It’s been a long time in coming.

The first rumblings came from the black “knee socks” that started coming into Korea three winters ago.

And that trend never went away, for two reasons:

1. Black socks in the fall and winter months are practical, because they keep you warm and allow you to wear shorter skirts when you really shouldn’t be, and

2. There is a schoolgirlish, faux coyness to the style that lets you look naughtier while apparently looking nice.
So, to some extent, the trend has turned into a permanent fashion option for young ladies. In this way, it’s not even accurate to call this a “trend” anymore.

That being said, the thigh-high socks are about to bust out ALL over come this winter.

My prediction? That there will be as many women wearing thigh-high tights this winter as there were in the peak of the black knee socks craze two winters ago. And that’s a whole lotta leg we’re talking, then.

What really makes this fad one ripe for the exploding is the extreme rise in skirt lengths over the past couple of summers – especially this year – which means that Korean girls are gonna want to keep the legs exposed, but with it being cold weather and all, they’re gonna need:

1. A way to justify wearing a miniskirt when snow is falling, and

2. A practical way to keep warm because you’re wearing a miniskirt in the dead of winter..

The thigh-high stocking solves both these problems, while offering it’s own form of naughtiness, which was briefly mentioned above. The primary variations on the theme will be as follows:

1. The thick black tights that will cover as much as they encourage the wearer to show more leg, yet will be comfortable and the least risqué, or as the Korean expression so aptly puts it, the least “야해.”

2. Thinner, sheerer tights that will be closer to stockings and give more of such a feel, making the miniskirt look like it’s exposing more. They may also have a few patterns or be white.

3. The most 야해 will be the thigh-highs that call attention to themselves, be they bright colors or wilder patterns, such as fishnets or gaudy flower patterns. The danger for fashion violations runs highest in this third category.

One of the reasons I think this trend will run wild this winter has to do with the sheer amount of young women in Seoul already running around in them, well before it’s anywhere near to getting cold. I saw three pairs of thigh-highs at a single crosswalk a few days ago, when I took the pictures above.

And one thing about the black thigh-highs: they go well with black pumps, but some black pumps are better than others. I must give kudos to my girl in the picture, because she had some fierce, fierce taste in shoes. Exhibit A:

Nice metal eyelet lace holes on the backs there. Girlfriend ain’t playin’! From looking at both pictures, I can tell that the shoes are not the cheap, manmade materials you get in the $20-30 range because there’s a certain obvious “give” to the shoes that is quite apparent. Therefore, they must be a bit softer, conforming to the foot better, as leather does when allowed to adjust over time.

The shoes look worn enough to have adjusted, as you can see from the outline of her toes apparent in the nose of the shoe, but you can also see that this is not just caused by them being too tight – you can see the comfortable space in the back of the shoe, where they hang off as she puts her weight forward on the slight incline where she’s standing.

Adds a bit of an edginess to the whole look. Here’s a better view from a more frontward angle, a.k.a. Exhibit B:

When she walks in the first picture, there’s no tell-tale “flip-flop effect” that happens when women buy shoes too big for their feet, or the proper size before the cheap material stretches upon being worn, causing the shoe to slip past the heel as the foot slides forward, especially when wearing stockings or thin socks.

Price call? I’d say she paid up a little past $100 for those shoes. Anyone care to venture a guess of their own?

Anyway.

Girls are gonna be thigh-high crazy this winter.

They’ve been around under the radar for awhile now, I know. But this winter’s different.

Miniskirts all winter long.

Only in Korea.

ㅋㅋ