Over the last 100 years, the roles of women have dictated the trends of fashion.
Before the 1920's, hosiery (stockings) for women was used primarily for warmth. Until then, hemlines came down to the floor. Following the change in fashion of decreasing hemlines, women began to use stockings to cover exposed legs. Thigh highs made their way into the fashion industry during the sexualized culture of roaring 20's and women's liberation.
When nylon was introduced in the 1940's, demand for hosiery skyrocketed, to 4 million pairs sold a day in the US. At the start of WWII, nylon was reallocated for parachutes, airplane cords and rope, leading to a "black market" for stockings. It caused uproar in stores; "nylon riots," forcing further production.
In the 1950's, fashion changed again to longer hemlines, reducing the demand for thigh-highs, yet leading to the introduction of pantyhose. In the 1970's, hemlines decreased again to shorter dresses and skirts, causing another increase in demand for thigh-highs. Towards the end of the 1980s and into the 1990's, sales began to decline for thigh-highs, and remained relatively stable for pantyhose.
Pantyhose are known to be less sexually attractive; whereas thigh-highs symbolize sex. Thigh highs are commonly associated with the use of garters, and thus are natural part of lingerie fashion. However, their function should not be restricted to "the bedroom." This has been rather limiting marketing wise. Women want to be fashionable among each other and thus more attractive for men, whether in the work place or social setting. Pantyhose are more common among heavier women for the use of spandex in the waistline. But this need not be the case as well.
Thigh-highs serve a higher purpose (competition wise), thus if advertised correctly, would have wide appeal for most females. This would also depend on the value and degree of sexual competition within the country. More often, this market will be single/unmarried, and within the working age range of 18-35. The specific ages might vary country to country depending on average age of development/ puberty.
Highly feminine civilizations occur during times of war, or wartime psychology, I.E. in response to a challenge.
That is, men and women will resort to their natural gender roles, as it is advantageous for survival. This is evident during the Great Depression, WWI, WWII. With the onset of peace, females will tend to be more "feminine" or "sexually explicit", reflected in their attitude towards men and thus choice of fashion. Birth rates have been correlated to these as well, i.e. higher birth rates in times of peace-->more sexuality (EX: baby boomers in 1960's). This may or may not be a direct influence, but it is worth noting.
Fashion (and history) always come full circle.
History has shown, the function and societal role of women could be strong predictor for what trends will take off and vice versa. Beyond that, what countries and societies would be most optimal for trends (particularly fashion) will be based on the degree of sexual tolerance and competition, i.e. male to female ratio, lingerie sales, increased sexual advertising, etc.