clothes

DH used to buy me lovely cami knickers back in the day when M&S actually made nice lingerie. French knickers too. I didn't like to tell him but they killed me...kept disappearing up my bum! On the rare occasions I wore them I spent the entire evening trying to haul them out. He had a thing about M&S lacey bras too.... when I wore them I spent the evening scratching! There's a lot to be said for 'buckets' and 'support' bras, one of the few advantages of being older, less frivolous.... and built for comfort.

Oh how I sympathise absentg!!! Itchy lace and scanties up my bum- yes I can relate to that. Add in silk stockings or hold ups which either rip the skin off your thighs or descend Nora Batty style!

OMG I'd forgotten about the hold-up! Or non-hold-ups as they should have been called. I can still recall the dreaded moment one felt them creeping down ones thighs... and you just knew you weren't going to make it to the 'ladies' without them slithering down to your ankles!

I remember both of them once descending right down to my ankles when I was running for a bus!

Having read these last two posts I am soo glad that my hefty legs and lofty height meant that I never tried holdups. Stockings were bad enough when the reinforced top appeared below your skirt.

I justify my shoe collection by recalling my MIL's advice. She told me you can lose a pint of sweat from your feet in a day so you should always let shoes "rest" and dry out for a day between wearings.

I remember a friend telling me never to use body lotion on legs before wearing hold ups.

What a vile invention those hold ups were - made my legs look like bursting sausages and left angry red rings on my thighs. As regards silk underwear, I swear by my silk thermals bought from Landsend many years ago. The quality of their stuff used to be excellent when most of it was manufactured in the US, but has gone downhill now it is made all over the place.

I don't even own a dress any more but when I did, up until about 4 years ago, I would on occasion, when dressing up - wear my hold ups. Loved them with lacy tops from M & S. Fortunately I've got slim-ish thighs. Wish the rest of me was in proportion to them.

I've never worn hold-ups in my life! Why would you? If you don't want to go bare-legged, wear tights...

(I think I'm beginning to agree with ethel a bit, now! )

One hold-up up and one hold-up down: I was changing trains at Waverley Station, bent double trying to pull up the errant stocking, towing the suitcase with the other hand. Must have been a bonny sight!

Ana - I have a neurological movement disorder and cannot bear the feeling of being constricted. That's why tights don't work for me and if I needed hosiery the hold ups worked great.
A reason for no longer having any dresses is so that hosiery isn't necessary.

When Mary Quant launched the mini skirt on us there was a mass ditching of suspenders and stockings - for obvious reasons. Tights seemed like a liberation but in fact they were no such thing, we were even more confined, with a waist band that at times felt as if you had a boa constrictor round your middle, and depending on the make and size (which varied wiidly) the gusset was either round your knees or up round your boobs. And they have been found to be the harbingers of all sorts of itchy problems.

Hold -ups seemed like the answer to a maiden's prayer ... they weren't.

I wish I could go bare -legged with a pretty frock, but I don't possess a pair of Betty Grables ... perhaps Ana does, so doesn't feel the need to worry. Me? I'd opt for a leg transplant any day. I loved to flash a pair of tanned,toned pins but it ain't gonna happen, so it's pants/jeans... and confession time now ......in the winter worn with knee-highs. Not when I visit my doctor... she'd give me one of her severe lectures on the vascular system.

No, I don't have Betty Grable legs, nor do I ever go bare-legged. Actually, I can't remember the last time I wore a dress or skirt, but I don't remember tights being so bad when I wore them.

I apologise if my previous post was insensitive.

I was so relieved to wear tights - I thought suspenders were definitely a male invention!

What? You get through the summer without wearing a skirt at all?! Anyone can go bare legged in the summer. A bit of a tan disguises a lot of things.

Ana Your previous post was not insensitive. Don't be silly.

Yes, easily. If it's hot I wear very thin trousers or harem pants - I really don't miss skirts at all! I suppose I could wear a long, floaty one on occasion...

Mary Quant had a lot to answer for absentgrandma I agree. Being tall I swapped suspenders appearing below my skirt for the gusset of my tights appearing instead. The only answer was to wear the largest available size and risk them them bagging everywhere. And the irony was I have never liked my sturdy legs and was only happy when the maxi skirt appeared.

Ana - nothing insensitive.

Do all of us avoid dresses.
I have loads of tights, hold ups, and the dreaded pop socks that will never see light of day.

I admit that on occasion I sometimes wore pop socks with ankle length skirts --- which could be difficult on a breezy day.

ethelbags1 I have more clothes but a similar attitude to shoes - I basically wear one pair and replace it with the same style, but keep the old ones for the garden, or as spares, with the result that I have several pairs of the same style and forget which are the oldest ones! Yes and I tend to just have one handbag on the go at any one time. When the strap breaks I buy another one, very similar if possible! But I have a lot more variety of clothes. Although.... all my work outfits were mainly black trousers and a different top!

I was quite taken today by the sight of a woman, who was seventy if she was a day, dressed in a tshirt and shorts (of the hotpant variety), with bare legs, knee socks and clumpy boots. She was on the arm of a very dapper chap dressed in chinos and blazer.

She had a great pair of legs.

Can't wear hold ups as my left thigh is considerably thinner than my right.
It was when I tried to wear them and the left kept falling down, I realised I had gross muscle wasting of the left leg due to my limp

May be she was 50 but smoked

Flickety, hadn't thought of that