“I think the analogy between sheer hosiery and fountain pens is far better than the one with CDs/vinyl. Fountain pens, one would have thought, have long passed their use-by date, but they are still on sale everywhere (even W.H. Smith has a large selection, as does Office World). For most important uses, whether in professional life, social letter-writing or signing Wedding registers, the fountain pen still reigns supreme.

“Maybe we are on a sad path to less ‘everyday’ wearing of sheer hosiery (even I concede that it is seen less now than, say, 10 years ago) but to die out completely – that is both unthinkable and unlikely!

“Sheer hosiery will never completely die out. Nylons are always going to be the ‘get out of jail card’ for these manufacturers. Nothing is ever likely to be as popular as sheer hosiery and they know it. That’s why every so often they will target a new generation with new role models helping the campaign. If they paid Posh ‘tart’ Spice a fortune to wear any kind of sheer hosiery tomorrow (and for her it would have to be a fortune!) you can bet your bottom dollar all of a sudden they will be the most popular item since sliced bread!”

“It is funny that you should mention fountain pens, as that exact same thought crossed my mind. I have no idea what the demographics of the fountain pen buyer base are, but I would suspect that they are on the older side. (I myself only use fountain pens, but at 34, I am considered an eccentric in my office).

“If we look for another analogy, consider the classic American station-wagon. From the ’50s to the mid 1980s, the driveways of suburban America were filled with large, traditionally styled, separate-chassis station wagons, replete with whitewall tyres and woodgrain panelling. They were the symbol par supreme of middle-class American family life. Over a few years, the market for these cars collapsed. It was not because of fuel prices or anything like that, it was just that (younger) buyers decided, en masse, that they did not want them anymore.

“This is not the place for a detailed analysis of why, but suffice it to say that General Motors cancelled its last surviving traditional station wagons in 1996 because it could more profitably employ its resources elsewhere. The new generation of buyers had, for whatever reason, decided that the big wagons were no longer desirable, and simple economic logic dictated that production was no longer viable. This same logic is, I firmly believe, applicable to hosiery. Marketing people make mistakes, but they have their finger on the pulse of consumer tastes, and marketers are particularly keen to gauge the tastes of the young, for they make the buying decisions of tomorrow. It really is as simple as that, alas.

“I don’t know where you are based, but here in West Yorkshire, the use of fountain pens is pretty rare. They tend to be confined to doctors, headmasters, solicitors, accountants; that sort of occupation: professionals of a traditionalist leaning, although I concede that there are yet more that use them (myself included). Compared with FF stockings, however, they are as common as the day is long. My last FF stocking sighting occurred in the town of Keighley in the late summer of 1991. Two formally dressed ladies in their late 50s were strolling around town, presumably on their lunch hour. As they passed, it became apparent that one of them was wearing FF nylons. I nearly died of shock, having seen no FFs for many years previously. She noticed my interest and smiled knowingly. Since then, no FF sightings whatsoever, though I have seen other types. FF stockings are – to all intents and purposes – extinct, and have been for a long, long time.”

“After Aristoc ceased their manufacture (on commercial grounds alone) in the mid-1990s, there were a few doldrum years, but fully-fashioned stockings are once again freely available – from at least three different manufacturers, in a variety of styles, colours etc. In fact they’re probably on sale at more outlets (including online) now than at any time since the 1960s. I don’t think that, in the long-term, women are so boringly self-unaware that they will TOTALLY shun sheer legwear.”

“One correspondent recently suggested that the relentless slide toward lowest-common-denominator dress has some merit, i.e. that it made the increasing rarity of stockings all the more desirable. I have to tell you now that I find this argument pure, unalloyed nonsense.

“Firstly, I am sure that I speak for all those readers who enjoyed the second, all too brief, flowering of stockings in the latter 1980s and very much regretted the sudden and, I think, final, collapse of stocking wearing circa 1991-1992. Life is simply much poorer and more dreary without femininity in ladies’ dress. Of more relevance, however, is some actual ‘field’ research I have carried out in the past two weeks. Desperate to establish why the trend has been toward ever more casual (indeed, ultra-casual) dress, I began to quiz young women of the ages 18-25(ish) on their tastes and preferences. Without exception, all expressed their distaste for tights. A few grudgingly complied, wearing 70 denier opaque tights, but only when they absolutely had to, i.e. in those workplaces where such a dress code existed. I then openly asked the question: what of stockings and suspenders? Again, without exception, every single one expressed their complete scorn for the very idea. One suggested that she might wear white stockings on her wedding day, and another thought that perhaps she might wear them ‘in the bedroom’ (her words) to give her fiance a special treat.

“The last of these ‘interviews’ took place in a pub on Wednesday evening; every female present wore either trousers, jeans, leggings or tracksuit bottoms. My research was carried out in the north of England, but I suspect its results hold true for the rest of the country. Given that these women are the future, it seems highly likely that hosiery in general is in terminal decline and stockings, obviously, will be the first to go. The attitudes of the women I questioned were unequivocal: we don’t want to know. Peer-group pressure, an immensely strong force, will guarantee conformity. So, those here who enjoy the ‘exclusivity’ of those ‘rare and exciting’ glimpses, savour your next sighting, it may be your last.”

“For several years now I have been keeping a count of how many times I have seen a woman wearing stockings. Just for the record these are the results

1990 32
1991 – 56
1992 – 138
1993 – 144
1994 – 74
1995 – 81
1996 – 59
1997 – 81
1998 – 138
1999 – 104
2000 – 140

“I’m not sure that this really proves anything, except that here are still plenty of women wearing stockings if you know where to look.”

“I don’t know if there are geographic, economic and social class factors at work here, but as a Londoner, I can confirm that professional women (including businesswomen, lawyers, secretaries etc) in London wear dresses/skirts almost all of the time, and whilst I agree that it is not universal, I see no sign of extinction of hosiery (opaques in winter, sheer in summer) for a long time yet!

“Even on a recent week-end trip to Nottingham, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of women, of all ages, wearing dresses/skirts, and hosiery of one sort or another – and these were clearly not being worn as part of an office dress-code etc. I was also pleased with the quality of the legs seen!

“I also live near a prep school, and a number of the mothers I see every day collecting their children are wearing dresses and hosiery. These are, by and large ‘stay at home’ mothers and housewives.

“So, I’m happy to spread a note of optimism amongst all the gloom and doom!”

“You are both right and wrong in my opinion. Strangely enough I have also had the odd conversation with some women in the appropriate setting when answers are more likely to be given more freely and truthfully. Down here in London I fairly frequently catch a glimpse/definite telltale sign that a fair number of women under 30 (even 25) are wearing stockings these days. But I don’t think the ridiculous cost of living down here is worth putting up with just for that, however nice it may be!”

“Having read today’s ‘Times’ Part 2 supplement, there’s an article confirming the ‘bare legged in all weathers’ look as a Northern thing, and a ghastly photograph of a couple of slappers sitting outside a Newcastle nightclub wearing criminally short skirts, and warming their ugly bared toes! To add insult to injury, the article goes on to say something about the only non bare-legs seen in the wintry North being women wearing opaques, who are regarded as wimps by all the others!”

“I think you need to broaden your horizons. In the shop I see women in stockings every day – aged from 18 right up to their 60s. Around town fishnets are everywhere you look. Okay, so they are probably tights but it shows that girls are thinking about what they’re wearing on their legs and that’s a good sign.

“I have to admit that when I go to the launderette I don’t wear stockings but if I’m going anywhere remotely interesting then I dress up a little.”

“Fact: fashion is cyclical.

“Fact: in my experience young women around my age seem to be increasingly turning to holdups which, while still maybe not enough for the purists, is a Very Good Thing.”

“I’ve read articles about nylon stockings and without doubt the fact they have been a phenomenon (easy for me to say!) over 60 years is proof of the pudding. But it’s fair to say sales will never reach the heights they once did. It could be a fashion cycle issue or it might be a society issue but one thing’s for certain, if any product is not advertised to the widest audiences it won’t sell too well. During the eighties nylons were advertised on British TV, newspapers, bus shelters and those giant bill boards (crikey the number of times I nearly hit a lamppost when driving past the boards!).