Saturday, April 30, 2016

Z is for Zany




Z is for Zany or Crazy

So when I did T for Toes, I talked about pedicures and how many people got one. This was brought about by the news that Kate (of British William and Kate) had had her shoes off in public and revealed that she had bare toes. Oh, the horrors according to much of the press.

Well, a couple of days after that, more news surfaced about the new fad in pedicures--individual, painted toes on stockings. Since it's on the stocking and not your toes, you can change it out every day. Apparently, it's all the rage in Japan and is spreading to the rest of the world. As fashion fads go, it's pretty cheap selling for $15.  (Now whether it's worth that is another question.)

チップ&デール
From Belle Maison 

As long as we're on the subject of stockings, there is another questions that my inquiring mind wants to know. When did panty hose become a bad word and have to be referred to as stockings or tights? Only having boys, I missed the transition somewhere along the way. When I learned those words, stockings were individual hose that were held up with a garter belt. Panty hose were stockings where the legs were connected to a panty that eliminated the need for the garter belt. Tights were opaque "panty hose" that little kids wore to keep their legs warm under dresses. Now I am looked at strangely if I say panty hose. What words do you use for this kind of leg apparel?

So many questions, so little time. I haven't even delved into the bare legs trend yet. As for the pedicure stockings, do I think I will get some? If you look at the title of this post, I think you can guess the answer to that.



21 comments:

  1. I still call them pantyhose and Darling Girl says "Really, Mom?" in a way that lets me know I'm a dinosaur, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure that Darling Daughter knows the latest. I certainly don't. I should use her as a consultant sometimes when I am puzzled by things.

      Delete
  2. They're pantyhose! Tights and stockings are what you said they were. People just don't know what they're talking about! What about thigh-highs? Are they still a thing? I tried some when I was in college and found myself downtown Dijon in the middle of winter with one thigh-high around my ankle. Pretty embarrassing and I never bought them again after that!

    My oldest son's girlfriend is nuts about anything Disney so I started wondering if those Chip & Dale pantyhose might be a good Christmas gift for her, only because she probably owns everything Disney already. You have to be nuts to want to wear pantyhose in Central Florida, though, and mine develop runs in them almost immediately so I would think it would be a huge waste of money. Ha! I just realized that I used "is nuts" when talking about pantyhose with acorns painted on them :)

    The years when I was a tour guide at Disney World and had to wear pantyhose and heels while walking through the parks in the middle of the summer for hours at a time make me wince when I think of them. Nowadays I use pantyhose to keep old sheets tied around my tomato plants on the one or two nights a year when temps dip under 32F.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to live in New Orleans and know exactly what your talking about with hot weather and panty hose. I had to wear them to work everyday and in the afternoon when I was walking to the bus, it felt like I had plastic bags wrapped around my legs. I can't imagine wearing them all day at Disney World. At least I got to spend part of my day indoors.

      Delete
  3. Well of course they are panty hose! I saw the news clip featuring those hose ( not tights or stockings). I figure I would never get the on correctly so that would be a deal killer for me. Since mine are already polished anyway, it would seem redundant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's kind of funny to think about your redundant toes. I wonder how well they would stay in place?

      Delete
    2. On me they wouldn't. The first time I had to go to the "facility" they would some how of another get twisted and I would have a toenail on my ankle.

      Delete
    3. Yep, the up and down at the facility could be a problem.

      Delete
  4. It's a generational thing, I think. I grew up calling them panty hose--I wonder if the word "panty" is why the term has gone out of vogue? In my area, women under 50 don't typically wear them--I rarely do (unless it's chilly and I want to wear a dress with heels, which happens rarely). I use the Sally Hansen spray for legs instead--it's kind of a pain, but my legs are lily white so it gives them a bit of color and hides some of the spider veins. It's cooler to go bare-legged in the summer rather than wearing panty hose.

    To me, tights are tights. They are colored, possibly patterned, and opaque. I wear them in the winter with skirts or dresses and boots. Warmer and more comfortable than panty hose with heels. Leggings are also worn under dresses and skirts--again, warmer and more comfortable.

    The other thing that I wonder if women wear much anymore are slips. If I can get away with it, I don't bother, although some dresses and skirts need a layer to avoid looking too sheer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't worn a slip in years although some dresses do have linings that would take the place of that. I saw an old TV show the other day where a character was wearing a slip and I wondered if you can even buy them any more. Now that I think about it, I have a slip in my drawer--just in case I have a sheer skirt some day.

      Oh, the good old days of slips and hose.

      Delete
    2. I bought a tunic length top on line. I knew it was cotton but I had no idea how sheer it was, so I started looking for a cotton slip to cut to the length of it for a bit of under coverage. No dice! I could find tricot slips (to hot for summertime here) everywhere so now I am going to have to make an extra long cotton cami. bums me out

      Delete
    3. As I remember it, tricot fabric of choice back in the olden days. Cotton would definitely be preferable.

      Delete
  5. Oh my, I must be severely behind on that too. I still call them panty hose. Tights, leg warmers (for us adults to wear under regular pants or a skirt when its freezing, that's what I call those.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And congratulations on finished A to Z!

      Delete
    2. Sometimes I think the names of things change just so they can be different. It's the youth trying to separate themselves from "old" people. When they get a little older, I bet they'll call them panty hose again.

      Thanks for the A-Z congrats. I consider it an accomplishment.

      Delete
  6. I'm in camp panty hose too... oh my. Of course, I don't wear the things. I don't really wear skirts if I can avoid it, I've just never felt comfortable in them. It helps that I have the ultimate in casual lifestyles. I generally wear yoga pants in the winter and shorts in the summer. If I have to "go out" (meaning go to the grocery store or something) I'll "dress up" and put on a pair of jeans. Of course, I rip those suckers off the instant I get home. Life's too short for waist bands that don't stretch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a casual lifestyle if jeans are your dress-up clothes. That's one of the great benefits of working at home. Stretchy waistbands are great, even better are bands that don't touch you--the kind I used to have in my skinny days.

      Delete
  7. I think we tend to call them tights here in Britain - well I do anyway! Personally, I'm usually in trousers (I suppose I should say "pants" if I'm writing to someone from the USA!). Well done on the A to Z Challenge. I will back to visit.
    That's Purrfect
    Around My Kitchen Table

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tend to be in trousers/pants most of the time with running shoes on, so these issues of name and style don't affect my every day life much. Thanks for visiting. Always nice to talk to people from across the pond.

      Delete
    2. Poor Kate can't do anything right lately - if she'd been pedicured, the media would have slated her for spending money on it! To me stockings and tights are the terms for them, pantyhose is an American term (obviously you might be in the USA, in which case I would say pantyhose is still the norm)
      Debbie

      Delete
    3. Yes, I am in the USA, but panty hose seems to be an old fashioned term here--not used much by the younger set. Kate's press over here is pretty good. We love British Royals.

      Delete

What do you think?