Looking to add a little mystery to your date night repertoire? Desperately seeking some serious seduction factor for your Friday night ensemble? Ditch the cleavage and the spangled mini; we’re here to talk about real allure, the type that comes not without a little effort. What you need are stay-ups: thigh-high hosiery that is held up by faith in gravity, plenty of elastic, and—in the olden days—a garter belt. (Yes, we’re really getting that camp; but hey, what’s date night about if not having a little fun?)
So what’s the big deal with some new hosiery? Well, these aren’t your maiden aunt’s flesh-tone hose—stay-ups are a somewhat cheeky, unabashedly retro nod to a heavily fetishized conceptualization of female sexuality. They’re very naughty nurse, they’re very naughty librarian, they’re very naughty anything, really, and for that, they’re totally fun. And best of all, they can actually be very, very subtle. Worn with the right hem length, you’re just wearing regular old tights—and that’s the whole appeal. “If you’re wearing stay-ups with a pencil skirt, from afar they look like a regular pair of pantyhose,” says Vogue.com Market Editor Chelsea Zalopany. “But once you cross your legs and the skirt rides up, there is a bit of lace from the top of the stay-up that will be visible. You can selectively choose how much leg you want to show.” Take your cue from the human embodiment of “come hither,” Sophia Loren, who was always one for all things thigh-high. As for Loren’s stay-ups? She wore her jet-black pair with a corset for the full bombshell appeal.
The tricky part? Stay-ups are made to be put on carefully. Similar to button-fly jeans, stay-ups have that whole anticipation-building, slow-removal factor. “If you take them off or put them on too fast, you risk a run or tear,” says Zalopany. “But that whole slow-and-steady process works in the seduction department!” So once you succeed in getting stay-ups on, or to, well, stay up? The world is your oyster: A charming frock for day easily disguises what you’ve got going on, while va-va-voom is yours with just a sleek jacket and heels. Now all you’ve got to do is decide who gets to see them.
