The resurrection

[A year passed without a unitard or tights.  I eventually broke up with the girl I was dating, as I took a new job on the other coast and she was so rooted in her place that it just made sense to part ways.  She was really special... But she was my first love and I felt like I needed to explore relationships more.  In hindsight, she would've been a great choice.  I don't know who she settled with, but whoever he is, he's one hell of a lucky guy.]

Now I'm living in California.  Oakland isn't the most glamorous Bay Area city, by far, but it's very close to San Francisco.  It was great to finally get out to this part of the country.  I like it so much, I don't think I'll ever go back East.

Well, in getting used to my surroundings and making new friends, I figured that dating would be easier.  People in California are more easy going.  And with San Francisco having such a strong gay community, that means so many more available women!

[A few months go by...]

Wow.
So, where are all these available girls?  So many women I meet are married or in a relationship.  And of those who are on the dating scene, they are so ambivalent about everything.  It's like they're all fishing for the perfect guy.  Date here, date there, date again, maybe not date, and so on... This part of California has a huge number of transplants, and a minority of women who grew up here.  Everything is so transient.  I've dated a little here and there, and the one girl I'd sort of been dating steady was more of a "pleasure friend"... Cathy was definitely what you would call an air head.  It was like dating a Stepford wife.  Despite having the regular sex, which was really quite limited (she only liked one position and oral sex was out), after a few months I ended it.

Then there was Drew.  She was the hottest looking girl I'd ever dated.  Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice figure, and she loved to wear black pantyhose with open toed shoes.  She looked so hot to me.  And yet, she was kind of superficial.  Kind of?  No, she was definitely that.  I figured I could overlook that.  Maybe I'd find something more within her after dating long enough.  But I didn't get the chance.  Without warning, she just went cold on me.  We never got beyond just a little fooling around.

Frustrated with the dating scene, I dropped it for a while, focusing my attention on other things.  As time went on, my thoughts didn't return to tights.  It was as if I'd completely forgotten about wearing them.  I didn't like to think of myself as a reactionary person, but I managed to watch Rocky IV, and saw something that got a rise out of me, changing everything.  It was this:

 

In this dance number where James Brown is singing "Living In America", a cast of women are dancing about the stage in blue and white spandex outfits.  They appear to have spandex unitards on, form fitting from the neck all they way down to their feet (you can see the material exposed through their shoes).  The women looked incredibly sexy.  There's something about seeing form fitting spandex starting from the neck down the legs and to the feet, without any horizontal seams breaking the line.  Snazzy cobalt blue footed custom dance unitards.  Oh, how I wanted to wear one and dance alongside those women!

After seeing this, I went to the phone book and looked up dance wear stores. Sure enough, about 40 minutes away there was one that mentioned carrying unitards.  I called them up, asked for a blue long sleeve footed Lycra unitard.  They didn't have any in stock, but would order one for me.  Within two weeks, the unitard arrived and I drove down to pick it up.  This was in September, so it was easy to get this for a "super hero" costume.  The woman I dealt with was about my age and kind of cute.  Casual conversation about the area revealed where she lived, which was another 30 minutes out, making it over an hour from where I lived.  I didn't think it was worth bothering... but in retrospect, I probably should have.  Just as trying on the unitard in the store, which she offered.  "No thanks, I'm pretty sure it will fit."  I was the only one in the store with her.  It would've been so cool to have put it on and stood before her, having her check out the fit on me.  Maybe she would have pulled on the unitard to adjust it a bit... maybe, she might have flirted with me.  Who knows.  But I didn't give this opportunity a chance.  I paid for the unitard and left, leaving those thoughts to never be answered.

This one shown is a tank style, but I got mine with a long sleeve.  The only drawback with a unitard, versus tights, is that there is an additional seam that runs along the outside of the legs.  I wish there was a style that came without it, only an inside leg seam.  [Little did I know at this time that later on there would be several dance wear makers producing unitards with no outside edge seams, and even some would do away with the center seam up the front torso.]