Unlike pantyhose, stockings are seeing a resurgence in popularity for a number of reasons, with one of them being that many individuals assume that stocking are defined throughout the world as thigh high hosiery.
Pantyhose are confining as well as hot and just plain ugly. When pantyhose were first invented they were viewed by women as an answer to women's complaints of wearing garters and garter belts, because pantyhose were simply so much more convenient. Stockings are often referred to as thigh highs and are anything but confining. Stockings are sexy and not plain at all. More and more women refuse to buy those pantyhose, because they prefer to go without hosiery of any kind. Undeniably, wearing stockings with or without garters and a garter belt is much more feminine, because with the bare leg above the stocking top is just a little sexy.
Stockings have been around for a long time and pantyhose are the more recent arrival in the hosiery world. Pantyhose almost killed the stockings as the convenience of pantyhose and not having to wear garter belts or garters was seen as an innovation, as well as more comfortable. The arrival of Lycra spandex has made garter belts comfortable and the improvements in selection as far as color and styles has propelled stockings back into fashion world.
The selection of stockings ranges from sheer with retro back seams, to fishnet, fence net, and color ranging from the standard black to virtually every color of the rainbow. Stay up stockings do not require garter belts or garters and their silicone bands grip the thighs, and thus the name stay ups. Women with thin thighs may have some difficulty wearing stay ups, as they simply will not stay up, or wear comfortably.
Probably the biggest complaint women have about wearing hosiery of any kind, with stockings being included, is that the hosiery tends to run and then they are ruined. One of the benefits of stockings is that if one leg runs, then the other leg can be worn with one of another pair of the same style and color. Of course, once a pair of pantyhose runs, then the pair are ruined and must be thrown away. While the variety of stockings is wide and varied, many women still do not wear them as they are viewed as lingerie items from a day gone by. These items skew older in that young women simply do not see a place for them other than as part of a sexy lingerie outfit combining a corset or sexy costume.
No doubt stockings are sexy lingerie but they are lingerie that can and should be worn as part of a sexy skirt or dress outfit. The silhouette of a garter belt should not prevent a woman from wearing a garter belt as they are virtually invisible. While it is a bit risky wearing a garter belt with a micro mini skirt, many occasions in the evening call for sexy stockings and the peek of a woman's thighs is sexy and not vulgar. Sexy costumes are often worn with stockings and may be at least partially responsible for the resurgence of popularity of stockings. Since stockings come in black, white, red, purple, and many other colors that can be worn to match or contrast virtually every costume.