Garment accessory

Abstract

A garment accessory is disclosed for preventing the fabric of a pair of pants or a skirt from being entangled between the heel and shoe sole during movement, such as walking. The garment accessory is affixed to the base of a pants leg or skirt, on the back and inside portion of the pants, at the region closest to the heel. The garment accessory temporarily stiffens the region of the pants or skirt around the heel, so as to avoid entanglement of the garment fabric between the heel and the backless shoes during movement.

1 . A garment accessory for use by a garment wearer, the garment accessory comprising: 
 a support portion comprising a lightweight and stiff material of a predetermined thickness, the stiffness of the support portion, when affixed to an inside bottom portion of a garment, preventing the garment from being disposed beneath a heel of the garment wearer's foot;    a strip affixed to one side of the support portion, the support portion having two sides; and    a covering disposed over the strip, wherein the strip reveals a pressure-sensitive adhesive when the covering is removed from the support portion, the adhesive being used to affix the support portion to the inside bottom portion of the garment.    
   
   
       2 . The garment accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the support portion comprises a cardboard material.  
   
   
       3 . The garment accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the support portion comprises a plastic material.  
   
   
       4 . The garment accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the predetermined thickness is approximately the thickness of a business card.  
   
   
       5 . The garment accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the strip comprises an elongated rectangular strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive.  
   
   
       6 . A method, comprising: 
 removing a covering from a garment accessory, the covering protecting a strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive material which is attached to the garment accessory, the garment accessory having a predetermined stiffness, the predetermined stiffness being sufficient to prevent the clothing item from being disposed beneath a heel of the clothing item wearer;    disposing the strip adjacent to an inside portion of the clothing item, the inside portion being near the heel such that the garment accessory is not visible from outside the clothing item; and    applying pressure to the garment accessory so as to temporarily affix the garment accessory to the inside portion of the clothing item.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 walking with the garment accessory affixed to the clothing item; and    removing the garment accessory when the walking is complete.    
   
   
       8 . A garment accessory, comprising: 
 a stiff cardboard material to be affixed to an inside portion of a garment, the inside portion being adjacent to a heel of a foot of a garment wearer when the garment is worn, the stiff cardboard material having a structure that prevents the garment from being disposed beneath the heel; and    affixation means to ensure that the stiff material remains affixed to the inside portion of the garment when the garment is worn.    
   
   
       9 . The garment accessory of  claim 8 , wherein the stiff material is not visible from the outside of the garment.  
   
   
       10 . The garment accessory of claim  11 , wherein the stiff material is removable once the garment is no longer worn.