skirtcafe.org

Ok all, I see quite a few of us wear these items (which I in my opinion are far from being pants or trouser like, they move with you, while pants drag along your legs, also most pants do not easily double as underwear)

But what brand and style of hose do you prefer.

Me? I am finding that I prefer leggs brand, sheer energy, either sheer to waist, or control top. I find they feel good, but also are durable. Iv'e tried comfilons, and will wear them, but find the leggs more fitting. Same with the Leevee Woman unisex tights.

I find once I have the Leggs on they require no further adjustments, whereas the comfis and the leevees require frequent adjustment.

I also like the silken mist line, but those are really fragile.

you can but any type of tights - I usual buy various like Aristoc, Charnos, Wolford, Levante and Pretty Polly -- usual Wolford or Aristoc I wear mostly cos it so soft also I used between 40 deiner to 100 deiner opaque tights cos it great feel to wear so buy one for yourself. I used tights with mini skirt (between 14"-16" length) and sometime mini dungaree dress cos it very comfortable to wear it as you know there is nothing wrong with it as it normal clothes to wear it.

Over a stretch of several years I purchased a rather large number of pantyhose, mail order, from HCA(Hosiery Company of America). I probably have 30+ unopened packages at this time. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. For the most part they fit me as I wear a size Queen by their standards. The problems are defects brand new out of the bag, inconsistency of size even in the same styles, inconsistently fragile and mostly their obnoxious marketing techniques. As far as being fragile I probably don't have that much to gripe about as I do tend to abuse them, such as wearing them under heavy work clothing especially in the winter. In general I don't care for the feel of them under skirts, although they do firm up flab in my legs and in my opinion present a better image of a guy in a skirt. Wearing them with a skirt I lose the sensual feel of the skirt. And no I do not consider myself even remotely a crossdresser or tranny.

I prefer Avenue day sheer pantyhose, I am still looking for a favorite brand of tights.

To be honest I too wear leggs hose. The ones I have been wearing latley is what they refer to is there "Everyday Support Hose" For the price that I pay for 3 pair they seam to last me just as long as leggs sheer energy. I have also worn and love the feel of leggs sheer comfort. These are a little thicker and don't have the shine like regular hose, and man are they comfortable. They have proabaly the best control top of all the hose I have ever worn.

Tried panty hose, liked the feeling on the legs. Didn't like the feeling around my middle. Felt too closed in. Also, they are fragile things, easy to run. Finally, makes it more difficult to go to the bathroom, gotta peel them down first. Bottom line for me, they are impractical.

Thus, I prefer just plain old socks, but I vary the length depending on the temperature and the look I am going for. I do like the feel of knee-socks, they seem to give my calves a lot of support.

I can agree with you on the peeling them down thing. It does take some getting use to wearing them. I have worn them for so long that they don't even faze me anymore Even for the most part when I wear skirts I wear hose. I hate to say it but I feel strange with out them. I think the main reason they don't bother me to wear them is becuaswe I have worn them every since I was a kid off and on. I mean if you look at my pictures I don't think you will ever see me not wearing them. I think that may be why my wife has a problem with me wearing skirts, becuase she feels that if I put the 2 together that I look to fem if you know what I mean

How I got into pantyhose involved a bicycle crash and a really bad case of road rash.

Brand choice varies greatly, the most comfortable ones were Wolfords. The case of road rash got me interested in hair removal. Now days I use a depilitor machine or have a wax job done.

I have tried several Department store brands and have found a varing degree of problems. The ones I go back to are the ones that stay up and do not slide down. The Activeskin/Comfilons fit well, and they due have some compression which feels good.

Currently I am in a search for well fitting graded compression support/panty hose. I have not been wearing pantyhose much the last few years. Then after returning from a vacation and long plane ride 1 week ago -- BANG!! I had real problems with leg pain, creepy crawly feelings in my legs, etc... I dug out a pair of OROBLU Repos 70 I had left over from the last episode. I feel much better now, after having woren them for the last few days. It was bad enough that I'll be wearing pantyhose a lot more.

I did some web searching and found a wide varity of prices and quaility. Apperantly the medical grade are painful and you stay away from them unless ordered by a doctor. There are industrial rated "Nurse" grade hose good for daily wear. And then there are fashion grades also.

I have tried a number of brands of tights including Aristoc, Charnos, Pretty Polly and Wolford, however I normally buy these days form either M & S or from a branch of John Lewis.

Eborian, I'm similar to you - but with a different ending.

I wear opaques in winter, and (unsurprisingly) sheers in summer - both matt and shiny. Obviously if it's really warm, I'm bare legged. I wear sock shop and Charnos (sheer lustre) shiny tights, M&S and Pretty Polly (sun oiled look 7/8 denier), and Wolford (varying styles). Falke are also good, as are Oroblu.

Finally, a mention for Activskin - the ones with the built in fly. They are not bad, and I eant to try out the new 8 denier Ergee mens tights.

I can understand why tights are seen as unconfortable and itchy. If you are in the wrong climate or are naturally hairy (I'm not really - apart from a good head of hair!) or the tights are wrongly sized, they can be torture. Luckily, I've worked out what to wear and when (appropriate).

Tights and pantyhose (opaques and sheers in the UK) are widely, and wildly sometimes, reviled by women but that may have to do more with the "mandate" notion (viz "ties for men") than anything else. True, they can be drattedly uncomfortable in hot weather, and sheers are very prone to snagging and damage. However, the above having been said, I wear both from time to time; I wear opaques in the winter quite frequently for added warmth and when temperatures are reasonable I occasionally wear sheers when I'm trying to "dress up" a look.

I have a handicap when it comes to finding tights (of either ilk) that fit; I'm over six feet tall -- well outside the normal "female envelope", and nobody seems to be marketing ones to the "excessively tall" crowd. So I have to improvise, and finding anything that actually works is rather hit-or-miss. Interestingly, what I do find that works is a brand called "Just My Size", and even with my height I run a 3X (rather than the 4X which is "broader and shorter" than I am). This works for both sheers and opaques. Unfortunately, the colour and style selection is very limited; one can get sheers in "regular" or "control-top" (forget about the "sexy" sheer-to-waist), but opaques are limited to black, off-white, and, if one gets lucky, navy blue.

Legwear is actually a "secret weapon" in the skirting world -- it lends a polished look to any garment that exposes the legs, and can hide an amazing array of flaws that most adult folks' legs have (both men and women). So, I think it's a pity it gets short shrift. That notion won't bring the concept back from the brink of extinction -- where I suspect it may be due to market forces -- but one can always hope. So, when it makes sense, and I can still find a source, legwear will be a tool (just like that odd-sized spanner in your tool-box that comes in handy) I use when I see fit.

crfriend wrote:I'm over six feet tall -- well outside the normal "female envelope", and nobody seems to be marketing ones to the "excessively tall" crowd.

Have you tried Levante Airskin tights, or the sheer alternative? http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/index.php ... izing]=198 show them up to 6'1 in two different hip sizes/weights so might possibly be worth a go. (The URL breaks the URL tag!)

If anyone wants to make any comments I can stick on http://www.tights.org.uk they'd be welcome (by PM, to save clogging the board). No prizes for guessing what I have an interest in...

Graham.

Here's an interesting aside to the tights question. I just re-watched "Braveheart" last night on TV and noticed something that, during the previous dozen or so watchings I never noticed before. The last scene in the movie has Robert the Bruce changing his mind and attacking the English troops he was previously going to accept the throne of Scotland from.(seems to me that accepting the throne and becoming King would have been imminently smarter than attacking and killing or getting killed for it, with nearly the same outcome. The other possible outcome would be he didn't get to be King because he'd been killed in battle.) The attack starts with Brendon Gleeson's character running barelegged swinging that huge AXE right at the camera. I've seen that scene at least 12 previous times without ever noticing "Steven's" character to Gleeson's right and the camera's left. Under his green irish skirt/kilt he is wearing light blue (looks like nylon) tights/leggings.

I DON'T THINK THEY MADE NYLON IN 1312...did they??? At least not in Scotland or Ireland. They "might" have been silk, which was made in 1312, in CHINA..would have been VERY expensive for an irish soldier in 1312 doncha think?

Since1982 wrote:Here's an interesting aside to the tights question. I just re-watched "Braveheart" last night on TV and noticed something that, during the previous dozen or so watchings I never noticed before.

Skip! How could you think of adding even more 'fuel to the flames' regarding the worst, in the history of films/movies depiction of "Scottish History", film EVER made!

Since1982 wrote:[...] Under [Steven's] green irish skirt/kilt he is wearing light blue (looks like nylon) tights/leggings.

One word: "woad". I thought it was spelled "wode" but my trusty old paper dictionary told me otherwise.