Tights

Not stockings, just tights.

a heart hiding the owner of a pair of tights clad legs

A great way to keep your legs warm, draw the eye and flatter the leg. Although sometimes considered unsexy and unhygenic compared to stockings, they're more convenient and available in a far greater range of styles, colours, patterns and materials from the ultra ultra sheer to thick and warm.


August 2010 - Sneaking in just under a year since the last update (oops, doesn't time fly) and yet we're back in ancient history at the same time. Yes, the Tan Tights Trend, although of course we should be calling them "cosmetic tights". Done right, you'll look great. Done wrong, an even less fashionable version of the least fashionable granny or aunt you can think of. Choose carefully! On the other hand, resellers and brands showing a rise in tights sales can't be bad. Enjoy!

September 2009 Update - Well, if nothing else, Selfridges can be very proud of their PR department since the "mantyhose" story has made the Guardian ("Real men don't wear mantyhose"), the Telegraph ("Men in tights are an abomination") and finally the BBC ("What sort of man wears mantyhose?"). So mostly not exactly positive then. Most of the examples though seem to be showing what are more like baggy leggings, or jogging bottoms that have shrunk a bit in the wash. Hardly fair, I feel, whatever you think of the idea.

September 2009 - The Daily Mail clearly have a thing about tights for men (and Errol Flynn). They had a similar article in August of last year (link further down this page). Although the previous article didn't elicit any comments, there are about 250 on the current one - the top rated pointing out that they're actually quite popular with builders and the like for keeping warm (itself nothing new at all), the difference being that they're not on show. But £70 for a pair of 120 denier tights? Please, no! That would buy an awful lot of pairs of Levante Airskin tights for example, or even more of something colourful from Charnos. Both have sizes up to extra tall so should be able to suit anyone. Even in green, to satify the Daily Mail's Errol Flynn obsession. UKTights have a convenient page with tights aimed specifically at men (look under specials in the menu down the left) and Tightsplease have pages both for men buying for themselves and as gifts, which may be useful for some!



August 2009 - Let's get this out of the way first. Tights aren't Leggings. No, really. Sienna Miller may have just about got away with it a couple of years ago but that's enough thank you. Even opaque tights may not be quite as opaque as you think when it comes to covering your knickers. I've seen this a couple of times in the wild now and it's just not a good look. Really.

In better news, once again tights are the thing to help out the wardrobe as the fashion season moves from summer to autumn and winter. There really are some superb styles coming out with great textures and patterns to choose from, with the Pamela Mann brand in particular going mad with interesting prints. (UK Tights are our favourites for these as they seem to have the biggest range of Pamela Mann around.)


Older news and opinion

Positive news for men who like wearing tights from what might be seen as an unlikely source. The Sun has an article (10/1/09) about a footballer called Angelo Balanta who has been given permission by the FA to wear tights while playing. This sort of public display of male hoisery can hopefully work towards making men wearing tights acceptable more generally. If you're looking for larger sizes, the links page has a few suppliers which go up to XXXXL. New additions include Feminine Plus and The Leg-Care Company

One of the trends for this season is supposed to be the 'wet look'. Haven't seen this in the wild so far but they are available, made by Aristoc and possibly others especially if it does catch on. (Wet Look leggings seem to be taking off more than tights from what I've seen.) A number of commentators are promoting tights as a quick, easy and above all economical way to refresh outfits, whether day, night, professional or casual and there is certainly no disagreement from here. Lisa Armstrong in her TimesOnline list of Seven trends from 2008 that will last has at number seven "Coloured tights: a brilliant way to update… everything. And yes, some time ago, I ventured that primary tights were best left to primary schools. As I said, a year is a mighty long time in fashion." Quite.


Hide your sins and let loose in tights - on that we can agree with the ST. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Globe and Mail says "Go ahead, stocking up" with an article about tights versus bare legs in the corporate workplace. Translating these encouraging articles to the UK the Knitting Trade Journal tells us that "The UK market for intimate apparel could be worth £2.7 billion by the end of 2008, an increase of more than 16% over the last four years, driven by an increased demand for hosiery." which is excellent news given falling sales in previous years.


The Mail Online, in a piece published on the 8th August 2008, reporting that sales of tights to men are increasing. The Daily Mail's fashion editor is quoted as finding the trend "absolutely ridiculous" but also says "it is not even as though tights would be comfortable" so would seem not to have actually asked anyone else for an opinion. T.M.Lewin aren't keen either though sadly. FemaleFirst has some more positive comments from male tights wearers (but no women). There's more coverage in The Independent. There's a discussion thread here (TeenFi) which mostly pre-dates the current round of comments plus more here (Yahoo! Answers) and a group on MSN here.


Tightsplease have a number of suggestions for recycling tights, including uses in the home and garden but have sadly ended the scheme to send old pairs to The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. You can replace what you recycle with oraganic cotton tights from the same place. They also have socks made from a fibre extracted from bamboo which are claimed to be 100% biodegradable and having now bought some, do feel wonderfully soft and silky. A few other stockists do have bamboo tights too.


Catwalk Queen was wondering if it was worth spending £17 on a pair of opaque tights (Wolford Velvet Deluxe in this case) rather than continuing to buy cheap pairs. Only a minority of those against had actually tried them, for outweighed by those with a positive recommendation.


Unless you're Superman, Sienna Miller or a dedicated BBC reporter you probably wouldn't go out in tights alone but with short, short skirts it's sometimes only just possible to tell the difference. As trends go though, this looks like it was a bit of a non-starter!


Although the future for tights manufacturers was looking rather grim around 2000-2001 and then with the closure of the Pretty Polly factory in 2005 but by the next year things appeared to be looking up again slightly and this trend will hopefully continue. Certainly in the US, the trend is small but upwards. The increase of sales to men may also help.


A little history...

Well before DuPont introduced the first nylon stockings in 1939 at the San Vrancisco World's Fair, Queen Elizabeth I received as a gift a pair of black knit silk stockings. The coming of artificial materials such as nylon provided the first serious competition to silk, being comfortable, durable and more affordable. The only major disadvantage (in some respects) is that modern items cannot be repaired as well, or at all, when they ladder.

Tights, as they might be recognised today, first appeared in the 1960s as stockings which were attached to panties made of thin natural rubber.yarn. It was the advent of the miniskirt that really helped tights make their mark, taking by the late 60s a 70% share of the market previously held by stockings.

First invented in 1958 as "Fibre K", LYCRA™ was first added to tights in 1979, giving them the level of comfort and fit which is now expected as a matter of course. Development of LYCRA™ and related products hasn't stood still though, with the introduction in 1998 of LYCRA™ Leg Care providing extra, graduated support and in 2000, "hose without toes" - knitting techniques which allow tights to avoid a toe seam and so enable them to be worn with open-toed sandles and shoes.

Although started in 1894, Marks and Spencer didn't start sellings hosiery until the 1920s. Now they sell in the region of 600000 pairs of tights per week.

Special features

You could always just wear black or nude tights in 10-20 denier and some people probably do. However, there are a huge range of colours, styles and finishes available so why not experiment? What features you're looking for will depend on where you're going to be wearing your tights!

washing (77K)

What next?

From the Suzie Brewer column in the Wales On Sunday for 7/10/01 - Apparently Christian Dior were selling tights with (deliberate!) ladders in (a snip at £24.95). "Yes, some women with more money than either sense or style, are snapping up the designer tights from the posh London boutique." As Suzie says, "Girls, keep your tights snag-free and let's hope that this fashion fad will not run and run." Luckily it doesn't seem like it did.


One interesting possibility would be tights that change colour in response to temperature or some other stimuli. You can now get tights with microcapsules of caffeine which are released into thighs, bottom and legs. This is claimed to increase the metabolic rate and the burning of fat, to help with reducing thigh circumference and even helping with cellulite. Also available are UV-reactive tights for extra impact on the dance floor.