10 rules of wearing tights

fashion tights skirt dress high heels

For every dress or skirt that’s paired with tights, there’s a moment of contemplation that we all have about whether it’s being worn correctly: Is it ever OK to wear nude-coloured tights? Can you wear them with open-toe shoes? Life questions, friends. So we consulted Amy Lu, a Toronto-based fashion stylist, about the ways to wear tights properly—and of course, what is never deemed appropriate when it comes to hosiery. (Never again will we underestimate the power of a pair of black opaque tights.)

1. Tights are not leggings (or pants)

There’s a sad moment of truth when you realize that the girl in front of you probably isn’t heading to yoga or wearing actually leggings—and it comes in the form of a blaringly obvious visible panty line. “Tights are generally referring to more opaque hosiery made with a heavier knit,” says Lu (note: she said hosiery,
not pants). “Leggings are footless and seen as more of a stand-alone pant rather than hosiery.

2. Tights are worn best under skirts or dresses

For a formal occasion, like a
date night or a
sophisticated office look, tights are best to pair with a dress or pencil skirt (and you can add personality through colour and texture, and depending on dress code). “You can wear leggings as tights and pair them with more casual dresses and skirts but they are often thicker than tights and can appear bulky,” says Lu. “Plus leggings are always footless, which only works with more casual looks.”

3.Handle your tights with care
As a general rule with hosiery, “Hand-washing all intimate wear will help it last longer and maintain its colour, however it is more time consuming than throwing it in with your laundry,” says Lu. “I often machine-wash my tights and leggings on a gentle cycle in a mesh-bag.”

4. Tights with peep-toe shoes, is this a thing?
“The easy answer to this is no, it’s not an easy look to pull off,” says Lu. “Having said that, fashion rules are meant to be broken and it can be done. Fishnets paired with open-toe shoes can look really sexy and opaque tights can work as well, just make sure the reinforced toe does not show.”

5. Nude tights work in the right context
Sometimes it’s more appropriate to give the illusion of bare legs with your spring dress than it is to go completely bare legged. “Nude hosiery can look much more flattering than bruised legs or pasty white ones covered in goosebumps,” says Lu. “Plus, nude hosiery can double as shape-wear!” Choose a colour that is very similar to your natural skin tone and steer clear of iridescent ones.

6. Tights can add a chic pop of colour to your outfit
Liven up your little black dress with opaque cobalt tights. “When it comes to colour, go for it—bold colour looks great on everyone!” says Lu. “Think about keeping your look monochromatic or tone-on-tone to accentuate a more lean and flattering look.” But be more discerning with patterns. “Opt for one that is more classic, like polka-dots or lace, rather than kitschy, like trendy graphics or cutesy symbols. Pair your patterned tights and leggings with something solid and simple.”

7. You can totally pull off a sheer look
“Sheer tights are on trend right now and can look more sexy than their solid counterparts,” says Lu. “Make sure the fabric’s colour stays consistent from waist to foot.”

8. Invest in quality pair of black tights
If you’re going to own one pair of tights, make it a good pair of black opaque ones. “They look great with almost everything, from floral print sundresses and tailored sheaths, to sexy cocktail frocks and everything in between,” says Lu. Bonus? “They not only add warmth when it gets chilly out but pairing black opaque tights with black shoes gives the illusion of longer, leaner legs!” Sold.

9. They add sophistication—and are kind of a no-brainer style choice
With a great pair of opaque tights, you can make most outfits appropriate and chic for an office or more conservative setting. “You don’t have to worry as much about exposing too much when wearing a short skirt because they cover everything up,” says Lu. “I think of tights paired with black booties or heels as a part of my ‘uniform’, then wear whatever dress, skirt or shorts I feel like. It makes getting ready really easy!”

10. Tights are sexy!
Tights are great for adding the illusion of height. “If you keep your tights and footwear monochromatic, your legs can appear much longer,” she says. “Go for a pair of platforms or sky-high heels to accentuate them even more. A sexy go-to look for a night out would be your favourite LBD paired with opaque tights and killer heels,” says Lu. “This look works every time!”

Candid amateur pantyhose legs 18

fashion tights skirt dress high heels legs

When is it socially acceptable to wear black tights?

When – or if – you wear black tights reveals a lot about your status, age, class and self-image. And it signals just how much you are prepared to suffer for your look

The million-dollar fashion question, the one I’m asked every day without fail from the third week of August for three months, concerns the date from which it is socially acceptable to wear black opaques. To which the simple answer is that the rule is the same for black tights as for oysters: only when there is an R in the month.

Quick shout out to the fishmongers, who are at this very moment are no doubt mobilising to point out that it’s not that simple: I know. (Something about breeding seasons or refrigeration; whatever.)

Funnily enough, it’s not that simple in fashion, either. In certain fashion circles, the answer to the tights question is: only when there is a Z in the month. That is, never in a month of Sundays. Those New York glossy-magazine women who go barelegged all year round are not an urban myth. I have seen with my own eyes their honey-brown legs rising from Alexander McQueen ankle boots on days in February in Manhattan when my face aches with the cold after five minutes outdoors. They are as mystical as unicorns, but flesh-and-blood creatures nonetheless.

The black-tights question is the million-dollar question because it is not just about what you wear. It is about class, and money, and age. It is about how you order the priorities of how you look and what you get done. It is about your postcode and your mindset, your taxi bill and your holiday schedule. The black-tights question is code for: “Are you one of us? Are you a real, normal person I can talk to about how my shoes are killing me, or are you one of the unicorns, chanting glassy-eyed about how you don’t feel the cold?”

This is why the only acceptable answer is the one I borrowed from the oysters. Zero-tolerance of tights is only not annoying if you are a diehard fashionista, the type that wears strange trouser shapes and weird shoes and goofball jewellery. If you are that type of person, you can get away with a year-round no-tights-rule and it seems a charming eccentricity – but on most women, it reeks of pulling rank.

The black-tights issue is fundamental because it separates fashion as actually lived by actual human beings from fashion as seen on models. Like umbrellas, or a Daunts Books bags bulging with trainers and scarves and Kindles, black tights are omnipresent in the real world when there is an R in the month, but remain largely invisible in fashion editorial. What’s more, in the era of 6am Barry’s Bootcamp and Brazilian waxes, when being really quite freaking hardcore about pain is – for better or worse, discuss – way more feminine than baking cupcakes, your willingness to go barelegged is, literally, a black-and-white marker of the degree to which you are prepared to forgo comfort in order to achieve the right look.

I wear black tights, when it gets really cold. But a tiny part of me dies, the first day I do so.

It is also a matter of cold, hard cash. Or, to put it even more brutally, it’s a bus-stop issue. A bare leg is a luxury that signals you have the funds to pull the ripcord and summon an Uber should the wind chill get too much. It is an age issue, too, because bare legs are a youthful look. This is not simply about whether or not you are too old for bare legs, but by going bare-legged you make it clear that you do not believe yourself to be too old for anything, thank you very much.

And then there’s grooming. Thanks to fake tan, that great social-leveller of our age, having brown legs no longer means you actually go on six holidays a year. But legs that are smooth and tanned enough to be bared do require a certain level of attention, and having the time to devote to this is a luxury in its own right.

Debate about when or whether to wear black tights is, therefore, a matrix by which we ask all kinds of other questions. Which, I suppose, is why such an apparently boring question is so compelling. And, indeed, why I can’t give you a straight answer. I will say, though, that I haven’t worn them yet this season. And that I say that with, if I’m honest, some degree of pride.