Oh the Stigma with wearing seamed fully fashioned stockings!

[LizzieMaine]

The question I always wonder about is how an item which was once common, everyday wear picks up a purely-bedroom connotation. I can think of no item less "sexy" in any possible way than a pair of seamed cotton utility hose, complete with multiple darns in the heel, but every once in a while I'll sense some guy giving me -- or more properly -- my stockings way too much notice. He's always -- without exception -- someone between forty and fifty, and if he remembers seeing such stockings worn at all in his childhood they were worn by his grandmother. I don't even want to begin to wonder about the psychology there.

 

[Lady Day]

I'm gonna try it. I don't think they're too big, but i mean, the package was pretty vague on the whole sizing thing. It says it fits from 5'1 - 5'10 so i figured that i fit in that bracket and bought them. I'm just gonna keep playing with them to figure out what works.

If your foot is wiggling around, the stretch might be giving too much. Maybe try a smaller size?

On a side note of the seams in public...
Stretch stockings have an unnaturally large, almost cartoonish, cosmetic seam down the back when compared to real vintage ones.

The top are the stretch stockings, the bottom are 100% nylon with a contrasting seam.

Ive found more people stare at those seams than the regular nylons. Also, if you are wearing a contrasting/black seam (which I strictly reserve for after 5pm) you get a lot more looks too, especially in the day time.

LD

 

[vampygirl13]

Yep, you guys are right----people sexualize just about everything.

I basically gave in to the seamed stockings at work, but I still wear my vintage clothes! Just with non-seamed stockings. I just don't feel like stepping on toes as I'm the new girl!

 

[Lusti Weather]

On a side note of the seams in public...
Stretch stockings have an unnaturally large, almost cartoonish, cosmetic seam down the back when compared to real vintage ones.

Good point. I'm a bit of a stocking nut and the only seamed stockings I'll wear are full fashioned ones. And even then, most of them don't have black seams, let alone black heels (can't afford 'em -- those tend to sell for much more money on Ebay!). Maybe that's why I don't get too many creepy comments.

 

[mentha]

I recently bought 2 pairs of non-fully fashioned seamed stocking, stretchy and everything. Well, won't do that anymore... Wore them for 1 day. Withing 3 hours I had ripped the first, pulled out a new one from the second pack, which came ripped out of the pack, so I grabbed the last one and in the evening I felt a tug and a snap and found out the back garter had torn a huge hole in the back. Not to mention the rip from top to bottom in the other stocking...

 

[phyllis1753]

The question I always wonder about is how an item which was once common, everyday wear picks up a purely-bedroom connotation. I can think of no item less "sexy" in any possible way than a pair of seamed cotton utility hose, complete with multiple darns in the heel, but every once in a while I'll sense some guy giving me -- or more properly -- my stockings way too much notice. He's always -- without exception -- someone between forty and fifty, and if he remembers seeing such stockings worn at all in his childhood they were worn by his grandmother. I don't even want to begin to wonder about the psychology there.

Did someone say "psychology"? Oooh. Sounds like my cue. (That's my field of training) Actually, Lizzie and Vampy, I've thought about the very same issue and without going on and on, I've come to the general conclusion that seamed hose was always erotic in nature. It is just that "back-in-the-day" decent people simply didn't discuss erotic feelings. Vampy is quite right, men can eroticize just about anything but most learn to manage their feelings in an acceptable way. ( Not to mention those who leer at us.) Be honest, when a man follows those lines on the back of our legs up to their invariable meeting point, well...you know what's on his mind.

This is regardless of our motives for wearing them. I wear them because I grew up seeing my mother wear them (into 1967, I was 14 when she gave up the style and took to pantyhose). I suppose I was imprinted by watching her wear them every day. I would wear them on occasion but what teenaged girl wants to be so "old fashioned" socially? I've been wearing them again now for nearly ten years and for me it feels very normal to wear a girdle and stockings. I feel like I'm finally able to make my choices about style and enjoy it. Of course, I'm now in my mid-50s and dress more "matronly" so I'm not particularly motivated to entice a man (unless he misbehaves ) but I can generally understand why he's reacting. That understanding does help take the sting out of someone else's leer. There's not much you can do about getting one except to be cool about it.

 

[User2451]

Hi! I am new here and found this thread doing a Google search. It is an old thread, but exactly what I was looking for!

I am a middle-aged woman, only 5’1”. I have a rather stubby build and I think my legs are by far my best asset. I love fully-fashioned stockings with the seam and the heel (Cuban heel I believe). I wear a pair of black stockings everyday. I also wear black, 5 inch stiletto pumps everyday. In fact, my tendons are so tight I can’t wear flats, but that’s a whole other story. My pumps are the standard black pumps with no embellishments.

I feel as if the stockings and high heels help to accentuate my legs and I feel feminine and sexy in them. My skirts and dresses are always at or below my knees and the rest of my outfit is very subdued and conservative. I wear very little makeup.

I must admit that my stockings and/or shoes always get attention, which I am fine with. I get many compliments and questions, with an occasional stink-eye or “iffy” comment. But I must admit that a certain number of men are obsessed with my legs, stockings and heels and I feel them undressing me as they stare. It can be quite unnerving.

Let me just say that twice over 12 years I have been “taken advantage of” by strangers. Neither one was caught, but each guy made a comment about my stockings and/or heels. Definitely 2 different guys. I am now very careful where I park and if in doubt, I’ll have a store employee walk me to my car.

This has reared its head over the last month. I work as a hostess in a very fine dining establishment. I am seen by everyone as they enter as I walk every party to their seat. About a month ago the restaurant began receiving phone calls from a man who is very explicit with what he wants to do with the hostess’s legs and feet. Always from a burner phone and no leads to as his identity. My boss now has a busboy meet me at the front door when I arrive to park my car and then retrieve my car when I leave. It is embarrassing!

My boss, who I’ve known for years, has suggested I may want to forgo the seamed stockings and lower my heels for a while. I know he cares about me and is worried. I really don’t want to do that as it’s my signature style.

It’s nearly 15 years since the last post. Are other women still getting harassed about their seamed stockings? I keep asking myself if my seamed stockings and/or stiletto heels could be the cause for my first 2 incidents and now this other creep? Have they become that sexualized and that fetishized?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sorry to hear about your experience with being creeped. It does seem like the further we get from the days when such things were worn as everyday wear by the world at large, the more this kind of sick ick goes on. I gave up on seams, except for special occasions, when I found a very disturbing note stuck to my door by some rando who tracked down my home address. After reporting the incident, I did two things -- I ditched the seams for every day wear, and, since I live alone, I bought a gun. Not to sound dramatic, but my neighborhood has had its share of incidents, and I don't want to be the next one.

They never caught the guy responsible but I have my suspicions as to who it might be. I too work in a public-facing job, and if I see this guy show up, he'll get bounced quick.

I do want to emphasize, though, that you are not "to blame" for any of this. You are not responsible for some man's sick fetish, and you are not responsible for that man's criminal acts. Stalking and harassment of this type aren't just "creepy," they're criminal, and should be dealt with as such.

 

[User2451]

Thank you for the support. I don’t blame myself, however I realize now that my seamed-stockings and 5 inch stilettos are just too sexy to be worn as everyday wear. I am going to reserve my 5 inch heels and seamed-stockings for when I’m out with my husband. I will wear regular tan or nude stockings and go down to my 4 inch stilettos. I don’t own any shoes lower than 4 inches and for daily wear, they will take time to get used to! I will definitely miss my seams and 5 inch heels daily, they were me!

 

[judy3]

Nice girls like to wear them too!
Last week I was at a grocery store in the middle of the afternoon doing my twice a month stock-up shopping. I wore a nice vintage-inspired dress and a pair of seamed fully fashioned stockings. I even had matching shoes and a purse to compliment my outfit. Apparently, when I bent over in the cooler to pick up some milk a man (not a gentleman) was behind me waiting with his cart. He had a strange cheshire cat grin on his face. I knew he had gotten a peek of my stockings. OK, that's not so bad, but everytime I turned around it seemed this guy was there with that same weird grin on his face. I got so flustered that I kept forgetting items on my list and I had to zigzag all around the store to find them. Fortunately, it was getting busy and "Mr. Grins" checked out ahead of me. While I was bagging up my groceries I wondered if this creepy guy would be waiting out in the parking lot. But he was gone, or at least I didn't see him when I left.

The whole incident left me a little bit unsettled. I'm not flamboyant and lean more towards being conservative, but I'm not a prude either. I do enjoy being my own person and wearing what I like. When I got home I told my husband about it and he said that the guy probably was enjoying "the view" and may of been reminiscing the good old days when women wore dresses and stockings all the time. I told him he wasn't that old--older than me, but not from the Golden Era. I've decided to forego wearing my seamed FF stockings in public unchaperoned and definitely not at night. Apparently, some women who have specific "extracurricular activities" in the evening wear seamed FF stockings too. And I definitely don't want to get confused with those women. My husband thought it was funny and suggested to save seamed FF for special occasions and just wear my unseamed FF stockings for everyday wear--I'd blend in better with the pantyhose crowd.

I still love my seamed FF stockings and I've been shortening my skirts and dresses to about 2" below the knee--they look so much better on my petite 5' 4" frame (thanks ladies for that great thread about skirt length!). Now there will be more "seams" exposed on my legs if I wear my seamed stockings. I figure I would be like the K-Mart flashing blue light and attract the wrong kind of people. On a side note, I did have a lady compliement me on my dress and she just raved over my seamed stockings. Right now though, I'm not comfortable with the male attention that my seamed stockings give--unless it's my husband!
I just wish seamed stockings were back in vogue! If they are, they haven't reached the Midwest yet!

 

[judy3]

I'm from UK and as a stocking wearer I thought I may give my view on the subject.

When I read about the experience of your first contributor I was shocked, it must have been an ordeal for her.

I go to a 50s rock n roll club were every girl wears stocking and crinoline petticoats. Of course when dancing and spinning you can't help but show stocking tops. But the girls and women dresses are out of this world. When at the club we ladies got together and ask the men why they find stockings so attractive, the odd one said it was the mystery of what is above the stocking top others said the girls legs look more attractive,I have to agree with the later

But in this busy world not many girls have time to wear stockings. But I make time to wear them As you have said it makes one feel so, feminine and the feel of them over my legs make me feel very glamours,Of course, they are very expensive and that I only wear them at week-end and special occasions, I usually wear tan or black 15 denier stockings with seam. I hate the stockings that have lace at the top of the stockings or elastic tops which seem to stop my circulation


There are plastic suspender belts that are cheap and slide down your tummy, but I wear a retro belt one that only has 4 straps,for dancing so to keep up with the retro style of the 50s so do the rest of the girls. But I wear 6 straps for work. The girls at work ask why, were,how, but there is a girl I have converted to stockings and she told me it's the best thing she did.


The best site for nylons and undergarments is a UK site Stocking HQ that's were I got mine

Judy

 

[St. Louis]

I'm coming in a bit late to this discussion, but I can say that wearing cotton and heavy rayon stockings doesn't "read" quite the same way as seamed nylon or silk stockings. The ones I wear are fully fashioned -- i.e., knitted into shape, rather than stitched up the center back. They really finish a 30s and 40s style in a nice way, yet they don't seem to garner the same kind of negative attention.