Cinnamon

To be fair, there were several other rockabilly/sailor jerry style tattoos on many of the girls I've seen with tattooed seams, so it kind of fits. I'd be too concerned of the tattooist not getting my seams straight. The ability to tug and pull them into place is somewhat reassuring

Haha my grandmother always used gravy browning to do hers. Personally, I prefer post war fashion and the days when the industry gave fabric rationing a firm middle finger salute. I've seen girls with a back seam tattooed on the back of their legs too. I suppose they'd save money on buying real FF stockings.

Funny you should bring these up as I was just scouring the Net-a-Porter pages after being sent the regular mail update from them... And I saw these efforts from the McCartney woman. However, I'm not overly surprised to see something like that coming from her. I find her efforts quite passable on the whole. I think it's something to do with my resenting high end prices when she doesn't even use leather and design wise she's mediocre at best. I think anybody who can attempt to justify satin python print dungarees for an Autumn collection needs their head seeing to. Having a famous Daddy seems to have many benefits. So, in short, YUCK!

Thanks for the tips Alexa, I'll pick up a can when I'm next passing the chemists

What is popular and trendy isn't usually synonymous with what I wear. I tend to just stick to styles that I like and suit me rather than following what the fashion magazines dictate. So, in answer to the latter question first, I'm probably not the best person to ask as a representative on other women's hosiery choices. Harrods and Selfridges etc. seem to have a rather even keel between the two in terms of selection. I would imagine that to get an accurate answer to that you'd have to either get hold of the hosiery sales figures from M&S or conduct a consumer survey. I can however talk for myself and answer the first question. Similarly to when I first made the switch from tights to stockings when I was 15, I prefer to wear stockings, but as aforementioned, when the clips show through too much I opt for hold ups, but predominantly stockings with a suspender belt - preferably 6 metal clips. I rarely go bare legged completely unless in obvious circumstances such as swimming/sun bathing etc. I personally have never cared for the bare leg look and tend towards the French attitudes to fashion rather than laissez-faire approaches displayed in the UK such as pattern mis-matching and mixing browns/blacks/navy blues willy nilly. I find bare legs make a look unfinished. Just my personal opinion, though bear in mind that as a natural redhead I don't tan and thus don't really dig the mini milk look. Girls with perfectly tanned, unblemished and hair free legs can get away with it. Unfortunately, so many don't fit all three criteria and stubble/ingrown hairs and other unsightly things tend to be paraded round. A product I'd be keen to experiment with was the spray on stocking stuff I once saw. Perhaps that would be the bridge of compromise for warmer days My fashion icon of all time is Christian Dior, and I follow a fair bit of his advice that was issued in the late 40s and 50s. I think that probably says a lot about where I stand on the matter. Whilst fashion ought to be played around with and one ought to have fun with it, fashion and style tend to be different practices that don't always go hand in hand. One can be stylish without wearing trendy clothes, and vice versa, but I find the religious trend followers tend to look like people who have fallen for a mass sales pitch. So I'm probably not the best person to ask in terms of trends. I do read Vogue and Harpers loosely, but disregard anything that doesn't apply to me since I don't work as a stylist despite being accused of it in the past.

Spawn

Yes, it's not really that hardcore in terms of the amount of codeine in it, so it's an over-the-counter job. For all the headache tablets out there, I find they're the most affective for some reason. I don't take anything the docs give me for the migraines anymore. They prescribed Diclofenac for years which is one of the reasons why my stomach is ruined and recently given me Tramadol, a morphine derivative which I haven't even taken as I've found morphine so disgusting in the past when in hospital that I don't fancy hallucinating when wanting to decapitate myself. Edit: I'm not sure if that's available in the US as the above applies to the UK.

I don't think many people opt for the "lobster doing a handstand" look.

The stuff I put on my head is called 4head and costs just under £5 at decent chemists. I know it has menthol in it and perhaps peppermint. It has the double whammy of cooling the affected area and an aromatherapy action. I get migraines a fair bit too and find that an ice pack on the back of the neck can help too. Apparently this is where the nerve endings from the spine affecting the pain levels in the head are located and the coldness helps with any inflammation. Waking up with a headache may be caused by a badly aligned neck on your pillow through the night. I try not to take tablets myself anymore as my stomach isn't in the best condition nowadays thanks to previous medications taking their toll. But when all else fails and I'm feeling a migraine coming on, I'd rather take Syndol (codeine and paracetamol) than end up in hospital potentially with something more horrid being pumped into me intravenously.

If anybody took my shoes off me and did anything with them like pouring liquid in them all of hell would break loose. Fortunately, I've never encountered this - maybe something to do with having a "school mistress" air about me. Rather, I've had the exact opposite reaction in terms of guys wanting me to keep my shoes on, even when everything else goes I don't mind at all, heels do wonders for the ass that age has a habit of weighing down. As for shoes slipping off... I've had it happen a few times and it's all rather funny. I don't like to take myself too seriously and provided nobody's hurt (mostly myself), I'll have a giggle about it. In fact at a wedding in the past few days, I had to brave a rather uneven lawn in red Pigalles. I sank a heel and nearly flew into the father of the groom (he seemed rather amused too haha). Another occasion was wearing 5.5" stilettos to an air field on a hot day. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody... the tarmac seemed to melt a bit and had a glue-like effect which made for a farcical little scene of losing one shoe and then losing the other as I was putting my foot into the first lost shoe.

Hmm... as ugly as I find regular trainers, and these glorified plimsolls could be tarted up in a vintage tennis girl kinda way (allegedly very SS10 which is probably why these have surfaced in the first place)... I think I'll pass. Trainers for me are a practical choice rather than a style choice and I don't think these babies would be doing the knees any favours whilst going for a run. All in all, I'll stick to sitting on my ass with a pair of 5" stilettos on my tootsies thankyouverymuch I think people with a more casual style to me could pull them off though.

Good old Facebook has just thrown me into revulsion as an old friend posted that the Jeffrey Campbell "Tribute" shoes inspired by McQueen's claws are on her "lust list".

She normally has good taste, so I looked.

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f48/lf-mcqueen-tribute-armadillo-shoe-104709.html

I wasn't a fan of the originals as shoes go, but as an artform, I could appreciate them at least. The knock-offs are just another matter though. In my opinion anyway.

Anybody here actually like these?

Beaver

As a female who has been on the receiving end of unprofessional behaviour from male bosses in the past, I could have sympathised. However, I think she's taking a leaf out of Georgina Baillie's book and is likely to get a feature in one of these oh-so-classy lad's mags as a result of this little affair, with her puppies out which will then pay for her "career enhancement". I know I personally wouldn't have dreamed of broadcasting to the whole world that my boss tried to seduce me. I'd be rather concerned that my future employers would see me as somewhat of a troublemaker. Then again, my career of choice and aspiration isn't prancing around in hotpants and shaking my money maker/s.

I have no idea if the micro mesh stockings are "an American thing" as I'm British and living in London. Hot foot it to any good quality department store like Selfridges or Harvey Nicks and you'll find them. My favourite micro mesh brand are Lejaby, but I never noticed them doing panty hose. But like I said, I don't wear them so don't really look out for them.

I'm not too fussed about clips showing through a little, though on very clingy garments, I tend to opt for hold ups if the clips would ruin the fluidity of the garment. Fishnets, I find, are a little funny in terms of the different kinds out there. Some I think look awful, but if you opt for a tighter mesh and of a good quality, they look good. The best stockings available, in my opinion, are the micromesh ones rather than traditional style. They're impossible to ladder and look just as good if not better. They do tend to cost a little more though. The last pair I got were £35, but it's worth the extra as one pair costs less in the long term than buying multiple pairs of fully fashioned that will get snagged and ladder within a couple of wears. I fear we may get a slap on the wrist for taking this thread too off the topic of shoes

For leggings I'm not too keen on exposing them when they're round my waist, hence the oversized jumpers if they're long. For the cropped top, I like my leggings to be skimming the hip bone. When I want trousers that sit in the waist, I go for something with a little more detail. American Apparel did some great, ultra-tight trousers with zip front and button like most jeans. They're proper Sandy pants

I wear the fishnets as they are, I don't really wear tights and I find two pairs of stockings a little uncomfortable and awkward in the suspender clips.

Would be interesting to hear how they actually came by creating this list since my Loubous seem to follow a different pattern. Best example would be Pigalle 120 which I take in a 34.5 whereas my usual size is 36...

Standing naturally at a vertically challenged 5'1", I need all the help I can get, well that's my excuse anyhow, so stripper heels were my introduction to vertiginous heights before I could afford to splash out on classier examples, and also whilst the fashion heels weren't so high or the heels weren't the right shape for me. As such, I still have a soft spot for them and tend to wear them if I'm going to dives of clubs with latex outfits as (similarly to previously mentioned) it doesn't matter if they get trashed, scuffed, dirty or whatever. Plus, they go well with the outfits. If going to an industrial/goth/fetish club that has a history of putting kitty litter on the steps in order to stop people slipping, Loubous are not the order of the day. So I would say that they are incomparable as they both have their different places in my shoe collection. And the same goes for handbags. I wouldn't take a Dior handbag to a gig where it's going to have beer spilt on it and python scales, where applicable, rubbed off by the pushing and shoving nor am I going to take a cheap little thing that I paid £20 for to a soiree at Louboutin.

Oh my, they are making my right arm have subconscious urges to reach for my wallet and buy a pair

Gorgeous shoes!

I personally would be inclined to steer clear of the jeans with a shoe that pretty unless the jeans were the type to cling closely and stop at the ankle. (I do have a habit to steer towards 50s bad girl in terms of jeans though - think Sandy in that final scene of Grease.)

I'm a bit of a pedant though when it comes to making sure my shoes are seen if they're showy and often create the outfit from them.

I appreciate that being a guy, perhaps the freedom to do so can be diminished unless feminine is a look that you don't mind sporting.

As for only being able to wear them with formal dress? Nonsense! I'd team those babies with cropped and tight jeans and a suitable top and rock a bit of a 50s chick look as well as putting them with a knee length skirt and a coordinating blouse for a less formal but smarter look.

With all due respect to your good wife, in my opinion, saying satin is only for formal wear is like saying leather is only for dominatrices and if that's the case, I'm in a pickle!

For me, it really depends on the rest of the outfit too. I'm quite a fan of fishnet too, though as a general rule, I never go for dark stockings with lighter shoes. I like to be adventurous with stockings, though not in terms of colour. My staples are backseamed with either a cuban or french point heel, but the seam can be various colours, or even with one pair from Agent Provocateur, a snake winding down the back of the leg. I have a weakness for bows too that sit just above the heel. Very colourful stockings tend not to fit into my personal style, so I stick to nude or sheer black.

This is just the look that I was sporting when I was spotted on the tube by a fellow HHPlace member I like leggings provided they're teamed with the right length top and shoes/boots. In terms of the top, I tend to either go for the oversized jumper dressed up, so something that slightly covers the gluteus maximus, or with the leggings cropped and low slung with something that sits on the bottom of the ribcage. The former goes with boots, the latter with something a little more retro 50s inspired. I'm quite dull insomuch that I always stick to black. Though I found some interesting leather look leggings that are great for something a little more daring. I love some of the offerings of Les Chiffoniers in terms of leggings, but alas, they don't go down to my size. So American Apparel is my stretchy temple.

I'm a 36, and although Miu Miu do a 36, when I tried them on they were huge and they didn't go smaller. I cuold've done with a 35 in that style. It's quite crazy how the designer shoes can vary in size so much. For example I take a 34.5 in Loubou Pigalles. Thanks for the link, I'm going to do some searching for those babies