Fishing Time – Do Sheer Tights Protect from Mosquitoes?

helene fishing in pantyhose

Helene wears pantyhose under leggings for her fishing trip.

by Helene, Mexico

Summer heat. I love water… any water, even if it is just a puddle after rain.

So, you can imagine how happy I was when my friends announced that they are going fishing. Tomorrow. Early in the morning, before the dawn. I am a night-owl, getting up in the morning for me is a torture, but…  fishing equals being near water, probably, a large body of water, like a river or a lake.

Have I mentioned by the way that I have a fishing rod? That’s a funny story; no, am not into fishing. I was coming home from a small trip in my car, when I saw something strange – many people, maybe a hundred of them, like ants, are crowding on a small bridge. I thought something happened, stopped and went to check if I can be somehow useful. And yes, something was happening there, right at the moment – they had a fishing tournament, in a small stream. I even asked to take a photo with them, and the organizers presented me a fishing rod.

So, I have a fishing rod. I unburied it from piles of things that are still loaded in the corner after moving, found my backpack that I was using for hiking in Norway – and am ready to the trip! Though…  Mexico is famous for its mosquitoes, those small ugly creatures that are able to spoil all the pleasure. But I had a solution! Sheer tights, I had read that they protect from insects, and I wanted to believe in that, as I did not have time to buy repellent.

After some hours, when we arrived to a sleepy yet mountain lake, I regretted that I had tights on instead of jeans as well as that I went to that trip at all. Mosquitoes were happy to see me, I had never seen so many of them before. They were flying around me trying to bite, and I was trying to remember what I know about malaria, zika and other illnesses that mosquitoes transfer: I was sure that I will get at least one of them. That lasted several minutes, though it felt like a year for me…

Then I noticed it.

Mosquitoes, they were coming, checking and… flying away. I thought that tights were helping till I noticed that those insects ignore me – I did not get a single bite: hands, arms, legs – nowhere! While my friends (none of them came to an idea to put on tights of even thin socks, all were wearing jeans or thick clothes to protect themselves from insects) were suffering badly. Mosquitoes were practically eating them up.

So, what`s wrong with me? Maybe because am not a Mexican, a “strange blood”? Do not know, but after the trip one thing became evident: local needle-nosed pests dislike me. The trip was good, the amazing mountain lake was worth writing poems about. But I am feeling offended.

Cold Weather in Calgary

If usually I can get away with wearing shorts and thicker tights in winter, but this week is extremely cold. I put on these shorts and fun tights, but then checked Calgary weather and changed into a more appropriate version – jeans and wool tights under.

Wanted to wear:

Wool tights under jeans

Ended up wearing:

wool tights under jeans, Aristoc

I can’t wait for warmer weather to finally be able to dress the way I want! Wool tights, by the way, were a gift from a fan. They are keeping me warm not the first winter already.

Pantyhose as a Gift – Appropriate or Not?

hosiery-and-gifts

Some gifts from a fan. Yes, pantyhose were inside too!

Just recently a woman mentioned to me that she’s planning to give some fun pantyhose to her friends as gifts for the holidays. Is it a good idea?

Turns out that according to the European etiquette, pantyhose are not considered to be an undergarment. It is a luxury item. Thus, they are perfectly fine to give as gifts. I had that opinion all my life anyway!

When it comes to stockings / stay ups, I think it’s OK to give it to people you know pretty well. Strangers may see something sexual in it, contrary to the fact that a lot of women wear stay ups daily just to cover their legs at work.

Occasion also matters! I’ve read that queen Elizabeth II got 100 stockings as a wedding gift. That was a very luxurious gift, based on the scarcity of the garment.

I am going to a Christmas party in December and I thought to bring pantyhose for all the ladies there, but then I figured I’d rather bring knee socks and ankle socks instead. I have no way of knowing what size those women are and I’d rather not guess or ask the hostess to guess.

 

She wears nude pantyhose, but is it outdated?

nude shiny pantyhose

I got this photo from another blogger and her post was from 2011. She was saying that she wore a mini dress with nude pantyhose. Well, I see why, she wore platform shoes with it that I doubt would feel comfortable if worn without any hosiery.

However, in terms of the look, would you say that it’s rare to see such a mini dress paired with hosiery in general? I can totally hear some fashion critics saying how this is a bad idea to wear pantyhose with a summer outfit, especially shiny.

Styling Shorts and Pantyhose

I saw these photos from a while back (3 years ago) on another blog. The owner of the blog combined shorts, pantyhose, and a summer top.

shorts and white pantyhose 1

She’s Eastern European,  but I have a feeling she probably resides somewhere in Finland.

Anyway, this would be so rare to see in North America! Agree?

shorts and white pantyhose 2 shorts and white pantyhose 3 shorts and white pantyhose 4 shorts and white pantyhose 5