Posted
on Tue, May. 25, 2004
Philly Daily News
Jenice
Armstrong
Great feat in hosiery
heyjen@phillynews.com
I DESPISE PANTYHOSE, and I think that women who wear them with
sandals are right up there with men who wear black dress socks and shorts.
But for many of us, going bare-legged is not the most attractive
option, even when we're wearing airy summer shoes.
To the rescue: new, toe-less pantyhose. Sold under labels such as
Hue and Silk Reflections, they provide coverage but still leave your toes
free.
When I tried a pair by Berkshire ($6.95 at Strawbridge's) last
week, I was surprised at how well they worked. And although they looked
weird before I put my sandals on - they attach between the big and second
toes instead of covering your entire foot - they were surprisingly
comfortable.
The fit was almost perfect - no small feat considering I'm over
6-feet-tall. And the color was close to the actual shade of brown of my
legs - also worth noting since so many pantyhose makers still can't get
this right.
Now, I had to work with the stretchy bands to make sure they were
hidden under the straps of my back-less mule. But once in place, they
stayed put all day, to the fascination of the women I encountered through
the day, at Carizma Hair Salon on North Broad Street and at my office.
Most were thrilled and said they'd try them under flimsy summer dresses
when they needed to add a little smoothing or color to pale legs.
"If I'm bare legged, my legs don't look that great,"
complained one.
Unfortunately, because of the elastic bands, they don't work with
most thong sandals. But I recently stumbled across another kind of
pantyhose specifically designed for these kinds of shoes. Available at www.tohos.com,
the big toe of the nylon is separated from the rest of the foot kind of
like a mitten.
"It doesn't have any of that old-fashioned dorky look to
it," said Karyn Cortani, who came up with the idea when she was a
bridesmaid at a friend's wedding and trying to figure out how to wear
stockings with a high-heeled thong shoe.
"It looks like you're not wearing pantyhose until you get
really up close."
Yeah, but at $12 a pair, that's a high price just to look as if
you're not wearing any thing.