Stockings VIII

s this is the first time in four years since I’ve posted..
[Ed: You posted in February!]
No I didn’t, that was you! You found the story and all I did was give you the go ahead to post it. Go and put the kettle on. This is going to be at least a two pots of tea post. That is if I can get it up and running.
[Ed: Your problem is it takes ages to get moving and then you ramble on and on and it ends up, by the look of the title, as an eight part trilogy!]
Stop complaining! And where’s me tea!?
[Ed: Which mug would Madam like?]
You know very well..
As said it’s been sometime. This is mainly due to nothing really happening on the Abi front apart from the usual rare opportunities to dress. Added to that in the last two years, due to MrsA having her weekly painting and theatre 'out of house classes' cancelled because of lockdowns, my very rare dressing 'in house classes’ were also cancelled.

As Ed: observed correctly, yes, again a post about stockings. But this time, more about my experiences with attempting to keep them up.

[Ed: As Madam is a Brit, Madam will be using the term suspenders and suspender belt for garters and garter belt. Also in general the term tights will be used to cover pantyhose, sheer hosiery and of course tights.
I won’t mention that Madam is also an Essex girl as it is irrelevant to this post.]
Shu'up!
That’s bang out of order!
Struth..

Please note dear reader that, to Ed’s: and everyone else’s relief, this will be the conclusion of my stockings saga.
[Ed: Believe it when I don’t see it!]
Going by the last few years I don’t see it either, as there isn't anything new in my daily routine legs wise. Even if, through either accident or design, I come fully out to MrsA I don’t think my limited ‘exposure’ in the cellar, even in my white stilettos, will change. Knowing about Abigale and seeing her around the house are two different things.

If any of you have followed my previous stocking posts, I mentioned that my phlebologist gave me my first pair of compression stockings. It didn’t occur to me at the time to try other colours. Their colour was not relevant as I was quite frankly just trying to get use to wearing stockings and not considering what colour they were.
But when I was at work I thought it would be a good idea to go for black as they would look just like black socks when my trousers would inadvertently slide up when sitting down. When I was ordering them I realised there were other colours available.
[Ed: See the story in Stockings V]

After that I started to work my way through all the colours in the chart except for the last two, Magenta Rose and Palm Green. Apart from the cost, they are far more expensive than the others, I think the colours are more suited for a number of generations younger than me..

As the rest of this post is about my experience with suspender belts and could be somewhat boring, I thought I would add a few pictures of my legs in some of the colours from the above Jobst chart..
[Ed: Please note that this post is in no way sponsored from Jobst.]
Was that necessary?
[Ed: No idea, you tell me.]
As you’ve heard all this before go and select a few leg pictures to scatter about below.
[Ed: That will take time as there are 7,625 pictures from the last 6 years to go through, most of which are just badly shot. Also as the pictures were not all taken in daylight but in the catacombs of the cellar, the colours will not always match the chart.]
Oh! Ok then do your best.
But first lets have another pot of tea..

[Ed: What’s all this flogging this stocking lark to death anyway. Haven’t you anything else to go on about?]
Well yes I have a post in the making which, as far as I can remember, doesn’t mention directly stockings or suspenders. Well at least there are no pictures of them.

Ok let's get on. I’ll back track a bit so as to get up to speed.

Caramel

The reason for ‘all this stocking lark’ as Ed: puts it, is because I have to wear compression stockings to help my veins do what they should do. Unfortunately this 'should do' has been going downhill since about 16 years. The valves at the top of the legs have slowly given up and on top of that the other valves started to follow suit so I also developed varicose veins.
And as this wasn't boring enough I found out last summer that I have severe lumbar spinal stenosis (L4/L5/S2) which mixes in nicely with my CVI.

Over the years my surface leg veins have complained but thankfully my deep veins have stayed healthy and would take the brunt of the blood circulation in my legs when I eventually got round to having the varicose veins stripped.
Well, all things were going smoothly.."
[Ed: They do look smooth don't they. Must be all that elastane in them.]
Yes, 47% Polyether-polyurea copolymer but it's also because I shave me legs..
[Ed: My remark was about the stockings!]
So was mine..
As I was saying, all was going well until Spring19 when my veins really started to complain with bouts of thrombosis that had to be treated over a year with blood thinners. I won’t go on about the OP only to say the thrombosis problematic is still there but not so drastic as before the OP.

My suspenders timeline started at the end of 2015 when I ordered my first suspender belt from Rago (see left) which was recommended from one of my readers. Well it was the second one as the Welsh Post decided to keep the first one. (See the full story Stockings VI).
I know it's some time since that post but if any of you recall the suspenders had arrived but I kept them out of sight of MrsA. I finally go around to informing her that the first pair was lost and that I had ordered a new pair from another company (Sockingshq) which could send them directly to Germany.

Natural

After they arrived I wanted to wear them a few times before officially informing MrsA that they had arrived. I'm not sure why all the secrecy. I should have seen them as a medical 'support' to keep up my compression stockings and that's all.
I think my problem was, and still is, that fastening stockings to suspenders has always been for me an act of pure femininity. My adventuring into this realm was up to now, apart from my Airings here, a private matter. And now I was doing this ‘act’ on a daily bases in broad daylight even if they were only medical stockings.

In my mind it was all somewhat embarrassing, especially if MrsA would catch me infraganti bending over doing up the straps or unclipping them. Well one morning she eventually caught me in the act.

The caught in the act was interesting; it showed that MrsA hadn’t worn stockings in a very long time. As I was fastening my suspenders to my stockings MrsA came out of the bathroom, she looked at me and remarked “the straps go over the underpants!”
I stopped and looked up.
I was a little taken back that she hadn’t come out with the ‘what are you doing!?’ phase. Thinking about it, it was obvious what I was doing and so I suspect she skipped it and went straight to the logistics.

Bronze

”No” I said, “under not over” and carried on pulling the straps down, through and under my underpants and fastening them. I explained the difference between adverts and practicability and of course she agreed.
With all this she didn’t give me the impression that she had a problem with it all and I realized this cloak and dagger farce was rather stupid. I told myself that I would be putting on stockings and suspenders for the rest of my life and should deal with it!

I could of course glue up my stockings all the time, but apart from the keep up functionality, I wear a suspender belt because I like to wear them!
Also a suspender belt, even with wear and tear, is in the long run cheaper than glue. They range from about 28-40€ depending on the number of straps and what I call, the frilliness factor. The Rago which are rather plain but with more material cost about 50€. A 60ml bottle of ‘adhesion lotion’ costs about 18-22€ and lasts about 30 applications (roughly 1 ml/leg).
Both have pros and cons. Gluing is not so fiddly and is quick as long as one remembers not to bend down too much before they dry otherwise you can start over. Also as it’s a sticky procedure it needs to be washed off every evening. I tend to glue when going out of the house and, just in case, carry a bottle around with me..
[Ed: Why not carry an emergency suspender belt in the coat pocket?]

Anthracite

Oh that would be fun. I go to take out a handkerchief and don’t realise until the last moment I had pulled out instead a pair of my cute silky suspenders!
On me Tod, no problem, but in company there would be some explaining to do. Especially after the first question ‘Are they yours!?’
No, I’ll rather stick to the bottle … no that doesn’t sound right … anyway you know what I mean..


Fastening suspenders can be time consuming, especially with contortions and my arthritic fingers. As I have mentioned before the straps don’t always hold, it depends on the strap tension. That’s why I strap mainly when I’m at home. When one gets free there are at least two others per leg as backup.
[Ed: Why not go for tights, would stop all this gluing and spontaneous strap uncoupling?]
I have thought about it and have decided to add a pair to my next buy. As you can see from the chart they have a slightly different colour range to their stockings. What also makes them interesting is there are two colours with a pattern, but I can just imagine the look on MrsA's face when I would come down the stairs in them..(sigh).
Tights have a different logistic than with stockings, a combined effort so to speak. You have to work alternately on both legs at the same time. With normal tights a little more complicated than stockings. But with compression level 2 (18–24 mmHg), I suspect it will not be an easy task getting them on. Compression stockings are bad enough.
[Ed: Whatever colour you choose for the tights you should have matching panties.]
Never thought about that..
Ok, as it’s you, I must have.
But its good that you brought it up..
[Ed: Why?]
New Post..
[Ed: Me and my big mouth!]

Well that was my experience with my first proper suspenders..

Silver-Grey

[Ed: Sorry, they were not your first..]
We are being fastidious today aren’t we?
Yes, there was another pair, but they were made for me by MrsA. Hence my reference to the Rago garters as ‘proper’.
[Ed: As this post will be more about suspenders than what the title suggests.
I think you can further elaborate on those first suspenders that were briefly mentioned in Stockings VI and in My first heels.]
Really?
That was sometime ago and all pretty hazy.
But if you think it fits here then let’s have another go at it.

It was the beginning of the 80’s and we had bought a VHS cassette of the film Rocky Horror Picture Show. We have always been fans of the show. The music and the story are quite brilliant and what made it unforgettable for me was seeing all those black high heels waving and walked about on.

[Ed: Not only the heels..]
Yes, the rest of their attire was also nice, but it was mainly the heels..

MrsA mentioned it would be nice to dress up for our private viewing at the weekend, as with the ardent fans at the cinema.
I was slightly taken back with this. I certainly would not have made the suggestion, well not out loud.
MrsA checked her wardrobe for appropriate accessories. The result was that we had to go shopping for a roll of black elastic band and black lace to make suspender belts and also a trip to the local drug store to buy black stockings.
I knew where to look as they are a part of the display with socks. Of course when I just so happen to past the display I am looking for socks and not eyeing the patterned tights and shiny stockings. Unfortunately we didn't find any with seams.
On returning home MrsA measured me up for my suspenders. While she spent the afternoon sowing I went through her multi-coloured collection of nail varnishes for a later painting session.
I was again surprised when it was suggested that I should wear my black patent leather heels.
[Ed: Although Madam keeps going on about her heel collection, these heels and a second pair are the only ones that are officially known to Madams misses as she bought them for Madam.]

So we got dressed and added a little mascara and lipstick. This was followed up by painting each other’s nails. On reflection doing each other's nails is something girls would do together. I’m not sure after so long if I showed my enjoyment in this one off bit of fun, or I tried to play it down so as not to give the impression that I was eager to do this more often.
MrsA decided she wanted a different colour per nail. I would have liked to have used only the colour matching the lipstick, but was just glad we were varnishing at all!
I must admit I was a little high with officially walking around our flat with makeup, coloured nails, suspenders, stockings and my matching black heels.
To date, a one-time experience.
As the film ran I think I was more occupied with my inner girl feelings and my appearance than taking in the film. As it was late when the film finished we left the varnish on until the next morning. We didn’t want the leftover smell of nail varnish remover on our hands throughout the night.
That was a weird feeling waking up to polished nails, similar to a nail weekend while MrsA was away (see Nails I). I would have liked to have kept them shiny until evening but I couldn’t push my luck after MrsA started to remove her own.

Espresso

The feelings on the previous evening were complex and similar to now whenever I get the chance to dress. It’s a mixture of joy, nervosity, but not only of the getting caught kind, also sadness, homecoming, and a longing which I can’t really pin down. All this accompanied with a state of detachment as if I am an observer to what I am doing.

Although dressing sessions are strenuous/tiring with trying to get in and out of garments while taking a glimpse at the clock every five minutes, afterwards I’m again happy and somewhat content to have had the chance to recharge my girl batteries.
[Ed: Excuse me, but can we carry on. The focus at the moment is suspenders.]
Yes of course. May I remind you that you started me off on that tangent..

So now to the Rago suspenders and their performance. I bought this model because they had XL plus sizes. After measuring my waist I followed the size chart and ordered. I was thinking of ordering black but thought better of it. I didn’t want MrsA asking why black when all my underwear was exclusively boring in white. When they finally arrived the fit was good but as soon as they were put under stress they lost the battle to the pull of the stockings.
As I would need at least a second pair, I thought I better order the second one in a size smaller to see how they would cope. Unfortunately it was not that much better. It was ok when sitting but when walking around they would slowly fall down in sync with the stockings. If I had hips it may have worked. After a few weeks of having to go frequently to the restroom at work to rectify the situation, I officially vented my frustration to MrsA of the situation and mentioned that I would try my hand, sorry legs, with other suspenders.

I started to look at the other suspender belts on the Sockingshq site. They looked sexy as they should, but if they were more robust than the Rago I could not tell. This of course didn’t stop me ordering four; three in white and as wildcard one in black.
[Ed: Come off it! You had a good idea they would be useless for your heavy duty stockings didn’t you?]
Well yes you're right,
how could you be anything else...
I just fell for the lace and the little bows at the top of the straps. When they arrived I kept them under wraps until I had tried them on. I wanted to report a success at least with one of them before letting MrsA see them.

For my purchase I even got a gift of a pair of one size black stockings. Of course I tried them on when I got the chance with the black suspenders.
They laddered almost immediately..
[Ed: Madam's nails again!]
No! That's behind me now! As you very well know
I now wear silk gloves when I put on proper stockings.
Maybe they would have lasted a night out, that is if I ever went out..
[Ed: By the look of the gloves, maybe the Opera?]
Nice one.. But they need to be a black pair, to go with my LBD and heels.

Well after trying the different models funny enough the winner, if we can call it that, was the one in black! I let MrsA see the collection and the black stockings (pre-laddering). She was somewhat amused with it all and as I had hoped positive that I had found something at last to keep up the stockings. Actually they all worked better than the Rago which may have something to do with size, as I could only get them in a normal XL.
They were much tighter, but the material was silkier, and I have to say it, sexier than the Rago. But that’s the price you have to pay to keep ones stockings up!
It’s a shame that most suspender belts are either black or white. I did find one model that was coloured, but not unfortunately available in my size. Would liked to have tried to match them to my stockings.

Well wearing them became routine and they became a part of our normal wash program. Here they are air drying in the bathroom (Rago on the right end).
[Ed: Not really. Madam just hung them all up in a row to take the picture.]
Hey!
As the suspenders sort of worked but not that well, I found myself sticking more and more. This was mainly to dampen the frustration of the repetitive uncoupling. The uncoupling is sometimes due to a lack of tension on the straps (e.g. at the front when sitting down) and/or a clip-ability difficulty due to the thickness of the stocking tops.

I have now in my collection four different variations in stockings not including colour. I have two different lengths: Petite (halfway up the thigh) and Normal (high thigh) and two variations of stocking tops: Sensitive (on the right) and French bijou (below). When I started out having to buy them I kept to the first pair I was given from my phlebotomist which was Ultra Sheer from Jobst in Petite and Sensitive. I don’t think she picked out this model just for me but it was probably due to only having this model in my size (Stockings I)

Later when I was branching out into different colours I inadvertently ordered Normal length instead of Petite. I found they went right up my thighs and looked better when glued, especially when I had on a short dress. After collecting enough Dutch courage I went for French Bijou. Wasn’t sure how MrsA would react to them until I could report that with the wider top they stuck better. Again my worries were unwarranted.

Navy Blue

As the suspenders were having a hard time keeping my stockings up, I thought more drastic measures were called for. As I have some experience with shape wear, especially corsets, I considered getting a girdle to hold up my stockings..
[Ed: Not just for your stockings.]
No of course not. I needed also something to keep my tummy in.
With a girdle it was unlikely that the stockings would win the tugging battle. I looked at the Sockingshq site and found a nice patterned one I liked, again from Rago and without really thinking it through I ordered it (see picture below).
After the little thrill I get when buying for Abi, I started to have reservations about getting it and wearing it ‘in the open’. I wasn’t really sure how MrsA would react to this further development in the stay-up battle. And on top of that I didn’t really have this time around a plausible reason for having one.
Ok later, if my stenosis gets worse, some form of support for my lower back in combination with holding up my stockings could justify wearing a girdle, but not at the present time.

So when it arrived I just packed it away with my Stash. I of course at the next opportunity tried it on. I must say I was mildly surprised how well it held me in without the feeling of being restricted in movement or when sitting down. Of course there was a feeling of constant restriction but a pleasant one letting you know what one was wearing.

Somehow when ordering I let Abi take over and it was only when I had it on that it dawned on me that with my thigh high stockings in no way could they be fastened to the straps on the girdle, as they went up and under the bottom of it!

Cranberry

Then I had an idea and exchanged my high thighs for a pair of my petite stockings and they were just the right height for the girdle’s straps. I spend some time in the combination while trying on some of my dresses. I was pleased that now my tummy was now not as prominent and also the straps held with all the undressing and dressing.

What also hit me was that I realised that the girdle is of course appropriate under dresses or skirts but not under trousers or shorts, unless that is, they are very baggy! I think I just got carried away here. Anyway I have now added another item to my shape-ware collection.

I order my compression stockings here in Germany and by my last order I just happened to find on offer a ‘stocking holder’ as they call them. It looked rather primitive and nowhere near as pretty as my others, but as it is made for use with my type of stockings I thought I would give it a try. The waist band is adjustable using Velcro as fastener and the clips looked a bit sturdier than the others I have.
In use the band stays up and the stockings are easier to fasten but the clips are no real improvement on my other suspenders. It’s either the stocking clip or the clip used to adjust the length of the strap that loses its grip and initiates an excursion to a secluded place to re-clip.

Well that concludes to date my suspender adventure.

[Ed: Aren’t you going to say something like
'The suspense-r's were killing me to the end'?]
No, but the girdle.
[Ed: Does Madam need any help with the zip?]

Yellow

Would you, it won’t budge.
Ah, thats better!
Ta ever so.

By the way the gallery selection wasn’t bad.
[Ed: Thank you. Any legs wouldn't look
that bad in compression stockings.]
If you say so..
I don’t have any compression stockings in yellow.
[Ed: As if I didn’t know.]

Stockings VII

y compression stockings don’t last that long as I go bare ‘stocking’ when I’m at home and the heels start to wear out first and holes appear, or my toe nails bore holes to get some glimpse of daylight. As I only had one pair intact it was time for new, so I ordered three pairs from an online medical supply company. Two pairs cost 72 Euros each and one pair 82 Euros.
The expensive ones had to be made to my specs as they are a so called ‘special selection’ colour and not ‘off the shelf’, in this case I picked silver grey. I also ordered some glue and new pair of donning gloves as they wear out too (I pictured a warn out pair in a previous stocking post).

Well they finally arrived this week and as I unpacked them I realised I had ordered a pair in coffee instead of caramel, the other pairs were as I intended. I looked at the coffee ones and thought they were a bit dark. Independent of the mail-order I ordered locally another pair that I can get on prescription twice a year and pay ‘only’ 25 Euros per pair. The colour was in my standard anthracite. I asked when I picked them up what would they normally cost over the counter without a prescription and was told 120 Euros! I mentioned what I had paid with my mail-order, she made excuses that the on-line shops margin would be better by buying in bulk. I said one pair was made to order, she was surprised at that and a little embarrassed I think, and I should think so with 50 Euros difference. I’m all for buying from small shops to keep them on the high street but here I could almost get two for the price of one!

Now I have four new pairs in four colours for the next year. If I have to wear them, why not be able to choose the colour for the day. A problem when they are new is they are difficult to get on. They are so shiny, they're not called ‘ultra sheer’ for nothing! For various reasons I always do a very close shave of my legs when donning new stockings. The silicon/rubber bands at the top then adhere to my shaven legs without having to use glue or wear my suspenders. I need help to keep them up later after the first few washes. Also the shininess will dull and putting them on easier. As the coffee was new, and I was interested how they looked, I went for them first. It was an act getting them on even with the new gloves which were almost useless, nobody does any proper beta testing these days!

When MrsA. saw them - I always wear short shorts around the house - she did a double take and I got that funny look. She has over time got used to seeing me in various colours, but the coffee was new.
When some of our regular friends visit I usually stay ‘exposed’ if I can put it that way. Sometimes depending on who is visiting I change into long trousers before they arrive but stay bare stocking. One has to ‘break’ some people in slowly, usually I start with my ‘standard’ anthracite colour with a short explanation if they don’t already know and then move on to the others colours later. There is hardly any ‘talk’ about them, usually they sympathize with me especially in hot weather like now, 35C is scheduled for next week which means staying cooped up in the house by the look of it.
Another disadvantage of having to wear them every day is I don’t get a tan on my legs, waist up no problem. So when I go to fitness training in shorts, without of course the stockings, one sees the stark difference between hairy brown arms and snow white shiny waxed like legs! No funny looks or remarks to date.

When buying new stockings I try to pick a colour that would match either a dress or heels in my stash. In the case of coffee I was stumped until I went thought my heel collection and remembered my Mary Jane’s.
So the next day as MrsA. was downstairs on the phone I went up into the roof where I have a mini stash of two pairs of heels, one in apricot (with matching summer dress, both which I have on now while writing this in the den) and my brown Mary Jane’s.
My main computer is in the den with four monitors, a leftover from work, which I now use as a cutting room for videos and publishing my blogs. When I get the chance I don a pair of heels and sit before the screens. Both these heels are wide fit and very comfortable as heels go.
When MrsA. is at home I have to make sure I don’t walk about too much otherwise the characteristic sound made by heels on laminated wooden flooring would echo throughout the house (luckily no heel marks up there).
In the cellar there is carpet and so its silent wobbling when I spend a few minutes before going to bed to put on my 5” nude heels, stand and flex my ankles for a moment letting them get use to the angle and then do a few rounds until I hear ‘bathrooms free!’ and then remove, pack them away and reluctantly go upstairs..

I seem to have lost the thread! Where was I?
[Ed: Yes you have lost lots of things lately! You were on your way up into the den to see how the Mary Jane’s look with the stockings!]
Yes that was it!
Keeping an ear to the chatter downstairs I unpacked the heels and put them on. As the sun was shining through the roof window I sat and took a few pictures.
Here is one of them.
Normally I only take pictures in the gloom of the cellar, it was nice this time to have proper lighting. The shine is enhanced in this light. I didn’t notice the shadow of the heel at the time of taking but I think it looks quite good..

Anything else I missed?
[Ed: Well no, not here. You still have notes to write up concerning stockings and garters would you believe, and another Nail post on stick-ons.]
Yes nails..
Which reminds me I have to shorten them.
Got that funny look again this morning at breakfast.

Flying Drab

s some of you will know I have to wear compression stockings..
[Ed: Of course, they know! You've written 6 posts - let me look – and 13.500 words on the subject …!]
Ok, you don't have to go on about it!
[Ed: me going on!]
Hey! Don't get your knickers in a twist .. or in this case your garters.
Anyway this will be a quickly ..
[Ed: I'll believe it when I see it!]
Go and put the kettle on and then I’ll begin..
[Ed: sounds like listen with mother!]
As some of you will know ... stop looking at me like that!

Some time ago, I mentioned that I had bought a 6-garter suspender belt to keep ‘them’ up. In the last three months, I’ve been wearing my garters to work and at home, 24/7 one could say. They go on first thing in the morning (following the bathroom phase) and off the last thing at night (before the bathroom phase). I’ve had to be very strict on this due to acute problems leg wise, but more on that in the next stocking update.
Fastening my stockings has now become routine, although it’s a bit of a bind going through the motions, especially the contortion act at the back. But it’s the only girly like thing I do regularly so one tries to persevere. Of course, this summer’s heat wave was great fun while having ones legs encased in heavy duty elastic...

Last week I had to fly to Zagreb for a couple of days on business. Note: I don't fly pretty, not like some of the girls we know. I don't even get out under the cover of darkness fem.
[Ed: you wouldn’t dare!]
Oh don’t rub it in. For our tea your find some rich tea biscuits by the new delivery from the English Shop. Wonder what the prices will be like when we start paying customs duty on them..

Well, as I was lying in bed and slowly coming to I went through my ‘to-take with me’ mental checklist for the trip: paperwork, tickets, diverse adaptors, USB stick, a fully powered up notebook so I could try and work (cramped) on the train, at the airport and highly unlikely in the air. Thinking about it, I doubted that I would have any time, as I would have two colleagues with me and we would talk shop most of the journey.
As I would be flying in the afternoon, I wasn't in any hurry to get up even though I had to go to work first and then catch the train. I continued my check list and moved on to what to wear and pack ...
[Ed: you mean what the misses packs for you, anything you pack looks the next day like an abortive piece of origami.]
True, it usually does have that somewhat slept in look.
I decided on a light rain jacket, t-shirt, grey trousers and my silver grey stockings for flying and for the meeting pack - ok layout to be packed - my business suit and my anthracite stockings.
[Ed: you match your stockings to what you wear!]
As far as I can that is, as I don’t wear stocks anymore only stockings, I match when I can.

I usually fly from Cologne/Bonn but this time we had to fly from Frankfurt, where it takes at least 30 minutes to get to your gate not taking into account the traffic jam at security. And then I realised lying there that at one point on my hike I would be subjected to a body scan of the high tech type in a very public area, a highly sensitive metal and god knows what else detector!

I then though about my garters ..
and then I thought about the metal clips on the garters ..
and then I thought about all 6 of them nicely placed around my thighs ..
and then I thought oh!
and then I thought bugger!
and then I though no way mate are you going to have someone from airport security tell you to drop them in full view of colleagues, fellow travellers and any of the numerous CCTV cameras recording the event for later reply at staff parties.
and then I thought without a second thought..
I’ll stick them on instead.

Well insight or caution whatever one wants to call it paid off.

On arriving at the security zone, I saw the scanner cabin up ahead and a number of airport staff in our lane doing their thing. I wouldn’t say I’m a routine flyer but I usually trigger my strip down routine to the decent minimum before being asked. I don’t like causing delays as I don’t like being delayed.
I stop and wait when it comes to belt and shoes. We don’t usually go in for sock walking on the continent but there can be random checks shoe wise. I was lucky. The security person took pity on me and I was allowed to keep my belt as well as my shoes on.
[Ed: Maybe he thought the belt was plastic.]
That’s what my colleague remarked to me as I watched him buckling up afterwards.

I distributed my case, notebook, wallet and jacket into different trays and headed for the scanner. I didn’t know what to expect as this would be my first time raising my arms reminiscent of a heist. I entered, looked down and saw yellow footmarks. I turned placed my feet on them and was told to raise my arms as in the caption.

Although the cabin wasn’t in anyway claustrophobic I automatically started to hold my breath reminiscent of a CT I had a couple of weeks beforehand. I think it was the seconds in the caption that had triggered me off. All I heard was a low sounding hum as the front and back scanners swung by and that was it!
I was asked to come out and as the guardian of the scanner looked at the display, I followed suit. I’m use to peeps or a whining noise if anything is detected, here was a picture with yellow blotches.

There were two highlighted areas; one was obviously my belt and the other looked like there was something located in my right back trouser pocket. Without further ado, I was directed to an open booth and the booth man looked at my belt and then asked me to empty my pockets. I had totally forgotten that I had my medication in my back pocket! I hadn’t though much about them, but the three blisters with their thin metal foil had triggered the scanner!
On showing them to him, he nodded and I was allowed to go back to the queue and wait to collect and repack everything. I was quite surprised at the sensitivity of the machine, had to be I suppose.
I had a chuckle imagining the garter clips appearing on the scan followed by funny looks and sniggering or other guttural noises and wondering how they would have proceeded. Thankfully, I will not know.
[Ed: that trip no, but knowing you..]

Maybe, next time when flying alone I might let it come to a ‘drop them’. Just to give you an idea of what a garter scanner could have looked like, I’ve played around with a scanner picture. One is never sure if they would have done a visual check. I suspect just the blue gloves pat down. My trousers where thin and with a little verbal hint from me, it would have been obvious what the blotches were. Depending on the experience and let’s call it chivalry of the booth man I might have got off with a smile. Of course worse case, I could have been carted off for a 3rd. degree.
[Ed: In the case of 3rd degree as you have detailed ‘the reason why’ for wearing them often enough in this blog, a link to the appropriate posts would have explained everything.]
Oh yes, I would have then been on my way in no time!!
So where is that tea?

Stockings VI

mentioned in Stockings III, that I was thinking about trying out suspender belts as a way of keeping my compression stocking up. Here the flashback:
.. I talked to MrsA about the results of my search and discussed the possibilities. She was fully décor with my conclusions, shave and stick. She dismissed the garters by passing over then very quickly. I could see she was trying to suppress a smile. But she held it back, well until I had left the room that is. I think if I had mentioned that I wanted to give them a go she would have started laughing but with a quizzical look of why when sticking will do?..

So originally I went for sticking. I have no problem with sticking apart from the stickiness and having to buy a new roll-on every few months. On removing the stockings one has to wash off the tide mark from the residue glue on ones thighs so it doesn't stick ones legs to the next garment one wears, ok one gets into the routine of things but still. 

In part II, I mentioned that I was recommended by Daria the 6-strap suspender belt from RAGO (code 72522 if you want to take a deco). But at the time they didn’t look up to it, for my stockings I thought I would needed a more robust construction. 
As one knows the majority of the suspender belts out there are for, let's say, somewhat flimsy materials. One of the things that got me going again was when I saw a recession on Amazon saying they worked well for compression stockings (it was from a man interesting enough).
[Ed: And what was the other thing that ‘got you going again’?]

We…ll, I really was looking for any excuse to wear suspenders with my stockings every day. Yes I admit it, even if the stockings are to compress and not look chic, even if they will be invisible all the time under trousers instead of a short skirt. I will at least know they are there and be aware of them most the day.
Ok, so I told myself these were good excuses to go for it, one is only old once. What MrsA would say when she would see them I pushed to the back of my mind and would jump that girdle sorry hurdle when I came to it.
I checked out Amazon, the US didn't have them in my size and in Germany I couldn't find them on Prime or anywhere else. But UK Amazon did have them, so they ended up in the basket. In the payment area I was greeted with a message that informed me that the destination address I had selected for this article was not allowed!

Brilliant, now what! 

As I was now fixed on having them, I decided to send them to K; a confederate in Wales so that she could send them on here with the normal post.

I added some books for her and also took the opportunity - as I couldn't find them anywhere else - to order some mint press-on nails which had one pretty patterned nail for each hand and a set of matt black with a gold band. I can always find excuses to order a few ‘little’ things which end up as a lot of little things if I’m not careful.. I was thinking of having the nails sent direct to Germany but although they were only £3 a set they wanted £10 P&P each! One has to be careful with so-called under priced goods, the end price is usually on par with other sellers, but by reclamation one only gets the value of the goods back, not the P&P.

[Ed: More on nails in a nail dedicated post and other adventures with P&P while buying on-line.]
 
This was all a bit round the houses, but I was in no hurry and it would save postage in the long run. The order arrived in Wales in one piece, books extracted rest repacked and given up at the local post office.

It’s now 2 months and still no sign of them, the parcel just disappeared! An official search hasn’t brought any results until now and I don’t expect one either. A real shame as I can't get the nails anywhere near the price I paid, and I really fell for them! 

Dam stupid Welsh post! This is not the first time a parcel didn’t arrive. K sent us a Christmas package once, it turned up 6 months later back in Wales as undeliverable! I don't think it ever left the county let alone the country! I suspect this time that in the lawless Welsh Wild West that the stage coach was held up by bandits armed with loaded leeks (or am I thinking of lupines?) anyway some local farm produce or other. 

Anyway, in the meantime I looked around for another source for the suspenders and finally found an online shop in the UK (stockingshq.com) who would deliver to me here. What clinched it was they let me pay using my Amazon account which saved me flaunting my credit card details in another online shop. Must say they have some interesting garments on store, maybe I’ll look back now and then ... 
They arrived with no problem and I have them a couple of weeks now, at the moment still ‘unofficial’. That is MrsA doesn’t know they have arrived. Well she doesn’t know I ordered them again for that matter! She does know the Welsh post had lost the original package. Of course as the suspender belt was semi ‘official’ not pure Abigale I just happened to mention in passing - as one does when telling your wife you have ordered yourself a pair of 6 strapped suspenders - that I had decided to try out an alternative to sticking with all this stickiness etc.
As I had her attention and was in full swing, I told her I had ordered ‘heavy duty’ suspenders from an US company via Amazon instead of the National Health ones that I talked to her about. I went on about having them sent to K in Wales (leaving out the bit about the press-on nails of course).

[Ed: If the pictures here are anything to go by, I’m glad you didn’t say ‘sexy’!]
 

Yes! I had to hold back in my narrative, not easy! They are not that ‘sexy’, but they aren’t ex-army NATO green war worn either. They are well made, nice material, fit well and well a little.. um .. ok a little sexy ...  I won’t say I was trying to play them down with MrsA as just a practical medical piece of ‘equipment’, as with my compression stockings, but I didn’t want her getting nosy at this stage by asking to see them on-line to get an idea what they would look like. These here are some of the first pictures one will find in the net taken from the web site. Finding these would not help trying to keep it all low key.

 
Well on finishing my 'patter' she didn’t give me that look of ‘what’s he up to’. She accepted it without comment; her attitude was anything that would help to ease coping with my leg problem on a daily basis was above board, classical female connotations or not. Since then she hasn’t mentioned it or asked for a status quo, so she has probably forgotten about it or added it to the low priority list of things to remember. 
The next thing to do, apart from telling you my experience with them, is to think up a story to 'hey look what arrived in the post at work today!' and 'now let’s see if they can cope with my stockings' and so on.. 
I must say this will not be our first joint action with garters and stockings ..
  
[Ed: More in another “windows:” post. If I mention the Rocky Horror Show then you may have an idea of what to expect.]
 
.. but this time I need to get it just right if I’m going ‘official’ with wearing them regularly. I’m not too sure how to go about this. 

I will have to monitor her response very carefully to see how she feels about me wearing them per se. I think knowing about them would be ok, but I have a little angst when she is confronted with seeing me putting them on or removing them. At the moment (pre revealing) and after she knows about them, I will have to watch my timing. I don’t think it’s going to be good idea when she unexpectedly comes in and catches me in ‘action’ similar to the picture left.

[Ed: nice panties! Any chance you wearing something similar to work in future?]
No! umm .. well it will depend on what you place under the Christmas tree.  
[Ed: I asked for that, didn’t I..]
Yep! 

Also I must make sure she doesn’t get the idea I want the suspender belt for other reasons, which I don’t really. I have a few other garters for ‘proper’ stockings that I would rather wear and are a lot easier to fasten. But as said, this could be a step in the direction to being able to wear suspenders on a regular bases... 
[Ed: It’s not as if you can only use them for the compression stockings.]
True, thinking about it, they would go nicely with those white lace top pair I have… 

Which brings me to the preliminary results of my ongoing field test. 

I have had them on for work (not at home) about 8 times to-date, whenever I had the chance not to be interrupted when putting them on. The main problem is although the belt and straps can support my compression stockings, the clips are for normal ‘flimsy’ stockings. The picture right shows the classical type of clip. 
When placing the stocking top over the nipple..  
[Ed: nipple? are you sure that’s the name, because..]
I have no idea what it is called! Nipple will do! Okay?  
[Ed: Ok registered, nipple it is.]
 
I thought this was going to be easy, the first time I tried I went for the usual routine of attachment. I have some experience with putting on stockings, it’s not rocket science and one gets the knack quick enough even with the blind tactile hock up at the back (see bending down picture above). 
But this time I found myself in learning mode all over again. Normally when the stocking top is placed over the nipple there is enough space to put the wider part of the loop over, press down and easily pull up to fasten. With my stockings it’s a major battle of tug and war. The material is just too thick; the stocking top has also 3 rubber bands as they are to function as stay ups, which works only in part in my case, hence the sticking. 

Here in ‘stuck up’ mode are my latest pair of stockings in Anthracite (Jobst, Ultra sheer). I think you can imagine the thickness of the stocking top and see the 3 light bands where the rubber strips are. The shine is typical of the Ultra Sheer model, quite like them. Don’t see why I can’t take the advantages available. 

With trial and error the only way to reduce the thickness while attaching, is to place the nipple under the stocking top pull the nipple and stocking up and away from the leg to stretch and ‘thin’ out the material. 
Not that easy due to the nature of the stocking, their ‘programmed’ to give support and will fight against any ‘over’ stretching manoeuvre one tries, and girl these are tough! So under tension and hovering in the air, one has to get the loop over into position, press hard down keeping tension squeezing the ‘thin’ material and without losing one’s grip, pull the loop up parallel to the leg to fasten.
  
[Ed: Not sure if they understood that, maybe you should make a video..]
  I think we will have to have a serious talk sometime. 
 [Ed: ! I was only try in to help..]
 
To begin with there was a lot of dams and twangs, followed by mini whiplashes that made one jump, followed again with more under the breath dams. Well I now have the knack and with only a few mishaps have all 6 straps fastened in under the minute. 
Okay that was to the first fastening of the day, now to wearing them. 
Unusual is the word I would use. 
Especially when I have to go to the rest room to ‘hook up’ one or two straps that have silently ‘twanged’ while walking around in the office. It’s usually the ones at the front, again to do with tension. While siting they are slack and somehow ease themselves lose, at the back no problem, the sides now and then. The first few days I would go and re-hook whenever I felt a twang, it was nice and quite novel. 
After being asked by some of my staff if I was alright and the mention of incontinence, I left it. Over the day I realised that just one strap would ‘hold the fort’ until I got home, or until had to spend a penny anyway. As I’m sitting here at work and writing this I can feel the straps and clips through the material and the ones at the back as I’m sitting on them, interesting and still, as said, unusual. 

Sometime ago I was talking to a girlfriend in London about this and that and I brought her up-to date about having to wear stockings and that I started to shave my legs etc. basically my stocking saga in twitter format, not mentioning Abi at all, as she is not in the know. At the end of my ‘confession’ she chucked and welcomed me to the ‘world of women’ without realising how close to the mark she was..
  
[Ed: You nearly spilled the beans didn’t you!]
 
Oh yes, that was a close call! We know each other over 40 years, a very close call indeed! Maybe I will tell her one day but not over the phone. Funny but I’m not sure if it would be a surprise to her, the last time we were together we were talking about a mutual friend that had SRS. I brought up the fiasco with the Welsh post and ask her if I could use her as a possible post box for a reorder of the suspender belt. We talked about the pros and cons of garters against pantyhose. Her opinion was to go for pantyhose, with her experience over the years garters where more trouble than they're worth, nice for special occasions but not routine every day. Maybe I will come to the same conclusion if the twanging continues.

[Ed: And so, what next?]

Well for my next buy I still have the navy blue pantyhose in my sights. I have also found from Jobst a patterned pair of stockings (here in Espresso). I really like patterned stockings and I thought this would be an ideal combination, but they have them at the moment only in CCL1 (20-30 mmHg) such a shame, I need CCL2 (30-40 mmHg).

 [Ed: Ok. They may be not the ideal strength, but better than nothing, you could wear them for relief at the weekends.]
 
No! They would have to be stored in my Stash and only come out to go on in an Abi session. If MrsA got wind of these pattered pair, the penny would drop and never stop spinning on impact. Here I would have to be very careful, maybe only for ‘special occasions’ as my girlfriend put it. 

Will let you all know how I get on with making the suspender belt an official member of my underwear entourage. 
[Ed: Ah! suspenders today - bras tomorrow?]
Don’t get carried away, time will tell.. 

So that’s all for now. As the festive season is before the door and I have been going on about stockings and keeping them up, Ed: thought this picture would be appropriate. If this is a hint for a present or not I’m not sure.     
[Ed: Well.. you can take it any way you want.] 
So from Ed: and I, all the best to you and your love ones for the rest of this and the up and coming new year. 
May you have the strength and love to be as one with yourself wherever you are on your journey and at the end of the day to arrive home safe and sound. 

Extra thanks to those of you for getting this far in this post. I know it’s a long haul and I appreciate you taking the time to read and I hope comment.

[Ed: By the way I still think the video was a good idea..]
Will think about it, ok?