I was reading Stana's post Hair Envy and came across the picture of Robert Vaughn in tights and a tunic. It immediately brought back memories of the first time that I ever wore tights in public.
I've always had a vivid imagination and was fairly creative when I was younger, something that I sort of buried as I got older and started work but which I've rediscovered over the last few years through blogging and burlesque. I remember I could sit and draw for hours, even using the same drawing to tell a story by erasing parts of it that had happened and adding in bits that were happening at a later time, when I was exploring my feminine side at home I used to work out stories to help me and would write out these stories and then act them out when everybody was out.
On one occasion when I was in junior school we had to do come up with a short sketch during an English class. My group decided on a Batman themed sketch (no tights were involved with this) and at one point I needed to answer the Bat Phone. With no ready props I grabbed hold of one of my classmates pigtails and used them as the phone. I'm fairly sure that she was OK with that. That was also the time that I learned how resilient the human body can be when I responded to a punch by throwing myself upwards into the air and landing on my back on the floor and then got back up and carried on.
When I moved on to secondary school we ended up in small groups on one occasion where we had to work on a short sketch and then present it to the rest of the class. Our sketch had a medieval theme. We were allowed to use whatever props and costumes we wanted. Being quite enthusiastic about the idea I persuaded my mum to make me a tunic to wear. Of course modern trousers wouldn't go with the costume and without doing any research on costumes for the era at the library I drew on all those Robin Hood films I watched while growing up and decided that a pair of tights would be sufficient.
The day we put on our sketch I found that I was the only one that had made the effort with a costume. Undeterred I carried on and got changed into the tunic and tights and did the sketch with the rest of the group. It was good fun and because it was drama you could get away with it.
So there you have it, my first time "out" in tights was when I was about 14 years old and at school.
A big thank you to Stana for the post as it brought back a memory that I'd not thought about in a long, long time and has given me something to explore as to why I let my creative side get suppressed for such a long time.
Back in the 1970s I had a job that had me working both inside and outside. To wear long johns in the winter outside made my time inside too hot. With my wife's consent I started to wear tights under my slacks in the winter and as the weather warmed would often wear panty hose.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1980s I had a desk job and needed to wear a suit. The pants would wear out in the crotch and as such the suit would be ruined. I would have some tailor's line the crotch with nylon tricot but I also discovered that the combination with the nylon lining over pantyhose would make the slacks wear well, fit right, feel smooth and silky on my legs and last forever. A win all the way around.
I was also doing some joggin back in those times and for cooler evening jogs I would wear tightsl and then sometimes even just regular panty hose.
My first time wearing tights/pantyhose in public was to a costume party. I went as a pirate with a silk scarf around my head, a clip on earing, eye patch and a tight pair of my wife's sweat pants pulled up to my knee wearing opaque pantyhose.
Pat
I heard about wearing tights under trousers during winter as a way of keeping warm during really cold weather. It makes sense really, thermals would be too hot for when you went indoors, but the extra layer is good for being outside.
DeleteOther than the time in school my first time out anywhere wearing tights was when a group of us from work went to the Rocky Horror Show. I ended up going as Frankenfurer (although it could always have been a short haired Janet from the end of the show), the other two girls there went as Magenta, which I'd have much rather gone as (although if I went know then it would more likely be as Janet)
I had to wear a pair of my sister's leotards ( tights) in a grade school play. At first I felt awkward being in front of a room full of people but by the time the play had ended I was hooked by the wonderful sensation of the nylon fabric encasing my lower body.
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