The Boston Globe Job Doc board raised an issue I’ve been wondering about lately…. pantyhose or no pantyhose?
Growing up, my father insisted that a properly dressed woman wore nylons with a dress or a skirt. I internalized this lesson, and have done so every since when I’m really dressing up. I’ll wear a summer dress without anything on my legs, and in winter I’d wear tights… but to an interview I would wear nylons for sure.
But I have the growing sense I’m terribly old-fashioned in this. Are nylons only for old-ladies? I know where Posh Spice stands on the issue (from my reading of Glamour: she’s agin it)… but what about you?
Technically Pretty 
Aug 29, 2012 @ 19:40:23
My company phased pantyhose out of the dress code a year or so after I got there (the same time they gave us permission to wear capris, now that I think about it). You could hear the applause round the company. I don’t think they’re old fashioned so much as high-corporate (which my company definitely isn’t any more – dresscode-wise at least). They do send a certain signal of formality.
I think I’ve worn pantyhose once in the past five years (probably past decade, to be honest). It was to an October wedding. I was wearing a dress that was pretty summery, and didn’t want to freeze once it got dark. (They were also control top hose, and that particular dress needed that, so that meant I could get away with no separate shapewear). Other than that, I avoid them like the plague (but I do like tights, with skirts in winter).
Aug 30, 2012 @ 17:51:07
My company changed our dress code (very specifically spelled out – business formal kind of place) to allow them betweeen Memorial and Labor Day a couple of years ago. Last year they changed the rule to allow bare legs year-round. Skirts/dresses need to be at least to the knee.
For me, it depends on the setting. At work I go bare. For an interview, I may try and gage the culture of the place and dress that way. For a night wedding, I’d put the hose on.
Sep 10, 2012 @ 20:09:12
I only wear nylons with skirt suits. In the winter, I have a selection of lovely tights, some patterned. The nylons get runs too easily, making them a pain in the rear. I have a light olive skintone, however. If I were pasty, in my law firm environment, I might feel more “obvious” in my bare legs and thus invest in more nylons. I have noted some women have moved to black tights year round, but I am not a fan of the look. It seems to wintery in August. The Target brand of Spanx is nice, if you find the need for nylons.
Aug 02, 2016 @ 18:36:41
I always wear tights/pantyhose to work. I think it’s a good idea unless it’s a blue collar job.
Aug 20, 2016 @ 15:51:58
That’s funny. I wonder if it depends on where you are – I don’t think I’ve seen a grown woman wear pantyhose in years, and I work in a professional field. Maybe in Iowa it’s more common than, say, Boston?
Aug 21, 2016 @ 02:23:11
I have heard that about Boston, for whatever reason it seems Boston is very anti-pantyhose but England is very pro-pantyhose. It does seem like it may vary from place to place.