Uptick in Pantyhose?

[jjjjohanne]

I have been seeing women wearing pantyhose and tights more often lately. Is it just me?

I had seen a couple examples and didn't think much of it:
* One rather dressy woman was in a store in a gray sweater dress with black tights and wedge heeled booties. Her teenage daughter was not dressed up.
* I believe the other was a teenager in tights.

Then, I started seeing more and started wondering if fashion was changing:
* I went to a Christmas show at a church, and I think one out of every eight women in the church were wearing hosiery So, more than half of the women who were wearing skirts/dresses were wearing hose. I was a bit surprised, but figured, "Maybe it is just that church".
* Then, I saw a woman in Target shopping in a black dress, black pantyhose, socks and something like hiking boots.
* I have seen several women wearing black tights instead of leggings.
* I was Christmas shopping and was in the ladies' sock area. A young woman (~20) started to enter the aisle and stopped because I was blocking. I invited her in. She asked, "Are there stockings on this aisle?" I told her yes, and also on the wall. She went down the adjacent aisle and started browsing the hosiery. I asked, "Are women wearing hosiery more these days?" She said "Yes, especially burgundy with black."
* Last night, I saw a heavy-set woman in a hamburger restaurant wearing a skirt with shiny black opaque tights.
* Later, I saw a woman walking around town with her family. She was wearing a red Christmas dress (think Santa) with shiny suntan pantyhose and heels.

Is it just me? or is this happening elsewhere?

I sometimes go to a church nearby and dress pretty. I went last week, and I was the only person in pantyhose, other than a couple of older women. So, go figure...

Jeoy

[Joanie CD]

I have seen lots of women young and not-so-young in my city wearing tights with skirts and dresses in the last few years. Mostly black sheer or opaque, but sometimes other colors. I have not seen any nude, beige, or other similar "clear/natural" colors. My wife wears black tights when she wears a skirt or dress in cold weather, or sometimes burgundy or other dark color. I don't feel like there's an uptick in "pantyhose" (nude, etc) per se, just "tights" (black, burgundy, etc), even though they are basically the same thing. (And our friends across the pond call pantyhose "tights" whether they are nude or opaque, as far as I can tell).

On a related note: my wife and I were in Italy in October, and every big-city train station had a Calzedonia store. We had some time between trains in Florence, so of course we both bought several pairs of tights.

[Marketa]

Black pantyhose are totally common in winter months as far as I remember. Or at least in Prague, which is on latitude of US/CAN borders (give or take few degrees). They allow women to wear skirts and dress and still be warm. They wear high DEN hosiery, of course. My guess is DEN 50+.

But it might be different in other part of the world, especially in warmer areas.

[jjjjohanne]

I apologize for not thinking globally when I wrote my original comment. I was referring to people in the US. It is my understanding that hosiery wearing did not decrease _nearly_ as much outside of the US. I think we have one whole US generation who has rarely tried on opaque tights and never tried on sheer tights/pantyhose.
I am thankful for the global wearers, because without you, the factories would have stopped producing the product.

[Krea]

They seem to be as popular as always here in England.

[Amy Randal]

I read an article a few weeks ago. Pantyhose and thigh high stocking sales have been on the rise for the last few years. I wasn't even aware that stockings had fallen out of favor. Bare legs are nice but, wrapped in stockings is very nice!

[BLUE ORCHID]

They can have my Pantyhose when they cut them off my Cold Dead Body,

[DianeT]

LOL Blue Orchid.

Women still wear pantyhose in Europe. Younger and older alike. Now, men dress up also a bit more there than what I saw in USA. Less shorts and bare calves, even if it's slowly evolving too.

[AmyJordan]

Hey Amy Randal I think I should take credit for some of that that's probably when I started wearing them I have literally hundreds of pairs and wear them at all times

Amy x

[Violetgray]

I've seen in increase in those fleece-lined leggings that are made to look like sheer tights. They're awesome for wearing short things in the winter!

[StephanieCLT]

Same! Especially in London. I'm in the US, and I'm not seeing a noticeable difference. There are still women wearing tights/pantyhose, but they're still sadly the exception. On the other hand, I was in London over Thanksgiving, and it was hard to find a bare leg. Many, many women in dresses and skirts just out and about, and almost all in tights. As the day merged into evening, the tights became sheer-er, and so it was a nice mix. Even saw two women with backseams, something I almost never see in the US.

[CynthiaD]

I have noticed that no-nonsense quit making my favorite sheer pantyhose. I wore no-nonsense because of the roll-down problem (rolling down to the top of my legs) no-nonsense didn?t have this problem. But I?ve lost a good deal of weight since the pandemic, and I decided to try a few other brands. I searched for pantyhose on Amazon, and got the pink fog. I now have enough sheer pantyhose to last me until the year 2525. I don?t know if pantyhose are getting more popular or not, but there are tons of them available, which seems to be a positive sign.

Personally, I love pantyhose. I wear them all day every day. I wear black ones in male mode and sheer ones in female mode. I wear sheer ones with skirts and shorts, even in male mode. When I get up in the morning, I can?t wait to put them on. They make me feel totally feminine, a feeling I adore.

[Cheryl T]

Truthfully I don't care if women stop wearing them as long as they keep making them.
More for me.

[Susan_Michaela]

I?m disappointed that in my area you can?t find pantyhose almost everywhere. The only stockings I?ve found were at kohl?s and were stay ups. I?ve tried them on a few occasions but can?t wear them. Evidently I?m alergic to the material that clings them to the upper thigh. I break out terrible wearing them. I can find pantyhose at pharmacies but the cost is so much higher. My hosiery of choice has always been leg gg?s shear energy. I?ve worn others even hospital grade with heavy dinier ones that are hard to get on but provide great compression, I have water problems on occasion and either water pills or compression pantyhose work great for me. I had open heart surgery two years ago and wear compression hosiery since. All the major stores pulled them out totally just over a year ago. I miss them. I suppose I could order them on the internet but always prefer to buy in person.

[NancySue]

I?ve heard the same, but not around conservative here. It?s mostly jeans and yoga pants. I think we?re the ones that keep the hosiery industry going. I?m guilty. Like Amy I wear them, mostly HSR thigh highs, daily and have a drawer full, but still order more. Incurable.

[Meg]

I have not been out much lately so I have not noticed. However, a couple weeks back, I stopped into JC Penny and bought a couple of pairs of Berkshire pantyhose. While checking out, the clerk remarked that "Berkshires are flying off the shelf today". I am sure she didn't just mean my two pairs. So maybe that is a sign.

[Lacey New]

It?s winter. They help keep legs warmer. That?s my theory

[MetrowestPHGuy]

I'm in the Boston, Mass. area. In the past I have bought most of my pantyhose and tights at some discount but high quality chains, mainly TJ Mass and Marshall's, at very reasonable prices. I've been able to sometimes get some upscale hose in some more affluent suburbs,
Like Soldier and some Italian brands But the selection has gone way down in the last several years. The hosiery departments mainly carry socks and high denier tights. So disappointing. I think some upscale depart department stores still have a fair selection of sheer pantyhose. Leggings have become the main legwear. I do have a couple pair of those that fit very closely, feel fantastic, and ate quite revealing.

[Stephanie47]

My sister in upstate New York told me she had snow and the temperature was in the teens. That may be more than enough reasoning for wearing some sort of leg coverings. If I was inclined to be out and abound in a dress/skirt with heels or boots I would want to conceal my winterized pale legs: a little color between the footwear and the day wear makes the visual flow nicely, IMHO.