No More
Hosiery
Is Pantyhose Losing Its Legs?
By Daniel Muniz
You
used to see them on every working woman's legs and draped over
every family bathtub, but with fashion changing and office dress
becoming more casual, the question is: “Do pantyhose still have
legs?”
Source: Michael Y. Park - Fox News
Are pantyhose really going the way of the dinosaur?
According to one trade organization, The Hosiery Association which
tracks trends in the industry acknowledges that sales have
dramatically fallen for quite a number of years. Hanesbrands, the
leader in the industry says that while women in the mid nineties
wore pantyhose 3.5 times a week, it has fallen to 1.8 times a week.
And that low number is just for the females who continue to wear
sheer hosiery.
Of course times have changed and so has fashion.
In the late seventies and in the early eighties when a huge number
of women entered the workforce especially in office jobs, pantyhose
reached its apex. And up to that time, it was very much a
requirement for working women everywhere to wear sheer hosiery,
particularly in more professional settings but also for many types
of jobs. In fact, women could be sent home from the job or school
for not wearing pantyhose.
A modern generation of young adult women would laugh at such an
idiosyncrasy.
Of course men are baffled by such anachronistic rules. I remember
one such incident in the very late nineties. I was employed in the
operations center of a large commercial bank and there was one area
that consisted of plenty of women in their very late teens or early
twenties. One of the young employees stepped out of the building and
then returned about an hour later visibly upset about something.
She told us that one of the managers in her department had sent her
home because she was not wearing pantyhose even though she had jeans
on (her foot was bare because of the style of shoe that was popular
at the time). Many of the youthful co-workers were howling in
laughter.
In fact, the popular culture of the eighties was quickly changing,
especially among the youth of that time frame.
And dress codes in the workplace were changing too.
Throughout the country, the attire for professional work slowly
gravitated towards business casual. The biggest change in dress
codes first occurred in the Sunbelt where the focus was more towards
comfort because of the miserable summer heat. Although neckties and
pantyhose began disappearing throughout the country, the greatest
impact was felt in the South and the Southwest because of the much
warmer climate. Even a few municipalities tried to pass ordinances
to restrict neckties and hosiery for summer months.
Many industry experts point to two big factors in the decline of
sheer hosiery: image and comfort.
A previous generation of society not only found pantyhose
sophisticated but also very sexy. Although the fabric was a
requirement for our culture at the time, an emphasis was made to
make sheer hosiery appear sultry and seductive. And that focus made
pantyhose all the more popular.
But the sexy image of pantyhose soon became replaced with the sexy
image of natural bare legs.
And in a popular culture where baring more skin has become
commonplace, bare legs simply has a natural appeal.
As for comfort, that too is another issue that men are baffled about
because many women feel that pantyhose is about as cumbersome as
wearing a bra. And when hosiery no longer became a standard
requirement in popular culture, many women, especially among the
youth, decided to stop wearing them.
So, are the days of pantyhose numbered?
The industry doesn’t seem to think so.
In fact, many manufacturers fully understand that fashion comes and
goes in cycles so resurgences are not only possible but expected.
However, since the requirement to wear pantyhose is now a historical
footnote, sheer hosiery will never reach the usage that it once had
decades ago.
More than likely, pantyhose will probably suffer the same fate as
stockings whereas they are enjoyed by a niche of women or are used
for special occasions.
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