A Complete Guide To Hold Ups

Stockings Or Hold Ups?

The difference between the two is that stockings require a suspender belt and straps to hold the item in place. A pair of hold ups use a thin strip of silicone to keep the garment in place. Each morning, attaching a suspender belt can add up to five minutes to your routine, depending on how many straps you have on yours and other factors. You can begin to see why a garment as beautiful and alluring as stockings would be the perfect item for a designer to change and innovate. But what do you loose when you take away that belt and replace it with silicone?

Well, hold ups are one of the rare instances where you can bring convenience into something and not sacrifice anything about the design or compromise on what you love. That’s a very rare thing indeed in the world of fashion. Just think about some of your shoes and the how the ones that look great on are the ones that tend to be the least enjoyable to walk in. With hold ups, you don’t loose any of the style or the sexiness when you forego stockings and other more traditional garments. They look almost identical, but without the belt or straps.

That is the only real difference in appearance, but it might be the deciding factor for you. Many people like the look of the traditional stocking design and having a series of accoutrements to go with their clothing. It’s like wearing a corset or for gentleman, wearing suspenders over a belt. It’s a quaint and lovely tradition that bring a smile to many people’s faces, but often, you don’t want to do this each and every day. Instead, save that for special occasions and use the more convenient garment for everyday use.

Silicone In Your Leg Wear

The only other thing you need to think about before trying hold ups is quite important. Namely, that some people do have an allergy to silicone. This is not a very common allergy and it is usually not a very strong one, meaning you end up with just a small rash or irritation. This is one reason why stockings are still so popular, but don’t worry. Silicone allergies are one of the rarer allergies out there. As it most often surfaces after hours of wearing hold ups, try one pair and keep a spare pair of tights in your bag just in case. You’ll either know for sure that you have difficulty wearing them, or you’ll have a new favourite garment to enjoy.

Summer Hold Ups

But let’s not talk too much about the negatives. What do you get with hold ups that you might not expect to find? Hold ups are a lot more convenient, as we’ve already covered, but there’s one thing that you might not have imagined would be a benefit until you try them for yourself. They are ideal for warm weather. They have no brief section or any material that covers the legs higher than the mid-thigh. That makes them the item with the maximum amount of style with the benefit of going bare legged in the scorching summer. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the heat of the summer that you can use hold ups as a lighter garment. Some women just don’t like tights at all, no matter the weather, as they are close fitting and can feel clingy and stifling.

For those who want something more free and easy, hold ups are a great option. They are the best choice for women who dislike their outfits being crowded by too much material but want the beauty of lace and the stunning appearance of a backseam hold ups or a contrasting colour. If that sounds like you, try a pair of hold ups and you won’t regret it.

So if you are looking to try them for the first time, where should you start? Well, you can always try a more basic pair and see if you like them, but we wouldn’t recommend this for everyone. The better the quality of the item, the better grade of silicone they use, the better the material and the more comfortably it sits. This is because luxury brands use a lot of engineering techniques that make they items sit perfectly still rather than cling to your skin. A great pair of hold ups feels like you have nothing on at all. Rather than feeling like something is clung to you.

So we recommend a better brand, such as Oroblu, Kunert or some of or Wolford’s hold ups. Many of these brands design items that are fashion pieces and can be stunning but expensive. Their essentials ranges are the perfect place to try exquisite leg wear and find something you love. Once you try hold ups of this quality, you will change the way you dress completely. You’ll fall in love with their quality and find your whole outfit is transformed. Even with such a small but meaningful change. So, if you want a garment that’s almost perfect in every single way, hold ups are the ideal choice. They are easy to slip on, quick to adjust and look sexy. And they are as beautiful as any other garment in the world of leg wear.

History Of Hold Ups

Hold ups are one of the more recent items in hosiery history. But not many people associate them with modern fashion. That’s exactly how this fantastic invention came about. They bring together the old and the new. But take a look at what makes hold ups or (stay up stockings) different from stockings and you’ll realise just how new and cutting edge they are, the silicone bands.

These bands are made of tactile silicone, a revolutionary substance created in 1901. Silicone is easy to make, non-toxic, biodegradable and durable. This is remarkably new for leg wear. As leggings and stockings have been used in various forms for centuries longer than this. The uses of silicone are wide and varied. They made perfect sense for the job of keeping your leg wear in place. The only drawback of hold-ups that use silicone is that a very small proportion of people are allergic. But mostly, the reaction is just slight irritation after a very long wear. The kind of silicone used, however, is ideal in every other way. It grips continuously like a glue-free adhesive, so your legs stay residue free. It simply stays in place and doesn’t even pull on your skin as you wear it.

In the early 20th Century, these qualities made silicone the perfect choice for leg wear manufacturers. Especially those who were looking to make a stocking that stayed up by itself without the use of suspender straps. As soon as it became popular for other purposes, designers of hosiery started to experiment with it. Only a few years later, the first hold ups were released and they became an instant success. Replacing the need for their more traditional counterparts, hold ups became beloved of women. In a world where women were becoming increasingly more involved in public life. Such as moving into the workplace, good looking clothing was not the only thing on a woman’s mind. Efficient and easy to use personal goods became more important. Both for their convenience and for their ability to bring together the professional and the stylish at the same time.

Fashion Hold Ups: The Modern Age Of Hold Ups

Hold ups evolved more and more each year and with the advent of other kinds of manufacturing. Like fabric printing and more complicated knitting, fashion designers started to experiment with new designs. These items can be as beautiful and creative as any fashion tights. And the inclusion of a lace top can present a designer with possibilities and new ideas. Certainly more than a plain pair of tights wouldn’t.

Today, sheer of opaque hold-ups are still used to bring the sophisticated and the convenient together, but that doesn’t mean they need to be plain or dour. The use of timeless choices in pattern, colour and other elements of clothing design can make a design. It can make your items both breathtaking and classic.

A designer that wants this in their range might go for red along with the more traditional black. Such as including a contrasting seam or a red and black lace with a plain leg. Or you can choose a pattern instead. Floral or lacy patterns are often selected, as they were some of the most common in classic leg wear. And they help to preserve the vintage look of many lace top hold ups.

But modernity is just as alive and well in the fashion world as the timeless is. Many designers choose to go for a sleek and lace-free top. This leaves room for more creative patterns or more modern motifs. Diamonds, stripes, polka dots and anything that can be printed or knitted can be found in modern fashion hold ups. There are even some designers that do fully coloured floral arrangements. They look just like a watercolour or include sparkling lurex to give your legs an eye-catching shimmering effect.

Whatever you choose, there are hold ups for everyone and for every taste, fashion, vintage seamed hold ups, experimental or otherwise.