Who knew that some guys do wear pantyhose?
Last time, I wrote about the wasted minutes and hours that we women spend on fashion decisions such as foundation color, matching earrings and which pantyhose to wear. My inbox was filled with comments on the column, including one from a woman who enjoyed reading it but wanted to sell me her line of hosiery.
Surprisingly, several emails came from men who really do wear pantyhose – plus one man who wanted me to know that and also wanted to sell me his line of hosiery. Who knew that some guys really do wear pantyhose?
Of course, there are men who enjoy wearing all sorts of women’s clothing, including hosiery, and then there are performers, female impersonators and drag queens who dress to the nines. But apparently there are some regular Joes who just like pulling on pantyhose for a variety of reasons – though I doubt anyone truly enjoys the act of pulling on hosiery. It’s usually a chore and don’t even get me started on wrestling with Spanx.
Several emails came from men, who wrote they wear support hosiery for medical reasons such as varicose veins and one man even went to a support group for men who wear hosiery because of it.
I don’t envy anyone who has to struggle with donning surgical support hosiery and you certainly should not have any reservations about wearing it for any reason. A few more wrote that they wear hosiery for “warmth and compression.”
Tights and leggings do provide some warmth but, to me, leggings, spandex running pants and yoga pants are different than regular old pantyhose. Wearing surgical stockings or hosiery for warmth or compression beneath pants means you don’t have to worry about what color they are or whether they match your outfit. It’s all nylon and spandex and stretchy, but the point I was musing about was the fashion component and time spent on making decisions, such as sheer versus opaque or whether to match hose with your shoes or dress color.
Although women undoubtedly waste hours over our lifetimes making such style decisions, fashion is absolutely fun and the effort is worth the reward. One reader pointed out that men enjoy it when their ladies get gussied up now and then and I know I always feel that the extra time and effort are worth it when my boyfriend compliments me or when I walk out of the house feeling like I look good and love my outfit.
One guy who wrote me enjoys wearing pantyhose for fashion reasons more than many gals I know and dons them with kilts, skirts and shorts and says his wife and daughter love it. He is a true fashionista! Yet I still have to chuckle when I imagine what would happen if some of my male friends had to squeeze into a pair of control top pantyhose, tweeze their eyebrows or apply mascara.
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.