 at night with the humidity running at about 136%!

[Melanie R]

My wife and I just came off the QM2 sailing across the Atlantic this past Wednesday. Unfortunately since this trip was work related I had to sail in drab. On the 6 day sailing I did notice 3 CD's. They were the only passengers wearing dresses, hose and heels during the day. Did they get noticed and what was the response of the other passengers? Lots of curious looks and some snickering. I did not talk with any of them. I have been on 31 cruises crossdressed and have never experienced a problem. This may be because I dress like the other women 24/7 and attempt to blend in. On this transatlantic cruise, I did notice that 50% of the women at night were wearing hose and heels - usually the women over age 50.

[KandisTX]

Well, I do see a majority of women at my office wearing hose, then it is part of the dress code so they are supposed to be wearing it. For some reason though, many of them wear pantsuits more often to bypass that aspect if they don't feel like hose.

I do know that being in sales and the women in sales will wear hose especially when making a sales call to a customer because it just looks more professional and many times they are seeing "the good ol' boys" who like a woman in hose, which does help in closing the sales.

Kandis

[SherriePall]

Melanie mentioned that women over a certain age wear nylons. I agree with her on that. As we get older our legs are not so naturally attractive and we need help in toning them and/or hiding blemishes. Nylons can do that. So, I think that some of the girls who don't wear them now, will most certainly begin to wear them as they get older. So, girls, don't despair. And if you are older as I am, wearing nylons allows me to blend in.

[angelfire]

I've been noticing alot of girls aren't wearing stockings in my area, but they seem to be wearing the black footless tights with a denim skirt or pleated skirt alot. It seems to be the style right now, and quite honestly, I love the look.