Tag Archives: socks

Knee socks worn over Pantyhose – Opinions?

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I saw this photo online, not sure what year it is from… it’s a Russian young designer competition. The model here is clearly wearing sheer black pantyhose with black knee high socks over it. First of all, it’s already progress to see pantyhose on the runway, so let’s give them some credit.

What do you think though about these knee high socks over pantyhose, is it too much? To me somehow there is not enough contrast. Whenever something is layered like this, I always want to see different colours playing together.

knee high socks over pantyhose

Let me know your opinions! I am curious to hear what you say about this.

Fishnet tights & socks are in fashion for Spring 2017

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Lately I had many inquiries about fishnet socks, especially short ankle ones. There seems to be a trend on the runway to wear anything fishnet, like tops and tights.

fishnet tights and socks are in fashion for spring 2017 collage

fishnet tights and socks are in fashion for spring 2017

Here is one of my photos from Instagram, taken recently, of my legs in fancy fishnet tights. It’s not a new pair, but all the sudden I feel more fashionable about wearing it.

Fiore Vera pantyhose

Konmari Method – Organizing Tights, Stockings, Lingerie

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New Year’s is almost here, time for me to clean up my house as I traditionally try to do every year. I watched a couple of decluttering / organizing videos and learned about a Japanese method called Konmari.

konmari-desk

Marie Kondo herself, wearing a dress and black tights. She wears a lot of tights!

At first I thought that any person following this method would toss out all the pantyhose except for 2 pairs or something of that sort… but I was wrong, turned out this method, even though highly admired by minimalism, is not about having next to nothing, but about keeping only those items that bring you joy and storing / folding them in a way that is easily accessible.

Konmari method was started by Marie Kondo, a Japanese woman obsessed since childhood with cleaning and organizing. She made a very successful living by teaching women how to clean their house and get rid of clutter despite that her parents initially thought she’ll simply be a good house wife. Keep this story in mind next time you hear someone tell their child that there is no way to make money with whatever they are into…

Marie Kondo shows how to fold lingerie in a video.

Marie Kondo shows how to fold lingerie.

Marie devotes some time to talk about underwear, socks, and pantyhose! She has a whole method of how to fold pantyhose and she says that tying stockings into a knot is a terrible thing to do because it will stretch them out and ruin them. Same applies to men who roll their socks up into a potato like ball.

To her, underwear is just as important as outwear. One thing you should throw out for sure is worn out and stretched out underwear that doesn’t bring you joy, she says.

For example, Kondo holds a great deal of respect for the home and honors that by never wearing anything schlubby, even to sleep. “If you are a woman, try wearing something elegant as nightwear,” she suggests. “The worst thing”—emphasis added—”you can do is to wear a sloppy sweat suit.”

My own attempt to fold my panties and thongs using Konmari method.

My own attempt to fold my panties and thongs using Konmari method.

I immediately thought about what kind of stuff I am wearing to bed and got somewhat disappointed. I wear long sleeves, long pants. But what can I do, I’ve got ice on my window frame! Calgary is really cold and I’ll freeze now wearing a silky negligee.

Marie Kondo is against folding clothes and piling it on top of one another like retailers do. She says it’s better to have it in a drawer stacked vertically, meaning that you’ll be able to pull out any piece without making the wile clothing tower fall apart.

Getting back to pantyhose storage, I may actually change my ways. I used to put everything back into its original packaging, but it does take up a lot of time and space. My main issue about keeping it out of the package is that I’ll forget what brand and what denier this is and then later wonder what it is that I am in fact wearing.  I handle many hosiery brands and it is important for me to have an ability to compare them in terms of fit and durability. I’m open to suggestions!

Pantyhose as a Gift – Appropriate or Not?

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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.

 

Nylon Socks and Open Toe Summer Shoes

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nylon socks and open toe shoes

Such combination is considered to be OK.

Past summer there was a trend, at least in Asia, of such combinations.  What are your thoughts on that?  I even saw some in our local store and thought it was terrible, but my Chinese friend explained to me that it was actually a popular trend.

Russian stylists also addressed the topic, but said that it’s something for women who are under 20 years old.

nylon socks and white sandals

No way! Ugly! Only for grandmothers.

Another designer, Maxim Chernitsov, ridiculed it when women wear nude nylon socks with open toe shoes to avoid getting blisters because it him it was something a grandmother would do only.

Would you ever wear summer shoes with nylon socks?

nylon foot socks and shoes

But isn’t this one kind of hot?

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Horse in Nylon Socks – What For?

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hosiery, pantyhose, nylon, horse, legs, protection, healing, flies, fly, bugs, insects

This horse is wearing nylon socks for a very practical reason.

You may see this horse in nylon socks and wonder if this is a prank. Or, is this an attempt to start a new “trend” like those poor canines in Asia wearing pantyhose because of some immature teen’s experiment?

No!  Not at all.

Turns out that this is actually a method to keep the flies off the healing wounds on horse’s legs.  For whatever reason this animal has abrasions or something of this sort on the lower legs and needs to keep it infection-free.

If you own a horse, keep this in mind and don’t throw out your old torn pantyhose.  You may need it to protect your horse’s skin from the bugs.

*Friends, the only funding for this blog is from the shop section.  Please indulge your pantyhose obsession and show some support for my work!  Your purchases make this blog possible.*

Japanese Soft Spot for Stockings – Harajuku District

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by Inna, our Ukrainian Connection

Hosiery in Japan’s Harajuku District

Can you imagine a whole nation to be infatuated with mystical charm of tights and stockings? Let me assure you the one like that exists. And if you ever had a chance to travel to the Japanese capital, you’d get striking evidences first hand!

 

120929-0898 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

White Stockings at Harajuku District in Japan

 

A Place Where Hosiery is Inborn

You probably would never find such a chic-filled and style-savvy place on the entire planet as Harajuku district. This Japanese centre of street fashion is located between two Tokyo subway stations.  Its style went through a lengthy time line of transforming traditional oriental attire into a modern look.

Historically, kimono costume would be worn with Japanese socks, so one could conclude that covering their legs with pantyhose is inherent in Japanese girls and women. By the same token, tights and stockings were never dealt with as an insignificant accessory in Tokyo culture, but rather the substantial part of dressing, and the showy one too!

 

120904-5304 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

Cosy Sporty Mix, Harajuku District in Japan

Lavish of various teenage fashion styles, streets of Harajuku are glowing with vivid colours, exquisite adornments and thoughtful combinations of young girls’ ensembles, representing innocent Lolita, moody Gothic, multi-layered and glorious decora, cosy sports mix, and extravagant cyberpunk just to name a few. As we have highlighted before, garments consisting of skirts and dresses are generally more preferable than those with pants, although shorts are widely accepted by the younger generation.

121007-1764 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

Gothic Outfit, Harajuku District in Japan

Depending on the chosen style, hosiery is matched accordingly to the outfit. Whether it will be above the knee length socks with red hearts to compliment playful girlie look or skin-tone pantyhose with spider-on-the-web prints to highlight Gothic disposition of the wearer, Japanese girls give their leg wear as much attention as to the rest components of outfit.

121007-1943 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

Girly-Girl theme, Harajuku District in Japan

Due to numerous fashion shops and malls at the Harajuku district, there is no lack of textured, patterned, coloured, and of various thickness tights. Every type you could only wish for is there.

Lolita Style Outfits

What clothing element could more gracefully polish the tender Lolita appearance if not a pair of matching pantyhose?! Burgundy checkered tights decorate one Lolita’s hussar-style uniform outfit and kissing angels print on white tights highlight the holiday spirit in another Lolita’s attire.  These are just examples of two different forms of Lolita style that is featured by abundance of frills, lace, bows, ribbons, etc.

121104-6522 - Japanese street fashion in Sangenjaya, Tokyo

Lolita Outfit with White Pantyhose

120819-2258 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

Lolita Outfit with Checkered Pantyhose

Short Skirts are Balanced With Oversized Tops

As you can see in the accompanying photos, the determining factor of Japanese street fashion is experimenting with and mixing the styles for the sake of fun solely. No matter how short are the skirt hemlines, Harajuku fashion can never be called lewd and meaningless. Yes, girls show a lot of leg, but it is combined with flowing silhouettes of loosely tailored clothing that is quite often waist-concealing and voluminous on top.  Even with such omnipresent hosiery to boot, the style overall doesn’t come off as provocative. Tokyo teenage fashion is always fresh and fun, akin to its trend setters and trend bearers.

120812-9914 - Japanese street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo

Colourful Outfit, Harajuku District in Japan

 

Cosplay Fun Outfits

The similar rule is also applied to another prominent counterpart to Harajuku regular style shows, called cosplay (what literally means don the costume and play). Major Motoko Kusanagi’s disguise from Ghost in the Shell animated movie is one of the examples (the film which handles nudity in the most chaste way possible). Such cosplay enthusiasts usually dress themselves as fictional or iconic characters from renown band, game, feature film, manga or any other mainstream release, creating for this purpose actual piece-of-art costumes worthy of being exhibited on high fashion catwalks. And the tendency to plentifully use hosiery in cosplay outfits prevails here too.

Ghost In The Shell Major Kusanagi Cosplay

Ghost Cosplay Costume, Harajuku District in Japan

Hosiery Market Analysis

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I got these statistics online and I thought you may want to see that actually in some countries hosiery is on the rise.

Canada

In 2011 hosiery in Canada saw healthy sales growth, with an increase of 3% in volume and 6% in current value terms to reach C$1.4 billion in total by the end of the year. This represented healthy growth compared with the value drop experienced during the recession, although in terms of volume growth remained positive through the recession and slow recovery.

United Kingdom

Hosiery sales increased in both volume and value terms compared to 2010, growing by 2% and 5% respectively in 2011. The famous British Wellington Boots led to the trend of wearing "Wellies with socks", which proved very popular in 2011 with sales soaring. Over-the-knee socks had a large part to play in A/W 2012 Fashion weeks, and were featured by many popular designers. Large woollen socks worn with short skirts and a large overcoat hit the runways.

France

In 2011, hosiery volume sales remained on a declining trend while current value sales stabilised somewhat after consecutive years of marginal decline. This could be explained to a large extent by the efforts deployed by the main players to upgrade their offer through innovative and high-tech products. For instance, the leading socks player Groupe Kindy invested €1.5 million in research and development in 2011 to expand its product portfolio and offer ground-breaking products.

India

Companies making formal wear compulsory and the increasing number of students joining professional courses and colleges encouraged ongoing growth in demand for hosiery throughout 2011.

Spain

Cotton remains the main material used in the manufacture of hosiery. However, fabric is increasingly mixed with materials such as elastane, lycra and velvet, which increase the elasticity and comfort of hosiery considerably.

The Hosiery in Spain report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data 2006-2010 and analysis by distribution format allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, leading brands, and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market. Forecasts to 2015 illustrate how the market is set to change.

China

Hosiery experienced 8% current value growth to reach HK$1,649 million in 2011. This represented a strong slowdown versus 2010 with the necessary nature of hosiery helping to support the continued positive performance of this category in 2011.

Germany

Volume sales saw a small decline of less than 1% in 2011. The positive development of values sales has been achieved through the increase of unit prices. An increase in costs due to higher cotton prices and costs for energy induced manufacturers to raise prices. This price increase has been transferred to other customers.

Russia

In 2010, hosiery sales registered 5% growth in volume terms and 16% growth in current value terms. The increase in demand is attributed to the growth in consumers’ disposable income, and hence, rising living standards. Consumers have greater requirements as their quality of life improves. Hosiery is no longer darned, and after the first hole appears is typically discarded. Modern businessmen in cities do care about what socks are visible under their trousers.