Hose, Hose, Hose

A recent posting on Corporette made me think about a dilemma many women seem to face during the Spring and Summer months in the corporate world... what to wear with a skirt/dress when you have pasty legs??

When I started this blog, it was one of the first topics that I posted about. A brief post, but I think it made my feelings pretty clear. Some of you may disagree with me, but I think nude hose are gross. Why, following the creation of Spanx, anyone would feel the need to wear them is beyond me. There are a million, trillion different self tanners out there, and I promise- no matter your skin tone- one will work for you. No additional sweating caused by man-made materials constricting your legs all day long, no worries about snags or runs. Here's what Stacy London of What Not to Wear had to say about hose:

"First of all, the only "hose" I really hate are the semi-sheer ones in "suntan" or "black." They look dated and remind me of a time when women would walk to work in their suits, those hose, white sweat socks and white leather aerobic sneakers. Blech. Might as well throw in a whole can of hairspray, too. Too '80s! Stay away from anything that has a mid-range "denier" number that indicates the sheerness of the hose (10 is very sheer, 30 is semi-sheer and 50 is opaque). I recommend a good self-tanner for the pale-leg situation, but also realize that won't help with spider veins. Look for opaque tights and try them in a subtle color, like a burgundy or deep purple, when wearing a neutral-color knee-length skirt or suit. They will hide your legs and add a visual punch to your outfits!"

I very rarely disagree with anything that Stacy suggests, but I disagree with a few things that she suggested above... colored tights might work for some careers out there, but if you work in a corporate environment please stay away from burgundy or purple tights. I'd like to see a partner's face if I showed up in purple tights with a gray suit. Nevermind, I take that back. I'll avoid that look at all costs. I think the rules are simple: Black very sheer (I agree with that part of Stacy's suggestions) hose with black shoes and a black skirt suit in the middle of winter are acceptable. I choose to wear opaque black tights instead--they provide extra warmth in the middle of our very brief winter down here, and look professional as well. Another tip: Heidi Klum doubles her opaque tights to make them very opaque. The rest of the year, I use self-tanner.

And while we're on the topic of hose and tights, I'd like to comment on another common phenomenon that I personally consider a fashion "don't"-- knee high boots with bare skin showing. Take this look, for instance:

As beautiful as she is, don't you think the look would have been a little less, well, trashy looking, if she'd had on opaque black tights instead of leaving the area in between the top of the boot and the bottom of her dress bare? If it's cold enough to wear the boots, it's cold enough to throw on a pair of black tights as well. Would've made the entire thing a lot more streamlined and slimming... instead she managed to cut off the line of her body in the middle, making her legs look shorter. Here's another one I take issue with:

Boots with a suit = fine. And thank goodness she at least managed to put something on her legs... but wouldn't this have been soooo much better if she'd just worn black tights? Particularly at her age?? It clearly would make the fact that she has on boots with a suit a lot less "look at me, I'm fashionable and have on boots with a suit!" Don't you think?

So, here's how I think you do it the right way:

Classy, fashionable, warm. Just my humble opinion.