Pantyhose for men

A man wearing patterned male pantyhose

In American English, the term pantyhose refers to a garment traditionally worn by women, at least since their introduction in 1959. However, some manufacturers also produce pantyhose for men (or male pantyhose, "mantyhose" or men's legwear).

History

There have been anecdotes of men wearing pantyhose for practical purposes nearly since their original introduction in the women's market, but these stories have been typically difficult to verify because the men in question tended to refrain from discussing the issue. Such anecdotes have included:

• NFL football players wearing them under uniforms in cold weather,
• Hunters and campers wearing them as a base layer beneath other cold weather attire,
• Men with varicose veins or other circulatory problems that may or may not require surgical hosiery,
• Horseback riders wearing them to prevent chafing and saddle sores.
• Soldiers who have to wade through deep water and want protection from leeches.

In 1996 L'eggs, a US pantyhose company opened a storefront together with a product-related bulletin board on the web. They soon discovered that most of the visitors talking about their products were men. After conducting a survey^[1] in 1998, Steven Katz^[2] came to the conclusion that, in fact, many men were wearing pantyhose as a regular clothing item, and would buy leggings in a well-targeted male product range, if it existed.^[3]

Based on this survey and other market research, G. Lieberman & Sons (GLS Hosiery) began to manufacture and market ComfiLon^[4] in 1999, which became Activiskin^[5] in 2002. Comfilon/ActivSkin was so successful it inspired Levee, a German pantyhose manufacturer to create a unisex product line called WoMan in 2002. Wolford, a German luxury hosiery manufacturer also introduced 'Waistsocks' for men. Nearly every year since then at least one manufacturer has entered the market with a male product line, such as Collanto in Germany and Gerbe in France.

The market for men's pantyhose has continued to grow steadily since 1999. While ActivSkin, the leading seller of male pantyhose and tights, does not release specific sales data, they now sell to customers worldwide in 76 countries and have reported growth each year since their inception. An important component of that growth is continued expansion of public awareness of this phenomenon. A blog called The Nylon Gene was launched in early 2009 to provide background information on men's pantyhose, as well as opinion pieces and sample photography. To manage public relations and serve as spokesman for issues related to men's pantyhose in the U.S. media, GLS hired Steve Newman^[6] in 2009. The company expects to reach a tipping point in the near future with respect to public perception and growth of the male pantyhose and tights trend. As an addition to the constantly expanding family of men's legwear manufacturers, there is another producer in Eastern Europe called Tim Legwear that is testing the local market with men tights and leggings.

Uses

As normal clothing

The sight of men wearing pantyhose with shorts is becoming less uncommon on many US city streets and elsewhere

Men who wear pantyhose as a regular item of clothing have come to the attention of the media with increasing frequency since 2002, beginning with a front page Wall Street Journal article on the subject, entitled "Kingsize, Not Queen: Some Men Are Taking to Wearing Pantyhose".^[7] Some of the reasons for wearing them include:

• to stimulate circulation if working in a profession that requires them to sit all day, or conversely, if on their feet for extended periods of time. In addition, compression can help reduce swelling and decrease the dangers of circulatory problems.^[8]
• to improve athletic performance, energize and revitalize tired, aching leg muscles^[9]

One can find both sheer and opaque pantyhose for men, the denier ranging from 8 den (very sheer) to over 100 den (opaque). They usually come in black, brown, tan and navy blue colors. In the U.S., hosiery above 70 den are usually referred to as 'tights'. This threshold is subjective, and hosiery of lesser denier may be considered tights in the U.S. vocabulary.

Some men wear pantyhose under trousers, with or without socks, while an increasing number are now wearing them with shorts. They have found that it is not necessary to give up the benefits of leg support and comfort while wearing short pants. It is very difficult to notice pantyhose closely matching skin color, as long as leg hair is either removed or kept closely trimmed. As men's pantyhose continues to move from the periphery toward mainstream acceptance, more men are also wearing colored legwear (black, blue, dark brown) with shorts. You can see a some examples of men wearing pantyhose with shorts by visiting The Nylon Gene^[10] or the eMANcipate^[11] website.

Medical reasons

Pantyhose and other so-called "compression stockings" can be worn to provide relief from leg/ankle swelling and varicose veins. They provide warmth and support for men who have Raynaud's phenomenon. They can also worn as supportive therapy for vein disorders such as lymphedema and deep vein thrombosis.

The effect of non-medical grade support hosiery is given only only passing notice in much of the medical literature. This is primarily due to less experimentally-quantifiable information available regarding the contribution of non-medical grade support hosiery on leg circulation. That's not to say there is none available, however.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, "The single most important thing a person can do to slow down the development of new varicose veins is to wear graduated compression support stockings as much as possible during the day." They also list "wearing elastic support stockings" as a means of reducing the chances of getting new varicose and spider veins. In addition, a 2001 study cited by the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery concluded that, "Use of lightweight (low compression), ready-to-wear gradient compression hosiery is very effective in improving symptoms of discomfort, swelling, fatigue, aching, as well as leg tightness."

A significant portion of the population—both male and female—will eventually suffer from some sort of leg circulation problem, including venous insufficiency and related issues. There is no physiological difference between men and women that prevents it from developing in men in nearly equal frequency as women, therefore men can benefit from the preventative aspects of full length support hosiery every bit as much as their female counterparts. It is important to consult a physician when these problems worsen and varicose veins begin to appear, to make sure medical intervention is not necessary. Oftentimes, all that is needed to prevent this from happening is the regular use of full support tights or pantyhose.

In scuba diving

Some scuba-diving men have been known to wear pantyhose or similar garments under their wetsuits to get a bit of extra insulation against cold water.^{[citation needed]} It also assists in putting on and taking off the wetsuit. Pantyhose are also an effective protection against box jellyfish stings. The pantyhose were formerly thought to work because of the length of the box jellyfish's stingers (nematocysts), but it is now known to be related to the way the stinger cells work. The stinging cells on a box jellyfish's tentacles are not triggered by touch, but are instead triggered by the chemicals found on skin.

Producing pantyhose for men

Reasons why manufacturers are now producing pantyhose for men:

• the female market has been in decline since the late 1990s, while the male market is growing^[12]
• online hosiery retailers have reported that the majority of their sales are to male customers^[13]
• men are likely to require a longer lifespan from their purchases and will therefore pay more per item for greater quality.^[14]

See also

• Compression garment
• Men's skirts

References

Sources

• Lambert Stephen M., Hagan Melissa J "A randomised crossover study of low-ankle-pressure graduated-compression tights in reducing flight-induced ankle oedema" The Medical Journal of Australia, Sep 2007; MJA 2008; 188 (2): 81–84.
• Bringard A, Perrey S, Belluye N. "Aerobic energy cost and sensation responses during submaximal running exercise—positive effects of wearing compression tights" Int. J. Sports Med. May 2006;27(5):373–8.
• Norton, Amy "Compression tights may give runners a lift" Reuters Health/Medicine Online, May, 2006.
• Preston, Shelley "Wearing Pantyhose Is Serious Business For Some Guys" The Ledger, September 18, 2006.
• Annis, Elisa "An industry that lost its footing" International Herald Tribune, October 9, 2006.
• Helliker, Kevin "Kingsize, Not Queen: Some Men Have Taken To Wearing Pantyhose" Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2002.
• Temple, Matthew "Men in tights" FT.com, June 7, 2002.
• National Women's Health Health Information Center, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services How can I prevent varicose veins and spider veins?, www.womenshealth.gov.
• Ramelet, A.-A. (2002), Compression Therapy. Dermatologic Surgery, 28: 6–10. doi: 10.1046/j.1524-4725.2002.01181.x

Notes

1. ^ Pantyhose designed for men – alt.fashion | Google Groups. Groups.google.com (September 27, 1998). Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
2. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Pantyhose. NPR (February 23, 2002). Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
4. ^ ComfiLon. ComfiLon. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
5. ^ ActivSkin. ActivSkin. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
6. ^ Steve Newman. Linkedin.com. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.^{[unreliable source?]}
7. ^ "Kingsize, Not Queen: Many Men Are Taking to Wearing Pantyhose"^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Wearing Pantyhose Is Serious Business For Some Guys. TheLedger.com (September 18, 2006). Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
9. ^ Norton, Amy. (June 13, 2006) Compression tights may give runners a lift. Medicine Online. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
10. ^ The Nylon Gene. The Nylon Gene. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
11. ^ e-MANcipate. e-MANcipate. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
12. ^ Annis, Elisa. (October 9, 2006) 'An industry that lost its footing' – Style – International Herald Tribune – The New York Times. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on August 11, 2011.
13. ^ http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=LegwearUF&msg=4732.1
14. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}

External links

• e-MANcipate.net, the original pantyhose for men website
• The Nylon Gene, A Men's Legwear Blog designed to educate the general public on reasons why men wear pantyhose, and provide visual examples
• Geraden's blog, a fine community place
• SheerGeek's website – a blog about men's legwear fashion, including: tights for men and pantyhose for men
• Legwear as Unisex Fashion online forum
• ‘Mantyhose’: Not your mom’s pantyhose