Getting noticed
by Geraden
One thing seems certain – if no one ever takes notice of the men wearing tights or pantyhose it's not going to take off.
But having said that there seems to be a wide difference in attitude amongst male wearers.
For many years my objective in wearing tights was to do so without being noticed. I went in fear that a little band of nylon showing between my socks and my trouser bottoms would provoke an embarrassing incident. I know that many men still need to wear secretly for one reason or another.
On the other hand, my fellow poster on this blog, Dexter, has been out on many occasions in shorts and tights and has enjoyed the favourable comments he has received. Jeremy, whose series of guest articles I am posting, has gone out of his way to be noticed. He has also received comments on his choice of legwear. There are differences of course. I dare say Dexter and Jeremy both look much more attractive than I do, but of course they are both in the USA; here in Britain people are generally more reserved about talking to strangers about clothing. Though I have sometimes had glances from other people when I was out in noticeable tights, I have never had any direct comment, and this has been a source of regret for me.
I have been following a recent thread in Legwear as Unisex Fashion (LAUF). It was started by a man who went cycling in bright yellow semi-opaques, just to see whether there would be any reaction. He concluded, "Well, it feels good to have the ice broken for talking with people about my legwear. Funny it took a very noticeable, bright color to do it though!"
This provoked a discussion on whether one should expect notice and comments about male legwear choices. After all, it is just clothing. A well-respected female member of that Forum said "I am confused about WHY you or anybody here has a need to have people comment on your wearing or engage in conversation about it. Isn't that making a big deal of it?" However another poster made the point that if it takes bright yellow tights to get a response, perhaps men can have more confidence that wearing low visibility tights will not provoke any reaction.
The cyclist replied "For me as a guy (and perhaps for others), finally being able to discuss my wearing with someone is a pretty big deal; this especially after 20+ years of wearing secretly and my worse fear being someone finds out and I being forced to talk about it."
Another long-standing member of the forum said "I don't understand the need to talk about it. If the hosiery wearer is totally comfortable in their fashion choices, they wear hose and conduct their normal every day business as usual. That is society acceptance. That is legwear as unisex fashion." he also said "The folks that want to talk to others about it still are not totally comfortable with it in their own heads. They want acceptance." (comments, Dexter, Jeremy, anyone?)
Let the cyclist have the last word: 'You said, "and if it comes up, it comes up. Other than that, it's just clothing. Really. That's all it is." That's exactly what I was getting at. If it comes up you talk about it like it's no big deal and that's all it is.'
So there are some differences of attitude, but not a lot of real disagreement when all's said and done.
It seems there is a kind of progression here, the stages of which are something like:
- wearing secretly, dreading being discovered.
- starting to wear openly; wearing low-visibility tights in order to avoid anyone noticing
- wearing openly and beginning to be comfortable with the idea that someone might notice and even comment.
- regretting that people have not noticed or commented, and as a result being more daring in what one wears.
- being totally outrageous in wearing in order to force some reaction from people
- realising that if people are not reacting, it is because the battle has been won, and tights are simply a personal fashion choice (no more remarkable than body piercing, and a good deal more comfortable!) So just wear what looks and feels good - there is no need to be blatant about it.
If you are a male wearer, are you somewhere on this scale? Or have I missed something?
Whatever stage you are at, that is fine. No one should feel that they have to move from one stage to another unless they are comfortable to do so. I am somewhere nearer to 4 than to 3. But I think I will give stage 5 a miss and move on to stage 6!
If you would like to comment on this entry, please click on the 'Comments' link below.
The long standing member of the LAUF forum is absolutely right! Why talk
about wearing hosiery unless asked. Isn’t trying to get a reaction to
comment from others forcing your opinions on them? The only authority you
require acceptance from is yourself! I believe many hose wearers make way
too much of a big deal out of it, albeit a monumental decision to go public
wearing hosiery, the majority of criticism is often born from ourselves
through fear of ridicule. It ‘IS’ accepted that men wear hosiery, Bikers
have worn for years, Cyclist’s now have padded tights, Builders wear for
warmth, There are even medical grounds for wearing hose. The entertainment
industry is a leading area of male hosiery wearers? So it’s not all that
unique. In fact the only argument I see is in predominantly male populated
Internet forums fighting the right to wear hose when in all honesty, we are
fighting against ourselves!
Nowadays the majority of the public doesn’t really care what anyone wears,
so if the truth be known, we are waiting for acceptance that we already
have? I suspect the biggest obstacle will be an economical one! How many
mainstream hosiery manufacturers are going to change machinery or set aside
areas of plant for a minority fringe group. Standardisation affects us all.
Pat.
Hi Pat
At age 44, (tights wearer for ~35 years) I am still at stage 1 on your
scale and have no prospect of moving up. My reasons for wearing have
always been sensual pleasure, although I have invented reasons to make
wearing at least grudgingly accepted by my wife (warmth in winter,
prevention of blisters in hiking boots, knee support) no doubt like most
other wearers. In my dream of an ideal world I can swan around openly in
shorts, sheer tights and open toe sandals. In the real world I dread the
ridicule that my wife and daughters would unleash. I care much less about
what strangers would think, but here in Atlantic Canada, it is now out of
the ordinary to see women wearing sheer hose, men in tights would be viewed
as extremely wierd. Hosiery manufacturers may sell "tights for men" by
mail order in plain brown packaging, but we are still light years from men
picking up their pairs of silkies from the grocery store.
Hi Rich
If we look back in time, men wore hosiery similar to tights. For some
unknown reason, they stopped. Now they are considered women's clothes!
Oscar
Tag Related Posts
Avatars
These are some of the contributors to this blog:
