I conducted a bit of a survey yesterday… counting the number of women wearing sheer hosiery both on my lunch hour wandering around Amsterdam, and on my way home. And the numbers (without going out of my way to push them up) were quite encouraging: 23 at lunchtime and 24 in the evening. That didn’t include anyone wearing any form of opaques, and I can pretty much guarantee there were at least a dozen more wearing nude shades that I didn’t count because I couldn’t be sure without getting closer.
It would be safe to assume, therefore, that I probably saw at least 50 potentially stocking-clad women (and one who definitely was as I looked at myself in a shop window, but that doesn’t count!). Now, if we assume that stockings/hold-ups only have a 10% share of the sheer market, that means that, on average, five of those 50 would have been wearing them.
Today I will count again, together with the number on my way to work. I imagine that if I really try I could spot 80-90 candidates on a daily basis. And that would mean an average of 8-9 sightings every day – which is kind of encouraging if you ask me. I like to start the morning in an optimistic mood 🙂
– I’m not so sure of your reasoning re: ‘ten percent of all hosiery sold is stockings or hold-ups, therefore if I see 50 women in hosiery, five are wearing stockings’ Remember hold-ups or stockings are often bought JUST for bedroom use or ‘elegant evening’ wear… and how many of those hosiery sightings were knee-highs (shudder)!?
– It is hard to make a guesstimate of how many stockings you could see in a day if you were really looking. On the one hand, to simply assume 10% of all those wearing hose have on the ‘full kit’ would be unduly optimistic. On the other hand I don’t feel you can simply count the number of times you see a stocking-top or garter-bump… surely (and unfortunately for me, with my fetish!) most women who wear stockings DON’T have any trouble with them! Even a woman having trouble with her suspenders will only reveal the fact while she is actually doing up her suspender, or if the stocking is trailing down if both garters pop… so LOTS of hose-wearers might be wearing what one of our contributors calls ‘the full kit’ and we would never know!
Another tip… one place with a good chance of seeing stockings is in a major upmarket department store. Not only do the shop assistants at cosmetics counters often wear them, but their job involves a lot of bending and stretching which makes a ‘sighting’ more likely. They are also faced with the problem that unlike in an office, they can’t hide behind a desk or in their office when they need to hoist up their suspenders, so more ‘hasty public adjustment’ takes place.
– In this day and age, as far as I’m concerned, any sheer hosiery is reason to celebrate. As much as I enjoy this site and support stocking-wearing as the ultimate in classy and seductive legware, I’m realistic. For many years now, very few women have worn traditional stockings in daily wear. To me, I’m quite happy if I see women in any type of sheer hosiery, including pantyhose. In terms of today’s fashion culture I think that may often be the best that we can get.
I suppose the percentage of women in sheer hosiery who are wearing gartered stockings is somewhat reflected in the percentage af gartered stockings for sale in the hosiery department of good stores. In the US, at any rate, sadly, that percentage is very small, much less than 10% of the total display. 1-2% would be more like it.
