Tights + Clingy Dresses = Conundrum
- Grey tank dress (last seen here) from Filene’s Basement– $14
- Yellow belt from Betsey Johnson via Filene’s Basement– $13.59
- Herringbone tights from Banana Republic Factory Store, circa 2004
- Teal cotton and leather cuff (last seen here) from a Toronto shop, circa 2002
- Hot pink pumps (last seen here) from Nine West Outlet– $19.99
Am I ready for my American Apparel close-up yet?
Maybe if I take off the shoes, throw my leg behind my head and apply a layer of Vaseline.
To my face.
Pervert.
Clingy knit dresses are all well and good, but what to do when a cold front moves in? Tights would seem an elegant solution (along with cardigans, as winter approaches). But then there’s that schlubby-looking line across the equator.
So far, I got three ideas:
- Belts. Like air freshener for the waistline– if you can’t eliminate the problem, conceal, conceal, conceal.
- Above-the-knee socks. See also: the Sock Dreams tag.
- Bodysuits or body stockings. Perhaps a new use for stripperwear (crotch optional)?
Anyone else have any ideas? Who wears clingy dresses as often as I do?
Paging Tara Shuai! Tara to the TPY courtesy telephone!
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You rang?
Maybe it is schlubby, but I’ve just learned to live with the equator line, especially since I wear my belts a couple of inches higher than where the tights usually sit.
OR, I find tights that I can pull up to my bra line, thereby virtually concealing where the tights end. If you haven’t already tried it, maybe try buying a size up in tights so that they’re longer?
Alternately, if I really don’t care for how the equator line looks, or if I’m wearing a fancier dress where it’d really look bad, I just wear a high-waisted bike short or body shaper. I haven’t tried a body stocking, ’cause those things creep me out a little. And because I’d probably sweat all day and have that pleasant gym locker smell.
I’ve been battling this recently. I wore a clingy dress to an outdoor wedding at the end of October. And it rained. And was cold. And I ABSOLUTELY had to wear tights. First tights I tried had a HUGE seam right up the front over my belly button, which is also pretty ugly. Next problem was the equator line. I fixed it as best I could by pulling them up as far up as I could, nearly to my bra. It wasn’t perfect, but it did ok. I need to see about getting a body shaper/Spanx type thing to fix this.
Tara, Okay, I love how you totally saw this without me even having to email you. I was thinking “live with it,” too, but for some reason the line really bugs me, in a way that a visible bra strap does not. Going up a size on the tights is genius, especially since I’m so short. You know what I want? Some kind of garter clip that could snap a bra to a pair of tights, bike shorts, etc., so they don’t roll down. I could almost swear something like that exists, but I haven’t been able to find it. DYKWIM? You know how the end of garter belts look, how they attach to stockings? I want some little dohickey that looks like that on both ends. WHAT IS THIS THING I WANT IT SOMEONE MUST KNOW
Allison, I also wonder if some sort of waist-cinchery thing would cover the gap?
I wear tights a lot, and I tend to use the belt solution. I love my waist so I’m all about belts in general. Occasionally just wearing shapeware underneath eliminates the look of tights-line-on-skin. And I don’t wear tights with a seam up the front.
I have also been known to tack the top of long tights to the bottom of my bra (just three or four stitches with a strong thread that I snip when the day is over) for a smooth DIY-semi-bodystocking look. Bonus is this also amuses my husband.
Oh Michelle, you know I have you on refresh!
I like your garter idea! I could even see how a built in garter strap bra and pantyhose set could actually look kind of sexy. Great idea! That’s how you’re going to make your first million…
Like your bra-garter idea – if it doesn’t exist, we might have to invent it. I read (but haven’t tried) of a woman who wears thigh-hi stockings with the tops tucked into her biker-short type shapewear.
I love wearing dresses partly because I don’t like things around my waist – tights kind of ruin that. Something that I do that might not work for you is just slash the waist band of my tights – sometimes all I need to do is cut the front seam out of the waistband, sometimes I have to make a wider V or maybe deeper.
Some people wear slips to smooth over everything.
I am just so nervous about walking into Macy’s and actually purchasing some Spanx. Next time I’m there I will have to look into it – might be worth the investment (the other thing about tights is RUNS, and how quickly I end up tossing them!) I already wear large tights since I’m so darn tall, but maybe I should try XL next time I get a pair. Hm.
I like the garter clip idea too, but then how would you hide the CLIP?
Lots of good ideas and quick fixes. I’ll definitely try a few and report back,
Allison, as far as the clips, I was thinking mayyybe it could go around the middle of the bra… Like this, kinda? Seems like it would be less likely to show in the interboobular area…. Hmmmm…
I am sure that you can find the type of garter clips you are looking for online somewhere. Most have the clip on one end and a hook thingy on the other, but there are many varieties. You might also search for “mitten clips”, like the kind they have at http://suspenderstore.com/
mlshiira, you are a genius!! Genius, I tell you!!! I am totally buying some mitten clips.