Portrait of a Lady - Part 1 (Pantyhose and Gloves)

This post will be an image galore as I shared pictures extracted from various internet sources to show my image of an ideal lady...

From all my previous posts, I kept emphasizing about the conduct of a lady, how a lady should dress and so on. To me, a lady must dress right for each occasion, know how to bring out that alluring aura and image in the way she dresses. Be it professional image during work, elegant appearance when attending a black-tie/ballroom or white-tie function, or sensual and seductive looks for her man in the bedroom. A lady should dress up something that brings out the best in her, at times classy and sophisticated, at times feminine yet modest, at times revealing yet covering enough to leave it to the imagination. There are some many things a lady can wear to bring out all these feelings, that is the beauty of been a woman. 

Disclaimer, this is my own perception and personal view and may not be practical in some sense especially looking at where Singapore is situated, near the Equator with all the sun, heat and humid weather... I feel that the global climate has become warmer. That is a fact. I remembered vaguely that the temperature in Singapore back in the 80's and early 90's was not this bad. Max of 32 degrees Celsius at most. Now, 34 to 35 degrees. Anyway, the weather is to set the context before I offer my view.

All thanks to the internet, my view and perception of the world was brought onto my screen as I stared at all these beautiful ladies, fully-clothed of course... To me, the Western world and Eastern world, each has their definitions of beauty but with the effect of globalization, each culture has found its way into the other and merged nicely to perfect this. I think I will have a few parts to this topic to discuss what makes a lady, a lady. From Western views and Eastern culture, I will talk about how a lady uses the various garments in her arsenal to make herself ever so attractive. 

Pantyhose

Before I start, do note that I will lump the various types of hosiery such as tights, pantyhose and stockings as pantyhose in general here. Each is different from the others in some ways, so I will discuss in depth about hosiery in a separate post in the future. (So many things I wanted to post in the future... 😅)

I guess I was more influenced by the Western culture in my early days as I viewed that a lady must always wear pantyhose underneath to dress her legs up. A lot of modern women view wearing pantyhose as a torture or a pain, others view it as unnecessary as they view their legs as perfect and without blemishes. A lot of other female viewed hosiery as concealer for imperfect legs or to balance their complexion with the clothes they are wearing. Some wear tights (thicker version of pantyhose) to cover their legs in view of cold weather. To me, a pair of hosiery is not just a fashion statement but it portray of class and elegance. Dressing up the legs is some sort of mannerism and etiquette to make a woman more ladylike. 

The picture shows Kate Middleton, also known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, dressed in black pantyhose for a formal occasion. See how that black hosiery make the whole looks complete just like that. Some may argue that it is because of the outfit she is wearing but the next picture shows how the Duchess was wearing a shiny nude pantyhose underneath her dress just makes her so perfect. In fact, in my view, a sheer Inca, Honey or Suntan pantyhose or a nude coloured tights will do the trick as well. The Queen mandated that all her family members and guests to wear tights. That is all as a form of courtesy and respect to each other and to show modesty and upbringing.  

At other times, pantyhose are worn to bring out that feminine side in a woman. The picture below shows photo of Joan Collins from TV series Dynasty. The gown she worn is just so seductive, and with that sheer lilac pantyhose, it can just leave some guys yearning that sheer touch and more... The way she seats in the picture, does that not leave your heart racing for more?

While some may think wearing pantyhose as sexy or seductive, but wearing pantyhose is also to protect the modesty of a woman. Depending on what a lady is wearing underneath her skirt, pantyhose may be the last piece of lingerie to be worn as a dress up for the legs. Depending on the denier scale of the pantyhose, those higher denier pantyhose can act as an addition piece of garment to prevent accidental wardrobe malfunction or unintentional exposure... That is why a lady must always make the effort to wear hosiery for the legs. 

Gloves

Gloves, as a fashion, is never popular in Singapore. It never took off mainly because of the unforgiving hot weather here and also the culture I guess. However, due to the heavy influence by the internet where I came across pictures of gorgeous ladies in satin gloves (mainly from the West), I found myself attracted to them. Especially ladies in long satin gloves, the satin gloves just added a layer of class, femininism and glamour to them. 

There is always a saying, girls look the most beautiful on their wedding day. Look at the above photo of brides in their white wedding gowns, see how the white satin gloves (aka opera gloves) just add the finishing touch to accentuate the beauty of the lady. The long gloves limit and balance the exposed area of a lady just like how two pieces of jigsaws that fit together nicely, it just make them so perfect. Opera gloves were introduced to bring the fashion for covered hands into the bedroom, protect skin during sleep and leisure time, and provide modesty for women during times of travel, visitation, or shared accommodation.

While pantyhose is used to dress up the lower extremities, long satin gloves are used to doll up the upper extremities. Satin gloves add a particularly elegant touch to the formal attire that the lady is wearing, they represent beauty, grace, and high social status. The photo above is another photo of Joan Collins, look at how that lilac coloured satin gloves fit her gown, much like saying, "fits like a glove". The key to it is choosing a suitable colour to suit the dress or gown.  

Another picture from the royal family, the late Princess Diana in a dark purple gown with matching opera gloves. See how the two pieces of garments complement each other to bring that true mark of a lady within her... In the Western culture, some consider it rude or unglam to be bare hands when going for a formal event. Based on a website search, there are rules for wearing gloves to royal events. When royals wear gloves to engagements, there are certain rules they must follow. Gloves must be worn on the way to the event, when shaking hands, standing in a receiving line, and when dancing. Gloves must be taken off — finger by finger — for dinner or when eating any food at all (even a tiny bite) and they can’t be worn at the dinner table. During the meal, they’re supposed to be placed in one’s lap underneath the napkin. See the elaborate etiquette of donning a pair of gloves, so much details for it just to ensure proper conduct and behaviour of a lady.

To end off, the ideal lady should always know how to dress appropriately for the occasion and using the different garments to bring out her most feminine and desirable side. I will leave you all with the last picture of a lady in both pantyhose and satin gloves. See how it make your heart skip a beat. 😉