Mainstreaming Men's Hosiery - VIII

by Granville West

The quality of comments on this blog varies enormously, from the plain rude to the excellent and thoughtful. This article was originally written as a comment, and I thought that it was worthy of the greater exposure that publication as a main entry would give it. The author, Granville West, kindly agreed, so we welcome him here as a guest contributor.
- G

Over a year after it was written, I have found this ten-part article, which follows much of my own thinking about wearing men's legwear.

I am an American, 56 years old. My name comes from living 15 miles west of Steve Katz, whose Comfilon products I have worn for two years. They have given me great relief from restless legs, provide extra warmth and comfort in the winter, and I enjoy the feel of the wind against the sheer hose in warm weather.

However, while my wife accepts my wearing hose for the health benefits, she strongly disapproves of my wearing them under anything except long trousers; and I value my marriage more than an article of clothing.

All that said, I would also like to see legwear mainstreamed into men's fashion, but I agree with Geraden's reasoning why mainstreaming is unlikely in the forseeable future. One factor was overlooked, and that is one of style and fashion sense. Let me explain. Women wear traditionally masculine articles of clothing, such as pants and golf shirts; and they may even look fairly similar to those of men, but they are still different. Women's versions are softer, less structured, of a different cut (of course) and usually in different colors from what men wear.

Look in any mail order catalog and compare women's and men's golf shirts. At first, they look similar, but on observation, we see that their buttons run the other way, they are cut differently -- and while there are a few "unisex" colors (some yellows and greens perhaps), the navy blue and dark red ones are reserved for men, the pinks and powder blue for women. The fabric might also be a bit thinner in the women's versions.

Applying this thought to legwear, this suggests that if there is to be a mainstream style of men wearing hosiery, it will need to be hosiery that is less sheer or heavier or coarser, in distinctively masculine patterns, and in masculine colors like brown, olive, or forest green. With this in mind, it would appear that opaque tights are more likely to be accepted than sheer hosiery.

It will also have to be popularized as a part of a "look" from a designer of men's clothing who might be "edgy" but not off the wall (much closer to Tommy Hilfiger than Jean-Paul Gaulthier), a look that is definitely masculine but where the properties of the hose enhance the appearance of the wearer without making him look like a cross-dresser.

With sheer hosiery, we also have that persistent question of what to do with leg hair. Older men like myself do not want to shave/apply depilatory (and have wives who would go ballistic if we suggested it). For sheer, this suggests dark colors where failure to shave would be less of an issue.

I do not know how to think like a fashion designer, but in the right hands, I am sure this is possible; and in my view, it is the only hope we have of legwear going mainstream.

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