Skirt Flirt

Forget the convenience of panty hose. Young women today want garters and stockings--and they want them on full display.

Either topped by a micro-mini skirt for a thigh with a view or under a sheer, flowing petticoat or tutu skirt, the garters-and-stockings look is de rigeur in all the hottest dance clubs.

Shelly Jones, 21, assistant manager at Victoria’s Secret Store in Woodland Hills, said she thinks rock ‘n’ roll has brought back the garter.

“A lot of the singing groups wear lingerie,” she said, usually a bustier corset with “a garter belt and stockings attached.”

“The singers in Appolonia 6 and the ones in the Mary Jane Girls wear them.”

And now the fans wear them.

“I once went to a Prince concert and practically all the girls were wearing garter belts and stockings,” Jones said.

She added, “I guess you have to be pretty wild” to wear the garter look. “It is risque.” And it’s also a kick. “I have a friend who always wears that look and I think she just thinks it’s fun--she’s not looking to be a mantrap or anything.”

Whatever the intention, most agree you do have to be young. “I think you should definitely be 18 or under--or just look like you’re 18 or under,” said one fashion writer. “You don’t want cellulite hanging out all over the place.”

Maryke DeGraff, owner of Monique, a lingerie store in Encino, said she doesn’t think there’s any worry of that. Women over 30 remember the days when garters were all that there were, and now they prefer the smoother look and greater convenience of panty hose over the garter-belt look.

“It’s only the younger ladies who are buying it,” DeGraff said. “The older ladies are glad to be done with it. The younger ladies act like they invented it.”