<p>@abasket…I am like you. I turn 55 in November and the only part of my legs I don’t like anymore are a little bit of wrinkle in the knee. They are in good shape, no veins and toned and since I’m part hispanic, they have some color in the winter. As a matter of fact, today I am wearing a black/grey camoflauge skirt from the LOFT that goes right above my knees (saw in Instyle last month and ran out to buy it). I have on a pair of gladiator type black sandals and a white shirt. I think my legs look fine without hose. But it’s the dead of winter I’m talking about. I’m tired of wearing tights with things. I have colored shoes that just don’t always look good with them and I’m not going with my legs bare in winter as that looks silly. I really want the color of my skin to show with some outfits in winter! So…do you always just wear tights with your skirts/dresses in the winter. For instance, I have a pair of mustard/gold animal print heels. Yes, I wear them with jeans and pants…even asked a question if I could wear them with brown tights in another thread. But I really think they would look better with flesh toned legs. I really want nude hose not to be looking “old lady” anymore…as I fight that. I follow the trends and fashions…skew them to my age, though.</p>
<p>I see what you are saying @conmama. If I could find the pair of skin toned “hose” that felt good and looked good and - here’s the biggie - did not cost $25/pair (just can’t do this unless they come with a “no run, feel great” guarantee) I’d be up for trying. </p>
<p>My other strategy? Cross of the days on the calendar from November 1st to April 1 and the time when I can reveal my bare legs again!!! :)</p>
<p>@abasket…I won’t buy $25 hose either. I’ll tell you what… I’m going to buy some from the department stores and target, try them out over soon and let everyone know what I think!</p>
<p>In the winter I were tights, not hose, with dresses. Always in black. And I wear boots with them, not pumps or flats. I wear boots with pants in the winter too and wear socks on my feet. </p>
<p>If I am going somewhere dressy - like evening wedding/cocktail party, etc., I go bare legged. </p>
<p>sseamom, depending on what else you pair with those skirts (and you seem to have good judgements), your looks are just fine, even for some corporate settings here in Seattle. You might be even considered at the forefront of fashion! Midi skirts have made a comeback, and the midi skirts by Theory and Vince pretty much sold out everywhere in a short period of time. I would not wear hose with a midi skirt; tights in the winter are fine. Pencil skirts that hit at about mid-knee are a different beast. IMO, a combination of such a pencil skirt with a blouse/structured blazer looks silly with bare legs, even in the summer. </p>
<p>Con, I saw somebody where tan hosiery today with a suit. Not nude color. Anyway I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. If I were you I would want people to know what fantastic legs At 55 look like, not hiding them. I had a boss who must be 70 and worked out so she was in fantastic shape and never saw her with anything, she never wore anything to cover her legs. I often comment how great her games looked.</p>
<p>Commando makes very comfortable non-binding pantyhose and tights - the top is one piece with a raw edge that stays put on the skin…they are not tight, but they stay up. A bit pricey, though…</p>
<p><a href=“Smoothing Tights with Patented Waistband | Commando®”>http://www.wearcommando.com/collections/legwear</a></p>
<p>Bunsen, I wouldn’t subject anyone to my shape in a pencil skirt! Many pounds ago would have been a different story. I wear my skirts with a variety of sweaters or funky jackets over tanks or tops that compliment them. I’m going to have to ask H what the women in his office wear as it is a professional setting, where my job is not.</p>
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I work in a hi-rise. On the long elevator ride I look downward in the crowded space, to be discreet. There are things I see that I rather wish I hadn’t. </p>
<p>Some of the feet I see in open-toed shoes would lose a beauty contest to an aardvark that’s been digging a burrow.</p>
<p>I have to ask if the wearing of hose is regional. I don’t remember the last time I saw a woman wearing something other than leggings or tights with a dress or skirt. For myself, I stopped wearing hose in the mid-80s when I decided I had better things to do with my money than wear an item of clothing that rarely lasted more than two or three days. </p>
<p>A lot of you seem pretty judgmental about what other people are wearing. Why on earth do you care? How does it affect your life?</p>
<p>Ran through a college campus today and saw a young lady wearing a gorgeous dress and cute shoes with apparently bare legs; she looked like a model (otherwise I would not have paid attention to her legs). 
I was blown away how evenly tanned her legs were, but when I passed her, I took one closer look - she had nude hose on. </p>
<p>Dmd, that’s a good question. And it would be interesting to hear people’s thoughts. </p>
<p>Speaking for myself, more than judging others clothing- which I’ll admit I sometimes do - I WILL speak up to defend what I do or don’t like to wear. So more than speaking strongly against something (like hose - they just are not for ME!) someone else likes to wear, I will go to bat for my own choices and why I choose them. </p>
<p>If someone is trying to create a professional impression or a nice, pulled together look for a special event then it does matter. In some situations whatever floats your boat and feels good is fine but there are places in life where some people have to conform to a code of the right level of dressiness and “effort”. If they ask what works than it doesn’t seem judge-y to me for someone to tell them. </p>
<p>Level of formality can vary by region, town, and the kind of business or social setting. In many places here in the PNW it’s pretty casual. I think it’s easy for us to forget not all places are the same as what we’re used to, whether casual or more formal.</p>
<p>Because of this thread I discovered I have some wrinkles on one knee if I keep it straight. Now I can’t pretend I’m perfect anymore. 
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<p>I saw a picture on some gossip website of Sarah Jessica Parker wearing nude hose with a strapless dress at some event in NYC. Yet more proof that they are back. I also looked at the the pictures of the Ryder Cup wives at the tournament dinner; 75% were wearing stockings (Euro and American). So it’s okay, really.</p>
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<p>Absolutely. To be honest, I am at an age where I need the control-top/Spanx/whatever when I am wearing a formfitting dress like the faux-wrap I just bought from Nordstroms to bring on some fall/winter trips. If you are going to wear Spanx, there is no point in complaining about pantyhose. The latter are a lot more comfortable IMHO. I don’t judge women who don’t want to wear stockings, not in any way. I just didn’t like to be judged because I like to wear them. So I’m happy to have fashionista “permission” to put them back on.</p>
<p>Outside of the business world, where I admit that it can be best to stick with fashions of our peers… wouldn’t it be nice if everybody wore what was best for their own tastes and body? ie fans of hose wear them, other do not. </p>
<p>I realize that mine is the opinion of a fashion renegade… but IMO grown women who should feel free to wear them (or not) regardless of the Hollywood star choices. </p>
<p>Ok, here’s another angle (if you care to talk about it anymore… ) </p>
<p>Is it possible that some of the naysayers of hose (and I’m one as far as wearing them myself) are thinking of the $1.59 No Nonsense hose as what and why they say “no” to hose. Maybe subpar coloring, texture??? Just a thought. </p>
<p>Also fully agree with Deborah above that regions and different places of business will find the presence of hose in different lights. I work in a healthy system and people in the hospital - caregivers or not - are required to have legs covered - techinically even if you are wearing pants, you must wear knee high pantyhose. Ugh. Luckily, I’m in an academic area where we don’t have to conform to this rule! </p>
<p>I wonder if spanx owes its meteoric rise to the hiatus of pantyhose which previously provided the suck-it-in functionality</p>
<p>I’m just glad “I” can wear them again. I don’t really give a rip about anyone else. Not that I love everything about them, but I don’t prefer the look of a bare leg in a business dress or skirt and pumps. Not to mention the thigh rubbing. I bought a bunch of new dresses this year at Talbot’s and like stores and I was uncomfortable all day in my nude pumps with bare feet.<br>
I need all the help I can get, hose, spanx, makeup, whatever. So lets not judge pantyhose wearers if you own makeup, hair dryer, flat iron, spanx, etc. </p>