It's true ladies...it's TRUE! According to an article yesterday in the Lakeland local newspaper The Ledger entitled..."No Nonsense...Wearing Pantyhose Is Serious Business For Some Guys"...
Real men wear pantyhose. Really, they do. Just ask Bobby, a 40 year old Polk County truck driver. Bobby is not a crossdresser and doesn't have a sexual fetish, he simply likes the way hose supports his legs during long hauls and how they helped stabilize a recent knee injury.
"It's just like wearing a pair of silk boxers", he says. "Nothing wrong with that. I just like the way pantyhose feel."
As a married father of one, Bobby's family stands by his choice to wear pantyhose, but he still asked that we not use his last name for fear of his friends and colleagues might make fun of him, or worse, consider him to be a weirdo. ()
Bobby is not alone. In an effort to get recognition for pantyhose as a genderless garment, online groups such as "Legwear as Unisex Fashion" and "Men Wearing Pantyhose for Health Reasons" exist for men who use hosiery as a functional piece of clothing. Those sites shun sexual content, and hundreds of men who contribute posts ask each other advice on what to tell their girlfriends or if shaved legs keep hose from slipping. () Others give testimony on how hose helped them with restless leg syndrome or kept their legs feeling fresh after working on their feet all day.
Bobby's wife accepts his nylons and even likes the way they look on him. He says he's found women tend to be more open to the idea of men wearing pantyhose than men who don't, which is why he still keeps things under wraps.
A few men from the forums said it took some convincing to get their wives and girlfriends to understand their fashion choice, but when they did, next thing they knew, their wives were helping them pick out styles. ()
Terri Barnes, a publicist for L'eggs Hanes Bali says she wasn't aware of a mainstream market for men. "I would be surprised if there was."
Her company may be missing out. Sheer hosiery sales for women have declined for more than a decade, according to NPD, a market research company. Current fashion has favored bare legs for women and they have abandoned nylons to gathering dust in their chest of drawers. But it seems certain men can't get enough of them. ()
Mike Blackport, 38, of Grand Rapids, Mich., is moderator for the Delphi Forum site "Legwear as Unisex Fashion", and he has been a fan of hosiery for decades. "I think they are the most comfortable article of clothing available, he says. "About 15 years ago, I decided that a man wearing pantyhose is not illegal, or even embarrassing, so I decided to come out from under my long pants and in the warmer months wear them with shorts. My family, friends, and co-workers all know and honestly don't care what I have on my legs."
Blackport continues, "Today's woman wears many men's garments - all we're saying is give us equal fashion rights", he says. "No, I don't want a skirt and high heels, (lol...give it time mate ), I just want to enjoy the benefits of hosiery. And the thing is, equal hosiery fashion rights are already here. I am living proof. I wear them every day proudly." ()
I can just see Madison Avenue and their ads now: PANTYHOSE...not just for women and crossdressers anymore!
Looks like we have come a long way baby...finally eh?
I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did girls!