Black cocktail dress, hose or no hose?

[tar heel]

Try Spanx. You'll pay $15 or more, but the difference between them and the cheaper brands is huge.

I've always hated hose and gladly embraced the no hose fashion even though I'm in my 50s. My son got married in January, though, and pasty white legs and 25 degrees were not a good match, so I got a pair of nude Spanx. They fit perfectly and actually felt kind of nice.

 

[PammyK]

Anything that is darker or heavier, though, IMHO, just looks bad....
A nice cocktail dress should not have hose that compete with it in the amount of color or weight or texture.

IMHO, nothing worse than a heavy or dark pair of hose ruining the look of a nice dress... Or a grown woman that looks like a schoolgirl wearing tights under her uniform skirt.

You are so right. I saw a lovely woman at a NYE event and she was wearing a simple cocktail dress in a nude color and covered in blush pink, nickel-sized metallic pailettes. With her long blonde hair and great makeup, she looked wonderful until you reached the hemline of her dress.

She was wearing heavy, opaque black hose and clunky, black, closed-toe shoes with this light and airy dress. It just ruined the entire look by making everything below mid-thigh look tired and heavy. With sheer nude hose and a nude pump or champagne colored sandal, she would have been the belle of he ball. Instead, she just looked unfortunate.

To the OP - I'd probably suggest a good quality sheer black hose if this is an evening event.

 

[Caradana]

Very sheer black hose and (mission-critical element) great heels. Killer heels make the dress.

Sometimes at the height of summer, I'll ditch the hose and instead self-tan like 2 days before, but that's rare and really only for black tie optional events with an outdoor element.

 

[tigercat]

I had better never be invited to a black tie event. I have trouble putting on socks, actually I can't put them on my husband does. So putting hose on would be futile. I don't wear short skirts even though I am only 4' 8" tall. I am 58 yrs. old. Because of my disability I am unable to bend.
tigercat

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Oh TigerCat, I understand completely. My mom (she's a spry 75) broke her knee cap a few years ago and can no longer wear heels and can't wear hose of any kind because of DVT (the constriction is a no-no). For very formal events (black tie) she know wears a lovely flawy-kind of black pantsuit that has a small shimmer to it with flats and some awesome jewelry. She looks lovely...and will occasionally carry this blinged out cane for nights that are going to be longer.

So, it's possibly to be formal even with health challenges.

OP, I hope you're evening is lovely.

Karen

 

[ronandannette]

And neither am I. Not old. Not "unfashionable".

Everybody has their own sense of style and confidence is the best "accessory". But as the example below illustrates, lots of people will simply think the look is weird and unattractive, or as Pammy put it - unfortunate. If what other people think matters to a person, then they should dress to "blend in". It's pretty unrealistic to simply insist "this looks great, no really, it does...". If other people's opinion is not important (and I don't particularly think it is) then one should wear whatever makes them feel great.

You are so right. I saw a lovely woman at a NYE event and she was wearing a simple cocktail dress in a nude color and covered in blush pink, nickel-sized metallic pailettes. With her long blonde hair and great makeup, she looked wonderful until you reached the hemline of her dress.

She was wearing heavy, opaque black hose and clunky, black, closed-toe shoes with this light and airy dress. It just ruined the entire look by making everything below mid-thigh look tired and heavy. With sheer nude hose and a nude pump or champagne colored sandal, she would have been the belle of he ball. Instead, she just looked unfortunate.

To the OP - I'd probably suggest a good quality sheer black hose if this is an evening event.

 

[Gorechick]

Whenever I watch shows about fashion or awards shows it seems like all the celebrities are bare legged with all their gowns and dresses. I vote for nude hose ( not tan ).

 

[Wendy31]

I definitely wouldn't wear tights w/ a cocktail dress.

When I think of tights, I think of autumn & winter seasonal dressing - w/ boots or wool skirts.

I know the trend is bare-legged. However, there are some legs that just would look better in sheer or nude hose.

I just said in another thread that I attended a family wedding November 2009. I totally caved to pressure & went bare legged w/ some gorgeous silver pumps.

I still regret that I didn't wear some nice sheer hose!

I look back at pictures & think, "I would have looked so much better if I had been wearing hose!"

I don't have tanned legs - especially in November!

And now that the Duchess is wearing hose, I feel justified in wearing a nice pair of sheer hose at my next dressy event as well!

 

[EMode]

I don't care what is considered fashionable or not, my legs will not be bare from the months October to May. If I have a function where I need to wear a skirt/dress then I'm wearing hose. Trust me, nobody wants to see my pasty legs!

 

[goofy4tink]

Get a very good pair of nude hosiery. Bare legs are terrific if you're a youngster. My dd, 20, never wears nylons anymore...and it looks yucky to me. But, I'm old, so probably I don't get it.
If it's something formal, then bare legs just wouldn't be the way I would go. After the winter, unless you're in great shape and use self tanner on your legs, I wouldn't go bare legged!

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Op here, the event is tonight. I'm wearing sheer black hose, black pumps, black cocktail dress. I'll let you all know if I'm horribly out of place!

 

[leebee]

Do you mean traditional, old fashioned type of hose. Like the sheer kind? Or tights? I am assuming you mean the hose type, right? My mother loves that kind but I am not sure they are really "in style" much any more. (I remember her buying them in CVS when I was a kid…and they came in eggs! I used to beg to keep the eggs to play with. )

The name of the company that made the pantyhose was L'eggs… pretty nifty marketing gimmick!

 

[ilovepcot]

Many of the people you see photographed that are bare legged and look good do a great deal of work to look that way. Tirelessly exfoliating, moisturizing, waxing, self tanners or body make-up. Really...it gets tiring. Being pasty white, I'd rather put on a pair of natural looking hose and be done with it.

 

[hallie]

No hose.