Was Your Mom A Stockings Gal?

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Hello All:

I was wondering if your Mom was a stockings gal like mine was…and if this was a strong influence in your love of fine hosiery.

My Mom wore her first pair of silk stockings in 1934 at the age of 14. She told me what an important milestone this was for her. I’m sure this was why she gave in to my longing to wear real stockings at a very young age. During the 1950s, she always wore FFNs…often with a dark seam. I was allowed to watch her putting on her stockings as she explained the finer points of technique to me; particularly how to achieve straight seams. This led my best friend and me to draw lines up the back of our legs with ballpoint pen at about the age of 5. Of course, I instigated this!

Mom was always at the forefront of fashion in her younger days. She tried black RH&Ts when they came out in 1957, and switched from seams to seamless in late 1960…never to return to seams.

She tried pantyhose when they first came out but found them hot and uncomfortable, so she stayed with gartered stockings. That, of course, didn’t stop her from trying to get me to wear pantyhose in the late 1960s when I was in high school. But I was able to resist…after all, how could she expect me to wear them when she didn’t wear them herself?

I had a brief fling with pantyhose from late 1969 to 1973 while I was in college; in an attempt to “fit in” with the other kids. But I returned to stockings for college graduation and never went back to pantyhose. My Mom understood perfectly. What Mom didn’t understand was my love of seamed stockings. She felt they were out of style and couldn’t understand why I would ever want to wear them. We battled over my wearing black FFNs which she thought made me look “cheap”. Her style sense was rooted in the 1950s when only nuns and ladies of ill repute wore black stockings with seams.

Mom stuck to her trusty panty girdle and Hanes 415 RH&Ts until she was 85. At that point, she switched to sheer knee hi’s which were easier for her to put on. I don’t ever remember my mom wearing sox. She would even wear stockings under Bermuda shorts on a coolish summer day.

So it’s no surprise that I turned into a stockings gal like my Mom!

Did your Mom have a similar influence on you?

Karen

My mother wore stockings but she was not one to dress up often.  She worked in a factory came home, watched some television and went to bed to follow the same path the next day.  I cleaned the house and did much of the cooking.  My mom would dress up for church or something similar but she did not have much of an influence on me.  I’d say my best friends mother was the stockings lady in my life.  She did the wash and cleaned house in seamed stockings.  I remember that well in the late 1950’s.  I would borrow my moms stockings and underthings and my girl friends and I would pretend we were grown ups.  We were nine or ten years old at the time.

Where we lived, around the south east side of Chicago there were plenty of hosiery and foundation garment shops.  They were like taverns and every neighborhood had one.  You did not have to go to Michigan and Randolph to see people nicely dressed back in those days.  The ladies in the old Capone areas always looked snazzy and sharp.  I do recall open heel and toe slingback block heel shoes and seamed stockings as a young girl.  That look always made me tingle inside.  When RH&T hosiery became popular those same shoes and slide type sandals were often worn.  Pumps it seamed were popular on Sundays for church.  So, I’d say it was the school girls and ladies of the city of Chicago that additionally sparked my attention to stockings as a young teenager.  Another very popular look for high school girls was RH&T stockings and white canvas lace tie shoes.  The look was not “”The Look” until these little shoes were somewhat beat up and worn.  New shoes had to be broken in and dingy.  I was an only daughter but all my south side sisters were a big influence on me when it came to stockings and dress.  What a wonderful time to grow up in.

Susan

mine wore open girdles and mainly the same pretty polly tan ones with hold up tops. why those hold up types with suspenders on girdles i dont know. When i was 15 or 16 i saw her in different coloured ones, smoke grey and dark tan ones, and both times found these were more standard or traditional stockings. Once she had been she had been performing with a choir and all had to wear same clothes. Saw her taking them off when i went past her bedroom. The other time she was going for works meal with my dad and saw her putting on the dark tan ones.

I saw mum in stockings alot but seeing odd crossed legged flash.  But about 15 I got first of seeing her in underwear and less accidently.   I went into her room to get mugs to wash thinking she was in the bathroom.  She was in girdle and putting stockings on standing by the bed.  She was topless and didn’t cover up.  She handed me a plate to wash up and made some small talk as she then went to put other stocking on.

Yes I got aroused but hid it.  I left her to do washing up.  That was kne of the first times I noticed her in that context

I had other memorable experiences as I got older and I started me love affair with nylons.  I bought some on occasions knowing she would wear them on days out with me.

With that I got brave and bought her a bra suspender set when we were charity shopping.  Two days later she told me she was wearing them and showed me them.  Cream sheer ones with tan rht nylons. It was a magical moment.

Great topic and wonderful memories.

Ironically, my mother was not a fancy lady; more working class and rarely dressed up.  I think she might have worn more when she was younger as she grew up in the 1950s when nylons were at the height of their popularity however she also grew up dirt poor which probably made it more difficult.  She had me at age 40, born in 1972 so I think by this time, even though pantyhose were still quite popular, she rarely wore any kind of nylons.  This always made me wonder where my love of stockings came from.  Perhaps there was someone in my early childhood who did wear stockings but I tend to think it was due to my abusive upbringing.  My father was an alcoholic and an abusive man at a time when women didn’t have nearly the rights they do today.  My very young years were spent in this environment; my mother left him when I was just two years old.  I think my love of nylons is rooted in my love of femininity developed during that time because women were not abusive or mean.  I remember from a very early age loving the ladies who had the pretty makeup, nice dresses and these shiny and silky looking nylons on their legs!

My mother was such a pretty lady and in the rare occasion she did dress up I remember being so proud of her.  She was a true lady no matter what she wore but when she did dress up she was beautiful.  I’ll never forget one time putting my dirty clothes in the hamper, opening the lid to find a pair of he pantyhose on top.  I remember just feeling the fabric; it was so silky that I just wanted to steal them and play with them forever!  My mother was an amazing woman and while my love of nylons was not attributed to her my love of strong women was.  My mother was the strongest woman I knew and even today I love strong women, including Mrs Ratrob.

My mum usually wore nude RHTs with an open girdle when she was younger (I think she only wore black for mourning) but I can’t remember seeing her in seamed stockings… Her mother wore seams but with rather thick stockings.

Born 1975 I was a mumy child. I needed   their closeness. Especially when I got ill. In this early days I came in contact with her rht stockings. The feeling of these special material stays in my mind. It disappeared when she switched to hold ups in the 80′ s.

years later when i stroll through a Flea market my girlfriend and I found some 60’s rht. We bought them because of the sentimental memories. GF tasted it and so we get back to those stockings and girdle things. But more for a Carneval party.

Years later by cleaning up grandmas house we found a lot of ffs. Some specials with fancy heels and others with dark seams. At that time my now wife tried and wore them occasionally. Also on marriage and honeymoon days back in 2012.

Years gone by and with birth of the child  my wife picked up a lot of kilos, she feels uncomfortable in public with stockings. But this is another story.

Most of our stockings slumber in the wardrobe now.

Back to topic. I think my mum was a stocking gal in the early years. Enough that I as a men adore to see women in stockings.

My mum and both my elder sisters wore and as far as I’m aware my mum still wears stockings on a daily basis. I don’t ever really recall seeing tights being worn or lying about drying in our house as we grew up.
She seemed to always wear a lot of navy or tan stockings, and occasionally black or patterned ones during the 80’s these days a lot more black or opaque stockings and still certainly wears navy ones.

was the norm in our house and probably got a lot to answer for especially when it comes to my love of being dressing and wearing hosiery.

Growing up in the early sixties, all the women would wear stockings including my mother.  I’m convinced that early concentrated exposure resulted in my lifelong obsession with nylon stockings.