Are Stockings, Suspenders, Garter Belts (or Garterbelts) Worn by Women Just to Please Men?

To answer this, we need to look at a little lingerie history as well as the psychology of stockings and sexual desire. However, its a good bet that both parties enjoy those stockings!

Along the way I’ll toss in my personal experiences of these intimate, sensual garments and there will be a practical exercise at the end where you can put some stockings on and have some fun!

Until the 1960’s the majority of men didn’t routinely view woman’s stocking tops, suspenders or thighs. The glimpse of a stocking was ‘something shocking’ (as the old song goes). The ‘accidental’ sight, by a guy, of a woman adjusting a suspender was often highly sexually charged, provocative and extremely naughty!

This voyeuristic view of stockings and women’s underwear generally can be clearly seen in countless pinups of this era. Very much in the tradition of ‘what the butler saw’ gazing furtively through a keyhole.

This all changed in the 1960’s when mini skirts made stockings held up by suspenders totally impractical. Stocking purchases slumped while female hemlines and tights sales soared skywards.

Strangely the swinging 60s were not all that that sexy. The evidence is quite clear from photographs of the time.

Nudity was all the rage and there was much talk of ‘free love’ yet tights are probably the least erotic and comfortable underwear ever invented.

The 1960s Liberated Woman was less mysterious and more in ‘your face’. What you saw was what you got. There was apparently plenty of sex but very little eroticism or glamour.

By the year 2000, however, the role of lingerie and women’s clothes generally had subtly changed. Women's clothing was less about functionality and more about style and fashion and there was an increasing interest in lingerie.

The design of female underwear became more fashion focused with the aim of dressing up to empower women and make them feel more desirable and sexy.

Today, men are attracted to stockings (unlike tights) because they are not perceived as part of normal everyday female dress. They are a potent male trigger, closely associated with pinups, models and overt sexuality.

To men, self supporting stockings alone are highly charged visual cues even without the addition of taut suspenders.

Something about the contrast of soft vulnerable white flesh of upper thigh against the slightly rough fabric of black nylon. The visual contrast is equally potent with say Afro skin colour overlaid with a pure white stocking.

Add to this, the sense of touch and the possibility (or male imagination) of sliding ones finger tips over a girl’s knee and upwards towards the stocking top and the yielding flesh above and you have an instant male flash point. Men (as we girls know only too well) have a one track mind!

Note: this article is the copyright of Gina Coole and if it appears on any website other than Hubpages.com then it has been stolen.

However there is more. If we add to the stocking top recipe taut suspenders that hold the stocking in tension with a suspender (garter) belt, corset or basque, then the mixture becomes even more potent.

The tensioned stockings grip the thighs tightly while the suspenders are taut across the thigh to the belt or girdle that in turn binds the waist.

The whole becomes an intricate architecture of desire, a balance of elastic forces and potential energy bound against vulnerable flesh.

Finally, throw in fishnet stockings with the legs held tightly in a mesh then the whole mix becomes explosive.

Gina pauses to unbutton her blouse a little. It suddenly seems a little hot in here!

So far, I’ve talked mainly about the appreciation of stockings by men. But women too get a real kick out of knowing that their lingerie makes them appear hot to males.

In my teenage years, I thought stockings were only for my parents generation. The stuff of Carry On Films or the original St Trinian's Movies.

My second experience of stockings wearing was in my mid 20s with a casual purchase of a suspender (garter) belt and black stockings (My first experience is recounted elsewhere).

My then boyfriend had more or less lost interest in me physically and appeared to be more turned on by photos of tarty models wearing stockings (and not much else) in men's mags or online.

The story begins on the evening of our second anniversary together and tonight he was actually taking me out to dinner.

I therefore got home early, deciding to mount a counter attack against his stocking clad photo hotties. I began with a long, hot soak in a highly scented bath surrounded by flickering candles to get me in the mood.

I then dried myself, put on my best (sexiest) push up bra and knickers and then carefully and slowly rolled those lovely new stockings over my legs. I admired myself in the mirror (I do have quite good legs) and then fastened the suspender belt tightly around my waist.

At this point I felt just a little breathless and faint. Stockings do that to me, I'm afraid. Then comes the best bit; fastening each of those loose suspenders to the stockings and tightening them.

Now I could feel the extra tension in the stockings gripping my thighs, feel the black suspenders taut across my pale flesh and the additional strain being transmitted to the suspender belt.

I wiggled and turned feeling both a sense of containment and yet the contrasting nakedness of my thighs.

When I’d done displaying myself in the full length mirror, I slipped on my favourite party frock with plunging neckline. This fabulous slinky dress is full length but has an overlapping slit to the thigh so with careful manipulation you can display as much leg as you desire.

Gina's tender trap was now fully baited. When lover boy appeared at the door to picked me up I asked him in and, in the process of gathering up keys, handbag and phone, allowed my dress to open to reveal the suspenders.

I made no comment but put on my long trench coat, buttoned it up tight and led the way to the car. Boy friend was overcome with interest in my underwear but I sternly reminded him to keep his eyes on the road.

The stockings weren’t mentioned again during the journey but I could see the thought of them was eating away at his boyish brain.

During each course of the meal I gave him at least one tempting glimpse of my upper leg by such manoeuvres as dropping a knife and then innocently retrieving it.

I’ve never seen a man so desperate to get the bill and exit a restaurant. However, I insisted on coffee, called for a refill and then lingered long and flirtatiously over a large liquor.

Eventually I allowed him to wave frantically for the check, drag me rapidly from the restaurant and drive me, F1 style, to my cosy flat.

I was tempted to kiss him goodbye on the doorstep and then sweetly close the door in his face. But the feel of those those sensational stockings lead me astray and I invited him in.

Needless to say he wasn't interested in more coffee but only in removing my coat and then getting me onto the sofa. I sank blissfully into a pile of cushions and closed my eyes.

I felt his eager lips upon mine and the touch of the fingers of his left hand sliding achingly slowly up the side of my stocking. The other hand caressed the back of my neck then moved slowly downwards towards my bra.

For someone who had just eaten such a large meal he was amazingly hungry. I lay there in breathless anticipation, eagerly speculating on where the journey of his wandering fingers might end.

Anyway, so what is my point?

Well stockings, suspenders and garter belts obviously bring pleasure to men. They provide powerful visual cues and also tactile cues (for those guys lucky enough to get that up close and personal!).

They can also clearly be a catalyst in reviving a flagging physical relationship both inside or outside of marriage.

For women (especially Gina) they are a tool of seduction and can empower women to feel good about themselves. They also feel sensual and sexy when we put them on and the wearing of them can stimulate female desire and arousal.

Stockings are a key prop in an erotic drama that may be played out in the public domain but invariably climaxes in a more private, intimate act. Clearly both men and women can benefit from such a highly charged encounter!

A warning at this point. Never use these tactics on a first date or to pick up a stranger. We girls should not behave like hookers (unless that is our chosen profession or your vocation of choice!). Stocking seduction works best when enlivening an existing, stable relationship.

Well that's the theory over. Now Girls, its time for the practical! Over to you to experiment in the laboratory of life and test out some of these these ideas.

So you know what to do next.

First choose some fabulous underwear, a gorgeous garter or suspender belt and some sensual stockings. Plain or Fishnets - its up to you. The easiest place to look is Online.

Next try them on and get used to the enjoyment of wearing them. Finally plan how you will deploy them to seduce your man and soup up your relationship in the process!