Why Is It??

So, MickyT, what do you think about the responses so far?

Yes. Thick tights in winter when only coal fires.
And thick tights for the children (boys too).
Long johns for older boys and my husband.

Monica I do well remember wearing tights under trousers when it was cold, or just because the feet looked better in sandals especially in the 70s era of the Oxford Bags/flairs ‘n’ platform shoe phase.
And will no one consider the humble pop sock in all this!
🧦
But…in defence of this sartorial folly I was outdoors more often then and most places seemed to be much colder too.
Perhaps I was “nesh” but my internal thermostat has changed along with global warming.

Stockings and tights make my legs itch, so it's trousers or long skirts for me .

Does no one feel the cold? I wear tights almost continuously, no, not at the moment, simply because my legs get so cold. In winter I will sometimes wear thick tights and long johns under my trousers

I liked tights to be honest (but was very picky and very precious with them). I only liked Wolford and Falke so they had to be Christmas presents and so on.
I found suspenders a nuisance but the best hold ups were good.

I would maybe wear these or tights for (say) a winter wedding - but honestly am more likely to wear leggings under a dress these days if doing something formal in the winter months.

Why be uncomfortable MickyT?

It was wonderful when tights arrived and we could stop the continual battle with mini skirts and stocking tops. Nowadays my legs and feet swell so much that I wear trousers or maxi skirts. I doubt if I could even fight my way into a pair of tights now.

I'm glad tights had arrived when I had to start wearing them - I used to get so tangled up trying to put them on, & then they never stayed up & the gusset would show beneath the hem of my school skirt, & even with "run-resist" mine were always laddered - I dread to think how I would've fared with suspenders. Probably wouldve been the only girl in the 5th form still wearing ankle socks!

lafergar

joannapiano

I was at a bus stop getting a bus to see my boyfriend ( now DH) in the late 60’s. Suddenly I felt my suspender belt break and my stockings went baggy. It was about a mile home, so I went into the nearest phone box, took my knickers off and then took off the broken underwear and stockings.Put pants back on and ran for bus. And it was daylight.

Oh sympathies, nobody likes a saggy baggy knickerless oldie.

Can you break underwear?

I don’t think joannapiano was an “oldie” at the time of the aforementioned “broken-underwear-in-the-phone box” incident lafergar 😂 as she meant it was the late 1960s.

…although I’d have thought you’d just unclip the suspenders from the stocking tops and your good to go. No actual need to remove the knicker but hey-ho 🤔

joannapiano

I was at a bus stop getting a bus to see my boyfriend ( now DH) in the late 60’s. Suddenly I felt my suspender belt break and my stockings went baggy. It was about a mile home, so I went into the nearest phone box, took my knickers off and then took off the broken underwear and stockings.Put pants back on and ran for bus. And it was daylight.

Oh sympathies, nobody likes a saggy baggy knickerless oldie.

Can you break underwear?

AuntieE gets a star lol

I remember getting my first pair of stocking ( tights not invented) my mother forgot to
buy me a suspender belt. I ended up wearing my 'nylons' with garters. The stockings became very baggy at the knee after I sat through the Chapel service.

It has to be a very special occasion for me to ditch my trousers for a dress and reveal my legs. As I've got very fair skin I never tan enough to make my legs look OK, and fine tights are so easy to damage,

Thick tights last winter under trousers because my church is really cold!

I would personally much prefer to wear stockings and suspenders than tights, but you cannot get them here any longer.

Tights are not my shape and never have been since their invention in the days of the mini-skirt when we were all teenagers!

Kandinsky

They’re very old fashioned, uncomfortable ( I’ve worn them ) or associated with male sexual fantasy.
I used to wear ‘hold ups’ which are basically stockings but without the need for a belt.

Yes. Women don't wear them now that they have so many alternatives, for the same reasons that men no longer wear starched collars that held their heads at an uncomfortable angle and chafed their necks - but some men still expect their womenfolk to wear oldfashioned uncomfortable underwear to indulge their fantasies.

Dickens a lot of men used to wear braces too, I wonder why they’re so rare now? Maybe changes in trouser waist bands.

American tan stockings/tights - ugh🫣….. they made legs look horribly unnatural (and occasionally still do). These days people prefer a natural look to their legs, and fashion has evolved accordingly, thank goodness.

One reason could be that sheer tights or stockings require smooth hands and well manicured nails to put on or else they get snagged…
..another reason could be hairy legs under sheer tights/stockings look particularly horrible…so wearing these types of hosiery requires a high level of personal maintenance and this is something that many women nowdays are unwilling to commit to (me being one) ..that is before the extra expense is taken into consideration.
There are such things as “hold-ups” (they have elastic tops) that are a viable compromise between having ones “nether regions” encased in a nylon tube for hours on end and itchy lumpy suspender belts.
Mystery solved MickyT ?

In my opinion, women simply gave up wearing stockings and suspenders in general because ultimately there was a more comfortable, and practical, alternative.

Trousers are also frequently more comfortable, and practical, than a skirt - particularly if you are involved in an activity which involves more than just sitting around.

I don't know why you think you will get "shot down" for posing the question though, unless there is a sub-text to it... I think tights gained popularity in the mid / late 50s in the UK which is a heck of a long time ago and most people, even old-schoolers, have long since lost their curiosity (or disappointment) at the change!

My male music teacher, back in the 50s, used to wear knee-suspenders to keep his socks from falling down. When he hoisted his trousers to sit at the piano, they were on full view. Then artificial fabrics enabled socks with elasticity and 'grip'. I suspect most men who wore these suspenders happily ditched them, too.

I was at a bus stop getting a bus to see my boyfriend ( now DH) in the late 60’s. Suddenly I felt my suspender belt break and my stockings went baggy. It was about a mile home, so I went into the nearest phone box, took my knickers off and then took off the broken underwear and stockings.Put pants back on and ran for bus. And it was daylight.

They’re very old fashioned, uncomfortable ( I’ve worn them ) or associated with male sexual fantasy.
I used to wear ‘hold ups’ which are basically stockings but without the need for a belt.

If I had a woman of my own Elegran she'd be wearing them hopefully lol

Don't you have a woman of your own you can ask, Micky ? You'd get a more personal answer from her.

LOL!! Are there any women at all, that even like and wear them?? seems tights aren't popular either