Pantyhose tights and such.

[Pythos]

We are now getting in the season where tights or hose are a necessity due to weather. Now I usually wear hose or tights when skirted, and sometimes as underwear under my leggings.

One thing I hear about these items is they are uncomfortable. I do not find this to be true...if they are worn and put on a certain way.

I have seen people step into them like they are a pair of regular pants, and proceed to drag the material up their leg, then wonder why they fit awful and are full of runs.

Another thing I have heard of and one time seen is the wearer leaving bulky under things on (the one time it was a pair of boxers under thick black tight leggings, this was a female doing this by the way;)), and then they complain about discomfort.

How do the wearers on this site choose to wear their legwear, when they wear it?

[sapphire]

Step into them like trousers? How do you do that without killing the hose?

Tights are comfortable and good in cold weather.

Sheer panyhose is shear h*ll if you are compelled to wear them in really hot weather. That's when my girlfriends and I started calling them "baloney-skins".

My other gripe with "baloney-skins", especially if one is compelled to wear them as part of a dress code and if one is as klutzy as I am, is the expense.

[Departed Member]

How do the wearers on this site choose to wear their legwear, when they wear it?

70D black opaque hold-ups.

Why? Healthy (no crotch area to 'boil'!), Comfortable in all sorts of weather (no crotch area to constrict), Economical (ruin one leg, you've still got a 'spare' for the next pair!). Oh, and for those 'concerned' about bulky footwear, you could probably take a size smaller shoe, too!

[sapphire]

"Hold ups"?

Do you mean like traditional stockings (thinking Betty Grable) that need a garter belt or (horrors) a girdle?

I never could get those right and always felt like I was strung up waiting to be plucked, but a lot of other people were/are comfortable with them, and they come in so many nice styles.

[crfriend]

Step into them like trousers? How do you do that without killing the hose?

Put bluntly, you can't. Anything more fragile than a heavy opaque fabric will ladder almost instantly unless proper precautions are taken -- and many of these "precautions" are rather alien to guys: things like smooth hands (or the judicious use of gloves) when putting the garment on, keeping toenails trimmed very short and smooth to keep them from snagging on the fabric, and a typical "guy tendency" to pull too hard in getting the things up instead of easing them up.

Tights are comfortable and good in cold weather.

Seconded. It's a pity that colours beyond off-white, black, brown, and navy blue are "unobtanium" in anything larger than miniature. I like opaque tights and will, on occasion (for instance, if I know I'm going to be spending eight hours in the computer room) wear them in the summer. I think they're practical and flattering, at least on my body type. Fairly heavy-duty fishnets might be good for the summer, but there again, they're unobtanium in anything other than tiny.

Sheer panyhose is shear h*ll if you are compelled to wear them in really hot weather.

I'll back that assertion up as well. They can be outright nasty in hot and sticky weather. Knee-highs work vastly better for that application, as might thigh-highs (be they "hold-ups" or "stick-ups"); I've not tried the latter, though. The notion of a garter belt on a bloke is just a wee bit too alien for me to fathom.

[ChrisM]

Hold Ups (UK) = Thigh Highs (USA)

Stockings and garter belt do work equally well, and men's garter belts are sold by Hockey outfitters.

Chris

[ChristopherJ]

I have never found tights to be uncomfortable - although I have always made a point of buying decent quality ones as I find they are a better fit - and secondly I never buy those "one size" things - as they are always too small for me. Different makes do different size measurements, but I find a size Large usually fits me best.

I always wear the same type of underwear - whether I am wearing skirt and tights or jeans - and that is moderately tight cotton trunks. The tights fit very well over the top of those - and causes no more constriction than does the underwear.

I have learned to be careful with rough nails etc. when putting tights on. I find it easy now though and just roll them carefully on. Footless tights are even better as they can be pulled about a bit more and they will not tear so easily as they do not cover the foot.

I mostly wear dark opaque colours - black, grey, brown - although I do have a few bright pairs as well.

[Departed Member]

"Hold ups"? Do you mean like traditional stockings (thinking Betty Grable) that need a garter belt or (horrors) a girdle?

No! They're "Hang-ups"! I refer to "Stick-ups" (or "Thigh-highs"!). They have 2 inches of plain 'grip' at the top, and stay up even under (dare I say?) tr*users! They were suggested some years ago, by our Practice Nurse, as an alternative to 'therapeutic'(?) stockings (which required the use of a suspender belt) in a bid to reduce/eliminate muscle cramps which I suffered from at the time. This problem re-occured over a year ago, so I acquired two pairs, and it's only now that I'm about to withdraw one leg(!) of the first pair, due to heel damage, the other ('leg') being retained as a 'spare'. I prefer to avoid tights, as they give me nearly as much trouble as wearing tr*users for any length of time, although I used to use them for winter-time cycling until my back injury.

[Ray]

I love them, but am careful to use them in the right place, and at the right time.

I have learned several lessons:

1. Shiny hosiery works better under trousers than matt hosiery.
2. Hosiery is good for sedentary aspects of life; they do not work so well when active
3. Point 2 is not relevant when it's cold!
4. Get the wrong size and they are useless
5. They make your legs look great
6. Nobody notices matt flesh coloured hosiery; shiny hosiery is another matter altogether (like last night, when someone spotted them under my kilt)
7. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for hosiery
8. You get what you pay for. Cheap tights really ae horrible.
9. Never go shopping wearing tights. The hot temperature in shops will make them so uncomfortable to wear that you will think them to be torture devices of evil.
10. Mow your leg lawn! aka shave your pegs. It makes all the difference.

I'm currently wearing semi-opaque to opaque (30 - 50 denier) tights under my suit every day. This will continue until March or so, warm days notwithstanding. WIth a (non trad) kilt, I wear flesh coloured oiled shiny tights (7 denier) to add a bit of fun to the outfit. I will probably try and pair up some black opaques with my grey kilt, but only once I have procured some decent knee high boots (reasonably robust looking) to go with my kilt.

[Pythos]

I have seen the put them on like pants done, usually with thicker tights. The sit on their bed and pull the tights on like pants, and work the material up their feet and legs, all the while running the risk of shredding the material with either their hands or toe nails. Then they end up with a huge area between themselves and the crotch of the tights.

When I put mine on I do as my mother does, and that is take everything off, sit on the edge of my bed, scrunch one leg up to the toes, put my toes into the toe of the hose, and gently slide the material up my leg to mid calf, repeat for the other side, then work the material up each leg evenly, position the crotch panel where it should be (right up against me), then pull the top portion up rather snugly. To get the hose up just right, I moisten my fingers with water and gently drag them up my legs. This results in the hose or tights fitting as near to perfect to the point I can forget I have them on.

I find wearing the hose, tights, or leggings on their own (nothing under), is both cooler in temperature, and much more comfortable wedgie wise. I guess the real factor is the things fitting correctly in the first place. Size B fit me well.

[cessna152towser]

Each to their own. I had to wear panty hose (which I wore under trousers) for support for a few weeks after my varicose veins op and found them most uncomfortable. Since then I have discovered the freedom of kilts and skirts and I think that wearing tights/pantyhose would defeat the comfort of a kilt/skirt. A knee length kilt/skirt with kilt hose, or rugby or soccer socks works fine for me.

[AMM]

... I have discovered the freedom of kilts and skirts and I think that wearing tights/pantyhose would defeat the comfort of a kilt/skirt. A knee length kilt/skirt with kilt hose, or rugby or soccer socks works fine for me.

Generally, I agree with you.

But this morning it was cool (40 F?) and raining hard as I walked into town to get the mail, and as my only longer skirts are cotton (bad idea in cold, wet weather!), and I haven't yet found a good source for wool socks that come up over my knees, I wore tights under my 24" knit skirt and cotton knee socks.

One problem I've noticed on the few occasions that I have tried wearing tights for any length of time is that it's hard/impossible to find tights that fit typical men's bodies. The legs are always too short, and the XXXXL ones that don't immediately pull down around your knees come up to the middle of your chest. (Real inconvenient when you visit the loo.)

Sheer tights (a.k.a. pantyhose) I don't like for a whole laundry list of reasons.

[Pythos]

Let's here the laundry list.

I am curious.

Crummy cheap hose I can see. But good quality hose, even control top...can fit a guy just fine, but you gotta get the right size. I started with size a sheer energy...TOO SMALL. So, I moved to size B. They fit perfectly. Now if you put them on with one leg twisted, they are hell.

[r1g0r]

it doesn't matter WHAT you're trying to wear, if you get the wrong size/style for your body IT WONT FEEL GOOD.

i'm 6'3" and 165-170lbs. if i can find good-fitting tights without spending a fortune, ANYBODY CAN!

[crfriend]

Perhaps some practical advice may be in order for the rest of us from the afficiandoes here. For instance:

a) When seeking sizes, is it better to start seemingly too large and work down or the other way 'round?
b) What do you do about the inevitable rough hands or, for those of us that bite our nails, rough fingernails?
c) What happens with toenails? How short is short enough? Do they require filing/buffing?

Sizes, as has been mentioned, are vexing -- and the size charts are designed for women, who are (surprise) built differently from us lot. Women tend to be more "leggy" than guys, but most guys are tall enough that our legs are longer than many women's legs, and ours are frequently larger in circumference as well; so, the model doesn't work well. Do we need to search high and low to find something that actually fits?