"In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking. "

I love getting dressed up. I wear jeans and trousers a lot but I wear skirts and dresses quite a lot too. I do own suspenders and stockings but tend to reserve them for "special occasions" (if you know what I mean!) because I don't find them particularly comfortable to wear. Not that keen on tights either but I sometimes wear lacy or patterned ones with skirts and boots. I hate "mummy" tights!!

Well, that is something and you are right. I have one and I wear it on special occasions when it is cold out. I guess things are just changing and that isn't a big of a fashion anymore.

I love my garter belt and I refuse to wear pantyhose because it just doesn't seem as appealing to me. I own about 8 garter belts, and regularly just wear thigh highs whenever i wear a dress (which is not too much lately since it's been freezing outside) I adore lovely lingerie (lingerie and stilettos are my two greatest vices)... what can i say? ;)

I rarely use the garter belts, but I do have a ton of silk and fishnet thigh-high stockings. I'll be damned if I'm wearing them this time of year tho, lol.

i think from the 1980s onwards, in the uk at least there has been a re assertion of conservative values that have collectively led to covering up of the human body and a move away from libralism. I myself will not be silenced and still wear ultra short skirts and stockings where ever i feel they are approprite. I have a submarine skirt on right now, called such because its hem hovers just below the c, i will not conform to the heralds of the new dark age. blessed be

I think this is partly down to the prudish influence of the US - their ethics and "morals" are very repressive, being based on a foundation of puritanism they tend to be completely uptight and repressive in their culture at home, then they go abroad and behave like animals. Very strange. I think that this polarity in their society is unhealthy and immature! As for other reasons for women "covering up", this could be down to generations rebelling against their parents' generation, and in cases where the previous generation was quite uninhibited, this can lead to very conformist children. There's also the fact that fashions come and go, and the fact that tights (whilst actually not very fetching) are easier and less fussy to wear than stockings. I personally prefer wearing stockings to tights, but they're so damned expensive, and you can't really wear them under trousers, which are actually more practical to wear than skirts!