Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Shorts & Tights - Yes!

I posted a comment on a blog I ran across called, "Tights, Stockings & Hosiery". The comment was in response to a post entitled, "Shorts and Tights - Really?" (Mar. 19, 2009). The post was concerning whether it's OK for women to wear sheer hose or tights with shorts. Of course, for women the alternative to shorts is a skirt or dress. Obviously, that's not in the cards for the guys who are wearing hose or tights. So basically, the choice is: "long pants or short?"

Wearing legwear with shorts is inseparably tied to how confident the guy is in himself. At this point in the evolution of this new trend, the majority of guys are only opting for long pants, and therefore the question of what kind of clothes to wear with shorts and hosiery applies only to a small percentage of men at this point in time. However, this is quickly changing as more and more guys are getting over any lingering hangups about wearing them openly. These guys are not about to rely on others to validate their masculinity, and are boldly going about their business with not a care over whether others might think 'men don't wear hose'.

Anyways, here's what I posted as a comment on the Tights, Stockings & Hosiery blog:

I know you're writing primarily about women wearing hose or tights with shorts. But, what about men? For any of us with an interest in legwear, it would be hard to have missed some of the spate of
publicity from the past year or so, of men trying out hose and tights. Men have been re-acquiring what you ladies have so elegantly co-opted in our absence over the past hundred years or so. Of course, we don't begrudge you that, either.

But now we're ready to re-establish legwear as a unisex fashion. Men have been wearing them under long pants for some time now, for various reasons including leg support and added warmth. But it's tended to be kept pretty well under wraps until most recently, when we've begun to see the occasional guy wearing hosiery with shorts. Men are realizing that this can be done while still maintaining a masculine look to them. And also, prior unwarranted negative connotations of why men would wear them have been fading away rapidly.

Do you think that slightly different rules apply as to what would be considered suitable clothing to go with sheer hose or opaque tights on a man? For instance, pairing sheer hose with sneakers and low-rise socks would not be considered the best look for a woman. Yet I've seen a number of guys wearing this sort of outfit (as I have myself), and had it look pretty good (IMHO). It would be interesting to see what sort of consensus might develop on what kinds of clothes are seen as 'good' or 'bad' form to wear with sheer hose or tights--for men, and for women. Maybe I'll take that issue up on my blog, "The Nylon Gene"...


So readers (and I know you are few right now, with this blog being brand new) why don't you weigh in and share your thoughts on what kind of outfit looks best for a guy wearing either sheer or opaque tights?

10 comments:

  1. I think it is OK for a man to wear sheer pantyhose and shorts but I never do shorts myself (except in the garden). I wear my sheer suntan pantyhose - have done for over 30 years - under dress pants/suit or casual.

    Johs

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  2. Glad to hear it.

    I take it you don't wear them with shorts because you just don't like wearing shorts? I think we've come to the point where guys wearing hose with shorts is pretty much of a non-issue, so don't let concern over what people might say dissuade you.

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  3. When I first informed that I should wear hose for my leg problems by my Dr. My wife was present and there wasn't an issue about it.
    When I started to wear, I only wore under long pants, graduated to wearingskin colored hose with shorts while biking and noticed that NO ONE NOTICED, and with my late wife's encouragement I went to full blown SHORTS AND HOSE in the summer and with tights in cooler weather. I haven't looked back sense.
    I wear hose and shorts with sneakers and ankle socks to work all the time, weekends I usually go with hose and shorts with sandals and no socks.
    I also like to have contrastling shorts and hose, I feel we have to be seen in order to propel our cause into the main stream. I've posted on LAUF quite a few times about my encounters with folks who are not wearing and they have been positive
    This is a great blog Steve. keep up the good work.

    Dave

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  4. I am far from a fashion expert, and honestly I need all the help I can get when it comes to selecting matching outfits. I am lucky to be a guy in that sense and I can stick with a few earth tones, and be good with it. I am doubly lucky in having a s/o who has helped guide my clothing options. I like greens, browns, khaki, black, basically all your typical guy colors. Now as for adding hoisery to the mix. For me the browns and greens go well with tan sheer hose. If you like opagues stick with like colors, but make sure to mix in one other color to break up the monotony. So for example if you have a brown shirt, you can do brown tights, but put on maybe grey checkered shorts. So many combos can be made, but typically you don't want to wear all the same color, or you'll end up looking like a wierd smurf. I feel that skin toned sheers can go with anything since its barely noticeable. If for work you wear dockers like I do, the sheers go great, they give a sockless look, if anyone even notices. I know I never spend any time checking out people's ankles. Black sheers go excellent with suits, and if you don't mind a control top (if you have a belly like I do) it helps to make the suit look nice and smooth. I typically wear white cotton socks on top of my hose, mainly because it helps from creating runs, I go with no show socks, but you can wear ankle socks and helps keep a more "average" look, than having a sockless look.

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  5. I keep seeing comments about, should a man wear stockings (or pantyhose, etc.). They all comment on if the guy is a cross dresser, gay, or how they look, and so on. There is also another very good reason for certain straight men to wear pantyhose or stockings or thigh highs (stay ups) which has NOTHING to do with looks or sex, etc. That reason is why I have worn thigh highs or pantyhose for years all day and night except for showering. Being a dibetic (which most non diabetics no nothing about) there is a condition that will in time effect all dibetics. It's call "dibetic neuropothy" which effects the nerve endings in the extremities. If left to go on it's own it will get worse, and that's when you hear about diabetics loosing fingers, toes, or limbs. There is one way to slow or stop this, other than just watching your diet. It's nerve stimulation. There are 2 ways of achiving this stimulation. 1). Electrical nerve stimulation several times a week, or, 2). the wearing of pantyhose, etc. This works because as you move the nylon moves over the skin stimulating the nerve ends which helps encourage regrowth of nerve endings. Maybe you've hear of "Sheer Energy Stockings"? They are called that because as they move over the skin they stimulate the nerve endings giving you a feeling of energizing. I have been a diabetic for 33+ years and suffer very liitle effects from this condition. Even my doctor is amazed at how well my legs and feet are for being a diabetic. The moral of the story? Electric shocks, or wearing nylons? LONG LIVE NYLON STOCKINGS OF ALL KINDS !!!!!!! The benefits are countless. Men and women who work in artic conditions wear 2 or more pairs at once because they retain the heat and ward off frost bite, and the list goes on and on. The comments of how they look on men or women, or gayness, etc. fall very short in comparison to the benefits. Open your minds people and blow of the dust. These comments sound like they are being posted by anal retentives from the Victorian age. It isn't only about men or women, or how it looks, or who should be wearing them. Women have been wearing mens clothes for years. Do they get their asses busted for it ?

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  6. Hey, thanks for elaborating on a benefit that I've already put a good deal of emphasis on, that is, the leg support benefit in general.

    As I've posted elsewhere on the blog, I first began wearing them for leg support to help ease the symptoms of venous insufficiency (varicose veins, etc.) But, I was not aware of this specific aspect of the benefits for diabetics. Since I'm working on getting the word to physicians so they can have something to recommend to male patients who could benefit, I would be interested in obtaining more information.

    Would you mind e-mailing me with any data or studies that support this--even informally or anecdotally. That kind of information is what I'm trying to assemble for when we reach out to the medical community to describe the benefits of nylon legwear for leg health. You can find my e-mail address in my detailed profile. Thanks.

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  7. Hi. My name is Matt, I come from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I wear opaque tights and sheer pantyhose every days. Under shorts or shortalls I like to mix colors and make some experimentation. I try welovecolors.com and I tryed comfilon / activeskin, but it's lot expensive. Finally my favorite tights is Mondor (from mondor.ca) and Dim (from dim.fr).

    Bye

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  8. yes it very coolest to wear tights and shorts that prefect to wear, im male wear tights and denim shorts that seem great to wear also help my legs from weak muscle. i usual wear wolford de luxe 66 black tights cos it feel so velvet touch on my legs after shave legs.... love it. men should wear more often as it not people business as it yer business to wear :-)

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  9. Your blog is the only one out in cyberspace that has pics of ordinary men wearing tights with ordinary clothes. Stylishly, I might add. Its frustrating that others post pics of men wearing crazy combos or gaudy fashion tights that not even women wear, and then conclude that tights look awful on men.

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  10. I like the fit of these shorts. They are good to wear while working out. The mesh is breathable so it keeps you cool. I like the fact that the color you see in the ad is the actual color of the shorts.



    Cheap Mens Shorts

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