The complete guide to tights

Choosing the weight

The denier number is the first choice: it decides how much leg shows through, how warm the tights are and the effect on the outfit.

Denier: The unit that measures yarn weight: one denier equals one gram per 9,000 metres of thread.
Sheer: Tights up to about 20 denier, fine enough to leave the skin visible and create a second-skin effect.
Semi-opaque: Tights between 20 and 40 denier, which veil the leg while letting a hint of skin show through.
Opaque: Tights of 40 denier and above, which cover the skin completely.

Tights, hold-ups, stockings with a suspender belt, knee-highs and over-the-knee socks: different shapes for different occasions.

Tights: A single garment that covers the body from waist to toe, joining two legs to a brief, known as pantyhose in American English.
Hold-ups: Stockings that stay up on their own, thanks to a band of silicone on the inside of a wide top, often in lace.
Stockings: Individual leg coverings that reach the thigh, as opposed to tights, which join both legs to a brief.
Suspender belt: A belt worn at the waist or hips with elastic straps and clips that hold up stockings by their welt, called a garter belt in American English.
Knee-highs: Hosiery that stops just below the knee, finished with a soft elastic band.
Over-the-knee socks: Long socks that finish above the knee, mid-thigh, usually in opaque, knitted or ribbed yarn.
Footless tights: Tights that stop at the ankle, or finish with a stirrup under the arch, leaving the foot bare.
Control top: A brief section knitted with a denser, firmer structure, often with extra elastane, to smooth and hold the tummy, hips and bottom.

Polyamide and elastane are the basis of almost all tights; microfibre and 3D knits change the feel, fit and durability.

Nylon (polyamide): The synthetic fibre that transformed hosiery.
Elastane (LYCRA): A synthetic fibre that can stretch several times its length and spring back, known as spandex in North America.
Microfibre: A yarn made of extremely fine filaments, finer than one decitex each, usually in polyamide.
3D knit: A knitting construction in which elastane is worked into every row of the fabric, so tights stretch evenly both lengthways and widthways.
Matte and shiny finishes: The sheen of tights depends on yarn, knit and finishing.
Circular knitting machine: The machine that knits tights.

Gusset, toe, heel and size make the difference between tights you forget you are wearing and a pair that bothers you all day.

Gusset: The panel sewn into the crotch of tights where the two legs meet.
Reinforced toe: A toe area knitted with a heavier or double yarn to withstand friction from shoes and resist holes.
Sandal toe: A toe knitted in the same sheer yarn as the rest of the leg, with no reinforcement, so nothing shows in open shoes.
Cuban heel: A reinforced heel with a squared-off shape that rises above the shoe line, typical of fully fashioned stockings knitted flat and sewn up the back.
Seamed stockings: Stockings or tights with a line running up the back of the leg.
Panty section: The upper part of tights, from waist to top of the thigh, also called the brief or body.
Sizing: Tights sizes are usually expressed in letters, such as S to XL, or numbers, and are read from a chart that crosses height with weight or hip measurement.

From nude to black, from polka dots to fishnet: this is where tights become the star of the look.

Nude: The family of shades designed to blend with the skin, from the palest tones to deep brown.
Patterned tights: Tights with a design knitted in or printed on: polka dots, stripes, florals, logos, geometric motifs.
Fishnet: Hosiery knitted as an open mesh, usually diamond-shaped, with holes large enough to show plenty of skin.
Micro-fishnet: A fishnet with a very small mesh, so fine that from a distance it reads almost like a textured sheer.

Gentle washing, no tumble dryer, mind your rings and nails: and if a ladder starts, you can stop it.

Ladder: A vertical run in knitted hosiery, caused when a single stitch breaks and the loops above and below it unravel, called a run in American English.
Support and compression tights: Tights knitted to apply pressure to the leg.

Runway shows and celebrities anticipate what we will see on the street: dots, colour, white stockings, embellished tights.

From Castel Goffredo to Austria, from Germany to Switzerland: the stories of the brands that shaped the history of tights.

Castel Goffredo: A town in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, known in Italy as the città della calza, or city of hosiery.