les917, in the 70's, mini skirts were the "thing". I was in my twenties and that's all I wore. My mom told me that one day they would be out of style. I rolled my eyes!!

Now I look back at sitcoms of the 70's (Mary Tyler Moore Show) and see everyone in those short skirts...and think, "what were we thinking".

The mini skirt has been back "in" and back "out" over the years, but classic is forever.

I totally agree with you...what is out today, will be back in tomorrow.

Opaque black or a color, but not sheer. I'd rather wear pants.

I solved the problem of pantyhose and pointy high heeled shoes by never wearing dresses or skirts. I always wear pants. I even have a dressy evening pair.

But really, I think it's silly that panyhose is "out". Women with good looking legs look fine without it but even with self tanner lots of legs just don't looks so good. Also, high heels feel better on the feet with hose on.

I'm reminded of the time when my grandmother stopped wearing 'pantygirdles'...

She moved out to California in the very early 1970's after my grandfather got sick, and was dismayed at the casual dress of even the 'society ladies' in our nice little town. She vowed to 'maintain her standards', and for a few months, continued to wear the same classic tailored dresses and foundation garments I'd always known (and admired) her for. After about a year, she gave up on dresses altogether and started wearing slacks instead, trading in her hardcore girdles for a stretch 'shaper'. I'll never forget the change in hugs! Mom had always been soft and squishy, but Grandma was hard as a rock!

When it comes to nylons, just call me Grandma!

I don't see anything attractive about bare legs and feet in winter, not even my own 25 yo dtr, and she has gorgeous, toned legs! But off she goes through the snow and slush in her cute little boots till she gets to work and changes to her strappy high heels that she thinks look so good with her short skirts and bare legs everyday. I think she's nuts to freeze at work in her bare legs and short sleeves, but who am I to say? She is a young, smart, degreed professional woman, very fashionable.

I HATE that dresses are now regulated to summertime only because everybody over 25 doesn't want to go bare legged in fall and winter or be "unfashionable" by wearing hose!
And I also hate that dresses now seem to only belong to young, fit, tan things!
And even to me, those with great legs, look weird wearing a nice dress/suit and NO pantyhose in winter.

Les is right. The younger women in my office never wear hose, and it looks awful when you are dressed professionally and have white, bare, pasty legs! If I have on something dressy, I definitely wear very sheer hose.

In the winter I only wear dresses to work with boots and tights.

I still wear them. They are definitely not out of fashion in MN. And they are expensive if you buy Calvin Klein, DKNY, etc. I do like the control tops then I don't need the spanx. I wear pants suits to work but still wear them underneath. Never with open toed shoes - that drives me crazy. I do tights, too.

I agree with tights and boots for work clothes, but what about dressy winter clothes? Party wear?
Is black or fishnet all that's acceptable? Or is that out too?

I'm with Terricks. I am wearing tights and boots with a casual dress right now. I own lots of tights and wear them all winter.

I love dresses and wear them more than pants. In summer, it is bare legs. Winter is boots and tights or tights and ballet flats.

I used to be The Hosiery Queen at the Macys I worked at back in 88-92. We all wore hosiery with everything. No one went bare unless in summer with sandals. Then I took 2000-2005 off from work. When I went to my first interview I wore a skirt, top, hose and heels. I was sooooooo overdressed. The office was business casual but most are really looking like they are dressed for Sat at the ballgame. Really bums me out. We are allowed to wear jeans but no tennis shoes or tshirts. I usually wear slacks and a casual but nice top. I have heels that look like boots, ankle boots? with lightweight socks. In summer I wear ankle length capris with nice top and fancy sandals or casual heels. I go bare now for that. It bugs me that some coworkers wear jeans, ts covered with a zip up hoody. Just so unprofessional. We don't interact with public but when a client comes in, we each have our own different accounts, it is really embarassing for them to have to pass by our more sloppy staff.

I too have had to wonder what to wear to a winter event. I have a really cute dress and strappy heels to wear for our anniversary dinner but my legs are somewhat white right now. Maybe I could selftan right now, dinner is 3/18 so I could have some color by then. It just feels so naked in winter to go bare.

My opinion and I'm sticking to it is that I think it looks rather trashy to go bare-legged in a dressy or business situation. No, they're not particularly comfortable. Neither is a bra, those Spanx things women are currently obsessed with, or (according to DH) a tie or starched shirt, but there are certain situations in which those things are appropriate clothing. I went to a funeral a couple of weeks ago and practically had to put my jaw in a sling at the number of people dressed totally inappropriately for both the season (February in NH) and the occasion.

My short, thick, extremely pale legs are covered in scars, discolorations, spider veins, and usually bruises - I don't mind their being visible when I'm wearing shorts (remember back in the 70s when women wore opaque, shiny beige pantyhose with their shorts?) and I refuse to swelter in long pants in hot weather if at all possible, or long hippie-type skirts with sandals or ballet flats, but in more formal situations hose is IMO necessary. If I'm wearing something not-black, I purchase sheer pantyhose that are as close a match to my skintone as possible, which is actually not all that difficult - the lightest available usually does it. (I LOVE that I can get real support hose in "very sheer", and in the right colors, at a local medical supply place; they're horribly expensive but sometimes they have irregulars or discontinued for half price.) If I'm wearing a black or near-black skirt/dress, I prefer sheer black hose and shoes to minimize the high contrast which makes my legs look even thicker. When I worked in venues where dresses and skirt-suits were standard garb, I liked to match my hose to my skirt to avoid that choppy look, but it's not as easy to find relatively sheer hose in colors these days that don't cost the earth. I consider opaque tights more like casual or winter wear and have them in several colors to wear with things like denim skirts or long skirts with boots (wide-calf low-heeled high boots tend to be awfully spendy so all my boots are just above the ankle, but oh boy I do love a long swishy skirt, a sweater and riding boots).

ajsmama, apparently low-cut Peds and those toe cover things are "the thing" for avoiding blisters when barelegged (and thus barefooted) in dress shoes, along with lining the heels with moleskin. I bought a package of Peds to wear with a particular pair of shoes I like to wear with shorts or my "hippie skirts", since my feet get sweaty and slip around in the shoe, and the durn things just pop right off. I put in new insoles instead.

I haven't worn panty hose in ages, simply because I'm usually in pants, but if I am in a skirt, it's in the summer and my office is casual enough that I can go bare-legged (I wear longish skirts) with sandals, or in the winter I wear opaque tights and high-heeled boots. I know that hosiery is considered "out" by many, but agree with the others above who have stated that we should wear what works best for us! I see these tanned and toned young things dressed in short skirts and sky-high heels for work, legs bare, and to me it just looks a bit, well, slutty. Definitely not a professional look (I say, as I'm wearing longish skirts and sandals - but at least I'm covered!). The only hosiery I personally think a woman should never wear is white. I think white hosiery makes the legs look heavy and sickly and just plain weird. Little white tights are fine if you're 10 or younger, but beyond that? Not so much. ;-)

I am not sure why women think that hose make bad legs look so much better?

Buy some good self tanner and you have the same result without the hose. Any hose which would really do something for terrible legs would be thick support-type hose. IMHO, those thick support hose aren't a great look. However, I think this is one of those things where each woman has to go with what is most comfortable for her.

Agree with AJ, a definite must not do are white hose over the age of 10.

I do wear tights with a skirt in the winter as I am usually in flats and like the look of tights with a wool skirt, sweater and loafer or other flat shoe. But for dress, I use a good self tanner skip the hose. During the dead of winter I will wear a pair of the sheerest jet black hose I can find only if I am wearing a black dress. I live in a 4 season climate and am far from 20.

Love your post Faron. However, I think the hose with the seam up the back of the leg is a guy's fantasy. I've never seen a woman wearing that type of hose in public:).

Speaking only for myself, self tanner looks like crap on me. Even if it weren't notoriously orange-tinged, my overall coloring is not suited to ANY kind of "tanned" appearance at all; I do not tan naturally and artificial tanning with self-tanners or makeup like bronzers looks just that, totally unnatural. Now what looks really daft IMO is bottle-tanned - whether with self-tanner or makeup - legs with pale arms, chest, whatever other exposed skin. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Right up there with farmer tans and driver's arm with a spaghetti-strap dress - trashtastic!

Unless I'm wearing black hose or tights, I'm not trying to change the color of my legs, which is what that tanner stuff is doing. I've pretty much always been able to find nice, finely-knit hose that matches my skin tone without spending a fortune (it's the coarse knit and low lycra content of cheap hose that makes it so distinctively saggy and wrinkly). It's like "soft focus" for my legs, kind of how camera operators will put a "soft focus" filter on to flatter aging actresses.

Support hose (up to medium support) are now quite widely available in sheer knee-highs, thigh-highs, and pantyhose. I have two pair myself. Back when I worked retail and could still wear heels I used to wear seamed hose with a black skirt-suit, white blouse, high-heeled pumps, and my hair in a French braid. (Already had tortoiseshell glasses. LOL) Great way to flirt with a cute guy was to ask him if your seams were straight!

I did once have a pair of real silk hose. They were a gift from a man I was dating. Sadly the nifty presents didn't make up for the jerk factor. LOL

Whipped Chocolate and Fake Bake are two of the very few brands of self-tanner which don't turn your skin a funny orange color. The products are a bit pricey, but worth it if you want to have some color without sun exposure. The drugstore varieties are just plain bad. I've not seen one that doesn't look like some shade of orange.

No one looks good with orange skin.

I haven't worn a dress in years so I wouldn't have to wear pantyhose. Always wore knee highs with pants though. I have a hard time going bare with any type of shoe. I have a friend she's 60 like me. I had been trying for years to get her to give up the pantyhose under her jeans and pants. She'd always complain about them. She then got a job with some young girls and finally they convinced her to give them up.She stll tucks everything in and wears a belt. She even tucks sweaters in!!!!

I haven't wore nylons in years with the exception of my aunt's funeral, where I wore sheer black.

Use bronzer on your legs and make sure they are moisturized first.

If I am wearing a dress I can put self tanning lotion on the same day and it looks fine. Just make sure you put it on thin and you can apply as many coats as you need. I promise it looks smooth and healthy.

Dead! Opaque black or leggings are in. Also boots are in. How about dressy capri pants.

I like the old saying, "If you've got it flaunt it, otherwise cover it up."

Put me in the same boat as Mari.

Putting tanner of any kind on my pasty-white neon legs -- makes the rest of me look even more odd. I do agree that applying tanner is a bit of an art!

So I wear longer skirts (generally past my knees) and capri pants with various shoes (and obviously no hose)

And hose has indeed come a long way -- from fine weave tights to very fine sheer hose. And some lovely subtle colors. I love to wear very very sheer black hose with high black pumps -- creates a better "line" with a black dress or skirt.

And a bit of support also helps in certain areas. sigh.

Jan

Am I the only one who rather resents the notion that pale skin is "pasty" and needs to be coated with a product to turn it an unnatural shade? Sure - I've used self-tanners in the past. Many times. The last time I did so was for a trip to Mexico last year, and it will probably be "the last time", as I just felt like my skin wasn't really my own in that semi-shade of bottle brown I'd turned it.

The idea that skin is at its most attractive when it's tanned needs to die. I've bought into this concept most of my life, and I'm just done with it. If other women like to be tan, that's fine with me. But to somehow make it a fashion faux pas for other women to show the pale skin they were born with is just wrong, IMO.

Oh! Sorry Jen! Didn't mean to say that anyone else was "pasty" white!! Really!

I have basically given up any notion of trying to gain some color -- I don't fry or freeze for anyone. Period.

Slinking back under my rock!

Jan

No, no Jan! My post really wasn't directed at you -- there are just several comments upthread about the need to slather "pasty" legs with self-tanner before daring to flaunt them in public, and I was addressing that overall thought. Like I said, if that's how a woman feels most attractive, then by all means - slather away! I just sometimes feel like we're still buying into the whole concept of a tan being a "healthy glow", when it's anything but. My dermatologist has a big poster in his office stating, "Your 'healthy' tan is a precancerous condition."

Throughout my life I've tanned, and on occasion I still get way more sun than I should, and I now have the skin woes to prove it. ::sigh:: My comments were just made because I think we need to embrace our color whatever it may be. :-)

I'm not a huge fan of wearing hose - but if it's not summer and I'm not wearing sandals, I wear hose with a dress.

Maybe it's my age, but wearing pumps barefoot in a suit or a in a more formal outfit without hose just looks wrong.

I think in young people it looks unprofessional and in older women sortof trashy.

If it's a casual dress or if it's to a casual party, restaurant etc., then going bare legged is fine with me.

Or I can see if you're wearing a fancy dress but wearing sandals - perhaps it will work if your legs look ok bare.

I think that's why so many women in professional type jobs that require a suit or more conservative clothing have moved to wearing pant suits to work.

Now I know I'm showing my age, but I particularly dislike looking at a woman in a suit, bare legged in 3"+ stilettos. It's like Barbie trying to be a CEO.

So here's my post-wedding recap and fashion critique:

- The bridesmaids were all under 25, and wore short dresses with open-toes sandals. None of the bridesmaids wore hose, and the two I knew well and surveyed about nylons (age 17 and 20) said "Eeew - never!" They all had full tans of various colors, which looked OK until you started to think about the time of year and realized that none of them could possibly be natural since we haven't had a warm day in six months... Then once that thought crossed your mind, the various pinky and orangy undertones suddenly became quite pronounced.

- The other younger women either wore black hose with black dresses, or no hose with strappy shoes -- thereby side-stepping fashion faux-pas land. A few had tan legs and white arms. They may have been 'fashionable', but I think they looked silly. Not all fashion is good fashion.

- The 'mothers' generation dove into the conversation topic with gusto. Several were wearing black pants. Two had not heard that hose were 'dead' and were shocked and dismayed. And three (including me) said something to the effect of "Who gives a flip about fashion -- I'm wearing what I like / what looks good on me!" Both 'Mothers of' were wearing very sheer hose that matched their jewel-toned dresses. I don't know where they found them, but IMO, they looked teriffic.

Me personally -- I have decided to continue on my own fashion path. Embrace the trends I like; ignore the trends I don't like; and vote with my credit card.

It's my theory that hose started their downward trend when open-toed and backless shoes became popular. Hose does look a bit odd with them. Although I remember the 1980s when we all searched for "sandlefoot" hose to wear with strappy evening shoes.

I'm in my 50s. I've been pale all my life. I have yet to meet a self-tanner that looked natural on me, or one that wasn't a ton of work to get the look right, i.e. non-streaky. Just too much work for far too little return.

So when I need to wear a shorter dress with heels, I wear hose. I feel better than if I were bare-legged.

In the winter, if I'm not wearing pants, it's black tights with a skirt. Which is also a tad warmer when waiting outside for the bus to show up.

Summer, it's longer skirts and bare legs, but you can only see a few inches of leg.

If I go barefoot in most of my dressy shoes, the insole comes loose and moves around under my foot and is just really uncomfortable. Peds don't stay in place, they slide off my heel and bunch up under my instep. Hose are really more comfortable than bare feet a lot of the time.

No problem Jen! :)

Honestly -- it was fascinating to read sweeby's "Post Wedding Report" (LOL!) -- and note the odd way that the "tanned" legs look when the same person has untanned arms and face! I agree whole-heartedly! :)

So I will indeed be staying with hose for various reasons and in seasons too! And be grateful for the range of "weights" (lightest sheers to heavy) and the wonderful range of colors too. I will continue to wear them with pumps and boots.

Jan

In the winter, if I'm not wearing pants, it's black tights with a skirt. Which is also a tad warmer when waiting outside for the bus to show up.

When it is really cold I still wear legwarmers. Yes, the same pair I had in the '80s. (Like I could wear them out?)

-Lena

Hey Lena, I had several pairs of leg warmers that went with my workout leotards + capris from the '80s. Stuck way back in the back of a seldom used closet. I just gave them to my nieces to play in. What a trip! ;D

auntjen - wholeheartedly agree that the showing of one's natural skin color being a social faux pas is just plain crazy. In light of the escalating rate of skin cancer diagnoses, you would think it would be socailly acceptable to "go as you are" as far as those of us who have fair skin. My suggestion of using a good self taning product in lieu of hose was directed to those (like me) who feel better with a bit of color on my legs when wearing a dress without hose.

I will say that for me personally, I feel that the extra 5-10 lbs I haven't been able to shed looks a bit better with a hint of color. Also, when I do use a self taning product, I don't just apply it to my legs, I do all exposed skin. I don't go for a deep dark tan, just a little color. I agree that if you don't want to use self-tanning products that is your prerogative, and also think its great that you are self confident, I wish I were a bit more so.

Also, many women (and men) make regular use of tanning beds. I see it primarily at this time of year among the young girls in anticipation of prom season. I have heard over and over from those who use tanning beds, that it is a safe way to tan. No tan is a safe tan.

The tanning beds aren't safe despite what your teen who wants to tan for prom tells you.

I have even heard/read that tanning beds are far less safe than tanning via the sun. :-(

I have read the same about the tanning beds. That is one thing I can say for sure that I don't miss never having done. Primarily, I am somewhat claustrophobic, and am now much older and wiser (I hope) now that the stand-up tanning is all the rage.

Unfortunately, I did do quite a bit of damage back in the day when it was common to use baby oil with a bit of iodine in it as a way to accelerate the tanning process. Laid on the beach no less. When I think of all of the time spent in the sun without sunscreen, I want to kick myself!

Moonshadow: I had several pairs of leg warmers that went with my workout leotards + capris from the '80s.

LOL, I still like that Flashdance look. I guess there is no escaping our Fashion Era. (and legwarmers are cozy!)

I think I still have some "sandalfoot" nylons LOL! If I didn't put a hole in the toe the first time I wore a pair, I usually kept them for years since I didn't wear them often (working on submarines I usually wore jeans all the time, even when I was in the office - just wore "business" clothes to meetings, which were tons of fun when I was pg and stuffed myself into "maternity" hose).

As far as tanning, I too was a teenager in the 80's when tan = healthy. Never used baby oil, but went w/o sunscreen too often. Once I used sunscreen everywhere for a day on the beach but it got worn off my ankles and tops of my feet while playing volleyball - severe burns/blisters! Started being more careful about sun then, but still didn't wear it year-round and have sun damage on left side of face from driving to/from work in the "wrong" direction - never realized that windows didn't block UV when I didn't get burned. I'm very careful with the kids - bothers me to no end when I let them stay with my parents in the summer and they don't put sunscreen on them (esp. the younger one). Last year I was careful to slather them and myself when we went to the beach, but I missed big areas on my shins, got horribly burnt (we spent all afternoon there), didn't blister or peel much but became *very* photo-sensitive, for a month afterwards I felt like my legs were burning whenever I exposed them even after the burn/tan had faded. Going to be *extra* careful from now on.

My uncle's wife and daughters always tan (tanning beds?), *dark* brown, even though one is a blond-ish rather than brunette like her mom and sisters. All of them, even the youngest (who is now early 30's) have leathery wrinkled faces. They don't seem to realize how unattractive it is, and now the blond one has blond DD's entering tweens/teens and they are already tan, not as much as their moms, but I just want to tell them to put sunscreen on and protect themselves! Even with the bumps and "freckles" and moles on the left side of my face, I don't have crow's feet and I'm 46. They don't seem to care that my (our) grandfather had skin cancer on his face, maybe b/c he was a farmer who moved to FL when he was in his 60's and he didn't get skin cancer til he was in his 80's. I guess in your 30's you're still willing to take that chance. But when I was that age I had a friend at work who got skin cancer on his back in his 40's and ended up dying of it. He had an office job but went shirtless (and un-sunscreened) often enough after work/weekends that it developed quickly and was caught too late.

Fashion trends come and go, and I hope I'll be glad to watch this one be replaced with whatever follows, but it could be even worse, I suppose. I'm in the group that thinks it looks silly to be half-dressed in winter.

I don't buy the "hose or pantyhose are uncomfortable" thing. How is having cold, sweaty, blistered feet, cold legs and possibly chub rub more comfortable? Or less trouble? How much harder is it to pull on pantyhose than to prep legs for bareleggedness? A simple shave in the shower is all you need to wear PH, but to go barelegged you shave or wax or whatever, lotion, tan, bandage your blistered feet just so...and then suffer the rest of the day.

I was at a wedding in December where all the young folks wore strapless dresses and strappy shoes. Most of the girls were barefoot and rubbing their sore feet before the reception even began, and borrowing their dates' jackets in the hotel ballroom to keep warm. The men were wearing their sensible uniforms - shirt, tie, jacket, flat shoes and socks, while the half-dressed girls froze and limped. One girl said her feet were stinky, did anyone have any lotion to mask the smell? We in the mothers' generation had supplies in our little purses, and were happy to oblige!

I was young once, and wore stiletto heels with pointy toes, a girdle and long line bra when I weighed 120 lbs at 5'7"! We can deny all we want about following fashion trends, but we all do it, and we all make judgments about others. My grandmother thought it was terribly uncouth to have a tan, because it meant you were no better than a field hand...milky white skin for her was beautiful.

...borrowing their dates' jackets in the hotel ballroom to keep warm. The men were wearing their sensible uniforms...

Maybe this deserves a thread to itself but it's something that aggravates me. Men have a tee shirt, a dress shirt, & jacket for dressy events. Almost every single dress for a woman is some sleeveless or strappy or bare thing.

I am always cold, especially in air-conditioning, so I always want a jacket. Back when I still wore dresses for nice occasions, I had a h*ll of a time finding something with sleeves or a jacket. More often than not, I had to buy the dress and then find a separate cover-up that didn't look like a granny sweater or worse. I wore plenty of dresses that weren't my favorites but they came with a jacket so they were the winner.

The air conditioning is usually set to a level to help keep the men in suits comfortable. And many of the women, too, but many more looked cold in their beautiful but bare dress.

I think this is one of the reasons I've switched to pants because it's easier to find a suit or coordinating jacket that doesn't look like an afterthought. Even if I wanted to I can't wear my DH's suitcoat if I get cold - I'm 5'3" and he's 6'4", it looks ridiculous.

I was on the What not to wear website and they have a little video about wearing pantyhose. To quote Clinton "most women don't want to wear pantyhose but if you do want to wear panythose, that's cool..."
WNTW

I agree, no "suntan" (umm, unless the rest of your body is really tan? I wouldn't think you'd want your legs to be *lighter* than your arms/face). I still go for "nude".

But hey, Faron, check it out, seams (and fishnet!) are "in" for evening wear!

Late to the party.. I could never wear shoes or slippers without socks or something on my feet.. and depending how I am dressing, dictates what I would wear. Would I wear panty hose with a dress? Yes. If I had to wear nicer shoes with slacks (I don't dress up much) I still have knee highs.. or depending on things, I have nicer socks.

Panty hose have never bothered me; sure back in the late 70's they were not comfortable but in the 80's hose was not as bad, I guess due to the newer materials & better sizing.

I also agree that women look more professional when wearing hose.. yes, some legs can't be helped much but if the situation calls for a dress, hose just looks better.

I'm lumping all similar leg coverings into the hose category.. call them what you want; opaque tights to me anyway do the same thing as hose.

Maybe this deserves a thread to itself but it's something that aggravates me. Men have a tee shirt, a dress shirt, & jacket for dressy events. Almost every single dress for a woman is some sleeveless or strappy or bare thing.

Excellent points you've made, and proof positive that women are expected to show off a lot more of their bodies than men are. So much (most?) of the clothing that is available that would cover a woman so that she'd be at the same comfort level of a man (at least temperature-wise) is so frumpy. Meanwhile, men look dashing in their suits and tuxes, and women shiver and shake from the cold in their strappy chiffon dresses. ::sigh::

If a woman wants to wear bare/strappy/sleeveless I say You go girl, more power to ya. My gripe is the options are limited for those of us, for one reason or another, don't/can't/won't wear those styles.

A few years ago in Oprah mag, the style guy said women over 40 should not wear shorts. Period. I thought Whoa! that is a stupid statement - how did that not get caught in editing? A generalized "women over 40", and he included his own mother, have no business wearing shorts. Really? Our pasty white skin &/or flabby thighs offend you?! Tough luck. Your stupidity offends me. I believe by the next month he had apologized and amended his statement. Probably amended it to something along the lines of only women with smokin' hot bodies may wear shorts. Or he'll cut some slack to women in Miami. I don't remember, I was just glad that he was called out on the statement.

While it is true there are many people who don't carry off the look well, I don't think all women should be banned from shorts. To each her own.

It's all part of the plot to keep us women in line. The "pantyhose is out" decree goes along with all the disparaging comments about "mom jeans" (have you ever heard anyone mention "dad jeans"?) and women stuck tugging at their jeans to keep them up, wearing foundation garments to avoid "muffin top," and all the rest.

What I do: If I'm wearing closed shoes, I wear some kind of hose. If I'm wearing sandals, I don't wear hose. I've been avoiding those "peep-toe" shoes because you can't wear hose with them but I don't see how they could be comfortable without.

A story about white tights: I got married in the dead of winter. I had bought an ivory crinkle gauze/lace tea length dress to wear, and some white hose. When I got dressed to go to the wedding, I took the hose out of the pack and found to my horror that they were made out of this horrible scratchy nylon and were way too big. So I got married in my lacy dress and off-white cotton tights, which I was very glad I had in my dresser. (They were warm, too.)

I am not a panty hose person, but that's me. And I think I look pretty good because I am tough as nails on myself. But to each his own, I say.

As far as women over forty not wearing shorts. Give me a break. Who makes these rules anyways? A well built gay fashion designer that's who. And please I have nothing against gay people.

I think plus size women can wear shorts if they like as well. There are just too many rules if you ask me.

Ever see some of the men and what they wear? Check out Walmart's parking lot for goodness sakes.

I'm in a mood tonight, sorry.

.....Jane

Workinprocess what brand makes Baked Chocolate and Fake Bake? And do you know where they sell these products?

ND - not sure who makes them, but they are available at stores such as Ulta, or similar stores which carry a variety of "beauty products". I've seen Fake Bake at my salon as well.

lenam - I saw leg warmers in stores this last fall. I just about fainted. I had them in about a dozen colors, including the rainbow stripes, back in the 80s... they were about the only thing that got me to school wearing a skirt during the winter, since I lived in Maine and NH and from fourth grade on walked a minimum of a mile each way (high school was two miles), short of wearing sweatpants under your skirt like a lot of girls did.

harriethomeowner - hey, I wore knee-highs under MY wedding dress! Durn thing was practically body armor (the bodice literally stood up by itself and the floor-length skirt and petticoat made something like six layers of fabric) and was hotter than Hades even in October. (It was borrowed, and beggars can't be choosers. The original owner wore it in July - I think I would have died of heat prostration!) I figured I wasn't going to be doing the can-can, so what the heck, I wasn't going to roast in full pantyhose. Not to mention it was tough enough to go to the bathroom in that pile of meringue, but wriggling back into pantyhose while keeping a handmade silk gown out of the toilet? Not gonna happen. Thigh-highs are a NO WAY for me - since I'm plump I get the "burst sausage" effect at the top, way nasty. So knee-highs it was. Didn't wear a bra either - didn't need it with that bodice! My grandmother was horrified.

"Almost every single dress for a woman is some sleeveless or strappy or bare thing."

Sorry, but I say "Piffle" on that. I don't wear sleeveless/strappy/bare things to "nice" occasions for the most part because some people find my tattoos offensive, but I have several dresses in my closet with sleeves ranging from mid-bicep to wrist-length, not counting dressy blouse-and-skirt or sweater-and-skirt - including short-sleeved lightweight sweaters for summer - combinations, jacket dresses, and a skirted suit that I basically only wear to funerals. :-) (I'd probably have more if I had reason to wear them, if we go shopping DH loves to go all Carson Kressly on me and always tries to put me in dresses.) Coldwater Creek is usually my go-to place for dressy stuff - while they have sleeveless dresses, they also typically have plenty with sleeves. I absolutely covet this dress, but I can't afford it, I'm not sure the 16 would fit, and have nowhere to wear it anyway. Last time I had to shop for a dress for a wedding (last summer) I ended up at Fashion Bug which is where I usually go for things I'm not going to wear much because it's generally very inexpensive, where there were plenty of dresses with sleeves - short sleeves (mid-bicep), yes, but it was also August. Since the wedding was outdoors and expected to go well into the evening, I picked up an openwork lacy sweater to wear with it when it got chilly and the bugs came out. Goes great over a fancy tank top and skirt. The Chadwicks catalog has cute things that don't cost the earth, while if you have a lot more to spend Talbots has some special occasion dresses that are pretty drop-dead. IMO jacket dresses are very attractive if they fit well and are in a nice fabric, and there are usually very pretty ones out there. Penneys has a pretty good selection. That's just scratching the surface.

Wow, I guess I need to go shopping with JM next time! I've never been in a Coldwater Creek but one recently opened in our local mall so I'll try that next time I need a dress. That one you linked is lovely. Sadly, or maybe happily, I don't have any occasions on the horizon that I need a dress. But since you never know what's around the corner maybe I should check out CC for that dress now.

I did shop Penney & Talbots and they seem to run bare or matronly. Or maybe I'm just too fussy. Could be.

Another one here who loves Coldwater Creek (there are outlet stores) and lives up the road from the Talbots Outlet Store here in Dallas. And if I did ever have a really big occasion -- there is the Nordstroms outlet at Park and Preston in Plano. Some amazing deals there BUT you have to willing to dig through the racks!

And yes! I do carry lightweight sweaters, jackets and shawls even when the temperatures here hit 100 degrees. Because some of the cinemas, restaurants and stores keep their temperatures at the "Icebox" setting. Not to mention sitting in a cold air draft. No flipping way!

So I put a black AND a white lightweight sweater in the car -- and change them out -- so that I always have something to grab for myself or someone else! I've seen lots of shivering gals at restaurants here! LOL!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

I've had hit and miss with Coldwater Creek. A few things I've bought have been lovely and great quality, others, horrible.
So, now, I occasionally scan the stores and wait for their online sales that they always have.
But overall, I have scratched them from my go-to list.

I've had hit and miss with Coldwater Creek.

Same here. The photos of stuff in their catalogs are fun to browse, but I cannot stand the treacly patter in their clothing descriptions. I have to force myself to NOT READ the sidebars.

-Lena