Female Marines no longer have to wear pantyhose when they wear uniform skirts.
The change, which was made effective with the release of a Marine administrative message on Monday, was sparked by a request to the Corps’ uniform board from a female Marine. Commandant Gen. Eric Smith recommended the change to the board before its voting began.
Previously, female Marines had been required to wear full-length nylon hose when they donned uniform skirts.
Female Marines may wear skirts as part of their service uniforms, dress blues and evening dress uniform, though they may wear slacks instead in any of these uniforms.
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In the same message allowing female Marines to skip pantyhose, the Marine Corps also restricted the allowable colors of pantyhose for those who do choose to wear them.
Pantyhose must be “skin tone harmonizing,” according to the administrative message — a change from the previous rule that also had allowed “gray/smoky shades” at formal occasions like Marine Corps birthday balls. Dark hose is still allowed under slacks, and now so is skin-tone hose.
Female Marines who opt for bare legs must still wear shoe liners or no-show socks for hygienic purposes and to prevent blisters, the Marine administrative message said.
The Air Force scrapped its hose requirement in 2021, and the Navy followed suit in 2022. But the Army’s rules appear to call for women to wear hosiery in certain uniforms.
Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
