British Women and Their Tights

As a California girl, I have a deep-seated dread of all leg coverings i.e. stockings, tights, long socks. They don't really go with flip flops, my footwear of choice back home in California, and they can be real bitch to wash. Even when I was working as an associate at a law firm, I eschewed stockings and went bare-legged to the office everyday. No one blinked an eye, but it may be because it was the Orange County office of a Miami based firm.

Looks comfy, Is comfy

With London weather being what it is, I guess legwear is a necessity. I did as the natives do during the coldest months and wore stockings to the office, but I eventually gave it up about a month ago. The temperature was still in the single digits, and the Brits were deep in flaunting their tights collection, but I just couldn't take it any more. My legs need to breathe! One of my work colleagues noticed last week that I wasn't wearing any tights, and she literally gasped with shock when she realized that I was running around town with bare legs. To be honest, I've caught her checking my legs each morning to see if I'm still crazy, and yep, I'm still crazy. Except I think I should be considered normal again since temperatures have been hovering around 20 for the last few days.
 


















Nevertheless, the average British woman is still wearing her tights. To be clear, it's always tights. I've seen the rare woman wearing stockings, but most seem to favor its thicker and more durable cousin, tights. And they don't opt for the plain, neutral colors that I'm accustomed to, but they like to go all out. I've seen sparkly ones, lacy ones, zig-zaggy ones - anything you can think of, they are plastered on someone's legs.

I can't help but wonder, at what point do they finally stop wearing tights? I'm tempted to shake one of these random woman, tell them that it's 21 degrees (72F) and let them know the jig is up.