Transvestism thrives on the differences between men’s and women’s clothing – that’s obvious. The difference between a man’s sock and a woman’s stocking is especially satisfying. The sock is coarse, the stocking sheer. The sock doesn’t advance beyond the shin, the stocking clings intimately to our thighs.
A sock is something you use – with a stocking it’s closer to a relationship. You have to treat her gently (I make no apology for calling a stocking ‘her’ – she’s too much like a lover to be an ‘it’). You need to smooth any raggedness from your nails. She should be caressed, not tugged.
There is something sensuous, too, in fastening the suspenders. Position them carefully. They must grip the welt, not the sheer fabric beneath. Slide the suspender gently into place, feel it take the tension. I love that moment.
The contrast between the female suspender belt and the nearest male equivalent is at least as striking as that between stocking and sock. If I were making a film, and wished to make a male character look entirely ridiculous, I would deprive him of trousers and put him in sock suspenders. They must be the least flattering garment ever devised – it’s no wonder that so few men wear them.
If, making that film, I wanted to make my leading lady look as sexy as possible (in a bedroom sort of way) I can’t think of anything better than suspernders. Let her lose her skirt – or trousers – to reveal stocking tops and suspenders. It can’t fail.
Thirty years after stockings and suspenders were ‘replaced’ by tights, a lot of women still have them in their lingerie drawers – and on their legs. The appeal of the stocking continues, and not just for transvestites. Indeed, very few transvestites could squeeze themselves into the tiny suspender belts made for teenage girls long after their mothers – or grandmothers – swapped stockings for tights.
Possibly the most sexy pictures I’ve ever seen were in a glossy women’s magazine. It showed the model hitching up her skirt with one hand to adjust a suspender with the other. It wasn’t the look at her sexiness of what one of my friends describes as ‘one handed magazines’ – it was an I want to be that girl sexiness. Inevitably so as glossy women’s magazines exist to sell clothes, make-up, perfume, all things femme. They’re in business to make the reader want to be that girl.
The point is that stockings and suspenders can ooze sex appeal to women as well as to men. All the same, the sex appeal for the two genders seems to be rather different. For men it has to do with stocking tops and suspenders being displayed. For women – and for at least some transvestites – it has more to do with them being hidden.
I have an illustrated history of girlie magazines. It includes a fair number of pictures of girls in stockings and suspenders – as we’d all expect. In every case, stocking tops and suspenders are fully exposed. If there is any other clothing, it’s pushed back well away from the thighs. The girls are presented as ready for sex. There is always the sense of their being observed, all of the girls seemed aware of the camera.
In women’s magazines, it seems a much more private thing. The image of the girl adjusting her suspender, which I found so sexy, seemed to capture a fleeting moment in which stocking top and suspender were revealed. Only a moment later, one has the impression, the glimpse of underwear will pass into history. The suspender will be adjusted, and the girl will drop the hem of her skirt. Then there will be no way for anyone but her to know that she’s wearing stockings rather than tights.
There is something similar in the magic moment of seeing a woman in stockings and suspenders climb inexpertly into or out of a car. It’s very sexy. In that sexiness there is a strong element of sharing a secret with the woman.
Another difference between the women’s magazine image and the one for men is that the girl adjusting the suspender is self-absorbed. The act of adjustment is for her alone, it does not have the look of a display for another person. In spite of the camera, it remains private. The person who looks at that picture and thinks I want to be that girl – whether woman or transvestite – does not see herself as displaying the suspender for the benefit of an onlooker.
In all of this, the transvestite is in a rather privileged position. We can place ourself in the private world of the woman. This is an especial satisfaction when stepping out with suspenders and stocking tops hidden under our skirts. We know, but no one else does.
Alternatively, we can take the part of the male observer. Many of us do this while standing before a full length mirror in our favourite undies. We are both the man who looks, and the girl at whom he looks. It’s no wonder that we love mirrors so much!
It isn’t just a matter of looking good though – stockings and suspenders feel exquisite. It’s hard to think of more enjoyment to be had from simply wearing clothes than the sensation of sheer hosiery clinging to our legs. The stockings feel great as we roll them on, but even better as the suspenders take up the tension. The suspender belt, too, feels a whole lot nicer once it’s engaged with the stockings
There is something lovely about running ones hand up a woman’s leg, under the skirt, caressing her nylon sheathed thighs, toying with a suspender and hooking ones fingers inside the stocking top. Wonderful as that certainly is, the sensation from within the stocking is even better. As the hand explores, everything which makes the stocking such a delight to wear is intensified. It’s electrifying!
Stockings give rise to a whole range of more simple thrills as well. As ordinary a thing as crossing your thighs – allowing one nylon thigh to stroke the other – can be tremendous fun. Another delight is to step out in skirt and stockings on a warm day. The cool area of the upper thigh above the stocking top is something to relish. It feels even better with a breeze to play about your thighs. The breeze cannot only caress your thighs directly, but it can also stroke them with the fabric of your skirt. Wear something silky, you won’t regret it!
Come the winter, it must be admitted, a strip of cool thigh above the stocking top is a whole lot less pleasant. It is then that tights come into their own, and the denier I prefer zooms up from 15 to 70. But I’m never really happy with tights. They don’t feel as good – and they sure look a lot less sexy.
Stockings are sexy – and they’re practical for sexual purposes. As long as the knickers are worn over the suspenders, there’s no need to disturb stocking or suspender to have sex. The knickers slide down (do it slowly, perhaps with the teeth) and we’re ready for action.
The same thing applies for both women and transvestites. Sex with both of you in stockings carries my strongest recommendation. The friction of nylon upon nylon – wow!!
Sex in tights, well there’s a joke about that:
HE: “If I’d known you were a virgin, I wouldn’t have done that…”
SHE: “If I’d known you were going to do that, I would have taken off my tights…”
It’s hard on your clothing, but tights-wrecking sex is perfectly possible. It can be fun too, but to make it work properly you really need to prepare for it in advance, in spite of the joke.
Normally, someone in tights wears a pair of knickers underneath. The knickers can’t be removed without removing the tights or putting an awful lot of work into wrecking them. Try the experiment at home and I’m sure you’ll agree – tights-wrecking sex really needs an absence of knickers.
There are other kinds of feminine hosiery. Fot a start, we have girly socks. With more than a hint of the shcoolgirl, these certainly look cute on catwalk models. How well a transvestite can carry them off is another matter. With these, how they look is everything. They don’t caress your legs as a stocking does – or even a pair of tights.
Another variation is the hold up – a stocking without the suspender. Here, the first objection is: stockings feel good, so why do without them?
Sometimes there may be a reason. I think that suspenders look really naff under a lycra skirt. That said, my lycra skirts are the only good reasons I’ve ever found for wearing hold ups.
Lycra skirts appeal to the tart in me, and about four years ago I wore them quite often with hold ups. When I stopped, it had nothing to do with the lycra. It was that the hold ups were so bloody uncomfortable, they cut into the thighs.
The thigh is a very sensitive part of the body – in fact I see it as almost a sexual organ (licking the inside of the thigh, above the stocking top, is highly recommended!). Hold ups may suit the sort people whos idea of fun is represented by nipple clamps, but I don’t like them.
Wearing feminine clothes is a very special experience. There’s a saying The most fun you can have with your clothes on – but I have much more fun with them on than with them off. So – why go for half measures? Let’s pamper ourselves.
As far as I’m concerned, that definitely includes stockings and suspenders. They’re great! Don’t you love them too?
