Duchess gives hosiery a leg up

To women in their 20s and 30s, the idea of wearing traditional pantyhose seems as outdated and torturous as the bustle.

On a recent lunch break, Meghan Ryan and Vanessa Dufresne, who work in merchandising in downtown

Minneapolis, were wearing mid-thigh-length skirts, wedge heels -- and no hose. Asked if they ever wear them, they looked at each other quizzically.

"Never enters my mind," said Ryan.

"It's just not a part of my wardrobe," said Dufresne. "I associate pantyhose with an older generation."

Once an essential accessory for every professional woman, pantyhose have fallen from favor, especially among women under 50. Sales have declined steadily since the mid-1990s. Even conservative employers are taking hose off the dress code.

But trend-watchers might not want to write off pantyhose just yet. This summer's top breakout style icon, Kate Middleton, regularly wears sheer hose, and the first lady of France, former supermodel Carla Bruni, also has been spotted in stockings.

The sharp drops in sales of sheer hose over the past 15 years, sometimes as much as 10 percent, seem to be leveling off, with less than a 3 percent dip this year. In an effort to revive a product that's really hit a snag, the hosiery industry is developing hardier, more breathable fibers, a more comfortable fit and standardized sizing. L'Eggs (remember those drugstore stands with the egg-shaped containers?) is promoting hose as being hip again, with its first major ad push in 20 years.

In Britain -- where they call pantyhose "tights" -- and Europe, often ahead of the United States in fashion trends, sales of hose are up, partly due to the Kate effect. In a poll on the blog "What Kate Wore," 36 percent of respondents said they'd be willing to give hose a try because she looked so good in them. (We hate to break it to these hopefuls, but that probably has more to do with genes than stockings.)

Once you go bare...

Good luck convincing American women to don constricting, hot hose that they're likely to put a run in before getting to the office. Young women who might own two dozen pairs of tights -- which are less restrictive and more durable -- don't even consider adding pantyhose to the sock drawer. In the past, even women who would prefer not to wear them often did, to camouflage veins and even out skin tone. But that need became moot after self-tanners and spray-on leg makeup came on the scene.

It will take much more than the gorgeous, sheer-clad gams of Duchess Kate to save pantyhose from their downward slide, said analyst Marshal Cohen of the NPD Group, a consumer tracking service.

"One celebrity, no matter how big, is not going to convince American women to put on pantyhose in the middle of summer," he said. "There's got to be enough product innovation that makes it comfortable and gives women a reason to want it, like what happened with bras. When they made bras that lifted and pushed together rather than lifted and separated, women wanted to wear them again."

Selling a 20th-century product to 21st-century consumers is difficult in an environment where women are buying all sorts of technologically advanced merchandise, he said: "Even workout wear does everything but run the treadmill for you now."

No longer required

Perhaps an even bigger challenge to the industry is that pantyhose are disappearing from the must lists of many a corporate dress-code policy. When workplace dress codes started getting more casual in the '90s, women eagerly embraced the option to free their imprisoned legs.

Even companies known to run things on the conservative side are relenting. Disney, known for its strict rules regarding attire, stopped making pantyhose mandatory more than a year ago (also finally giving the green light to capri pants and open-toed shoes). Delta Airlines' female attendants are still required to wear hosiery (only black or nude allowed), but Southwest Airlines has not required it for more than 10 years.

Finance, law and even health care are fields in which many employers still ask women to wear hose, said Sally Kay, president of the national trade group the Hosiery Association.

"We're seeing more women, because of the job market and the economy, dressing conservatively, wearing hose at least for job interviews," she said.

Kay, a Gen-Xer who said "I absolutely do," when asked if she wears hose, added that manufacturers are developing options that "aren't your grandmother's hose. The new fibers are more comfortable and durable, and just like we did with socks 20 years ago, the sizing is going to be standardized so it's more consistent throughout the marketplace."

Just because younger women prefer bare legs to pantyhose -- especially in 100-degree heat -- doesn't mean they're not into any sort of legwear. At Target stores, space devoted to tights has doubled in just one year, but pantyhose space has remained the same. "We have a loyal customer base for pantyhose, but tights is the growth market," said spokesman Joshua Thomas.

Tights are cooler than ever, and pantyhose still have a serious image problem. But since everything that once was in fashion has a way of cycling back around again, never say never.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046