Laetitia Casta Posing for Vogue Turkey

Dolce & Gabbana knows what’s feminine.  No wonder that Laetitia Casta is wearing backseam stockings with her designer outfit.  Not only that she is wearing it, she is showing it off.

This photo is taken in Paris.  Part of the photoshoot, as bizarre as it may be, involved a chimpanzee posing together with the model.

Laetitia Casta is a French model and actress who became famous after her Guess campaign in 1993.  After that she modeled for a long list of famous designers and even was one of the Victoria Secret Angels.  However, it is nice to mention that besides her modeling achievements she also has a number of charity involvement in her repertoire.

1938 – stockings body paint salon!

What are these women doing?

They are getting stockings painted on their legs.  In 1938 nylon stockings became rare because all production was needed for the war to make parachutes.

Such salons had stockings paint in all different shades and they would even draw a backseam with a special tool.  You can learn more about this in the history section of this blog.

Backseam: the only pattern not to lose popularity over the years

gio cuban heel fully fashioned stockingsThe only pattern to successfully outlive all turbulence  in history of women’s hosiery, without losing its popularity, is the backseam.  Sexual, not vulgar, it decorates legs like an exclamation mark, immediately attracting attention.

It even looks like some brands, like Gio or Cervin, carved out a special niche of customers who appreciate the traditional design of a fully-fashioned stocking.

Cosmetic backseam (just a straight line at the back) is relatively not hard to find if you live in a big city with plenty of department stores.  But fully-fashioned stockings are a different story.

I personally have never seen fully-fashioned stockings for sale in any retail location.  If it wouldn’t be for online hosiery stores, I would probably have no chance of getting my hands on one of those at all.

Back seam pantyhose gone wrong

RACHEL ZOE FASHION SHOW

These photos are from a beautiful runway show from Rachel Zoe.  In fact the show is alright – quite a lot of these models are wearing hosiery of different styles and colours!  Yay!

Looking at a very attractive model in black sheer pantyhose, I am overwhelmed with joy to finally see classy hosiery on the runway.  But as she turns around, something goes very wrong!  The back seam is all twisted.  Oh  no, I exhale sadly.

Don’t they have stylists and dressers backstage to fix this?

Every time I wear back seam, I spend more time turning in front of the mirror then actually putting it on.  I pinch the hose by the seam and pull it side to side to make it straight.  If I have someone around, I ask the person to adjust it for me.

How do you make your back seam hosiery straight?  

 

Erika from Canada, simply a huge fan of hosiery:

“If your into full fashion silky hosiery especially stockings with Cuban heel and back seam, there is definitely a way to wear them .  The way you put them on to begin with is important.

I like to have a mirror to look in through my legs as I inch them up from my ankle nice and slow keeping the seam straight all the way up.  It’s important to keep a watch on them with your back turned to a full length mirror every once in a while after that.

Running your hands on fine silk stockings is always amazing and I don’t mind doing this is often as necessary.”

 

Gillian from United States (her Youtube), crossdresser and hosiery enthusiast:

“First, I try to get them straight the first time, using a handheld mirror to see if they’re too off-centered. Taking a picture of your legs with a digital camera might work too, you can do it quickly and not necessarily keep the picture.

I try not to move too much while sitting down, the leg movement can move the seams off-center even if the only motion is sitting down and getting up. After I get up I’ll quickly check the seams again.”

 

Jennifer from United States, founder of Pantyhose-Pantyhose:

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I do is I make sure that when I slip my feet into the pantyhose, the seam faces the right way, and the reinforced toe area (or the toe seam if it’s a sandal-toe we’re talking about) sits absolutely perfectly. I then pull the hose up, making sure not to twist it either way during the process. When done, a last look in the mirror is warranted, just to make 100% sure. I keep my hosiery gloves on if I need to make any adjustments. Going out with crooked back-seams is just so embarrassing.”

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