What Does It Feel Like to Wear Tights

Is it uncool to wear pantyhose? Inquire The Kit

Sexy, polish legs are back, baby

Leanne Delap Special to the Kit

Saturday., November. 20, 2021 vi min. read

Article was updated November. 25, 2021

"I'm shopping for a vacation party dress, merely I just don't think I tin do blank legs anymore! Not after so many months in cosy clothes! Plus, I'1000 feeling like my pasty late-fall legs need some assist. In the 'onetime days' I would simply take hold of a pair of pantyhose and experience more pulled together and polished in my dress-upward gear. Merely I'm worried pantyhose are old-fashioned. Are they cool or uncool?"

News flash: Pantyhose are dorsum in fashion! Even sheer pantyhose. Fifty-fifty nude pantyhose! I think this reveal is big plenty to occupy its own paragraph.

I'm with y'all; I don't think I accept worn sheer hosiery since about 1995, when I began emulating the chic European fashion editors who braved all atmospheric condition with bare legs nether their chic pencil skirts. This mass movement abroad from stockings was a full-scale swing of the fashion pendulum, one that lasted a quarter-century (unless you work in finance or on a flying coiffure, where stubborn dress codes for female employees have endured).

In 2015, the New York Times chosen not wearing pantyhose "a power move, 1 that indicates the vigour of youth and the muscle tone of Pilates and mayhap further implies the brevity of a stroll from a hired motorcar to a reserved tabular array."

In those blank-legged years, I must have tried every glowy, glittery, bronzy leg makeup that hit the market, leaving a trail of schmeared stains on sheets and sofas, and sparkle on my appointment'due south suit trousers from sitting adjacent to me. The winter-palid leg expect is 1 few tin can pull off (encounter Pilates and limo ethics in a higher place), and everyone has little imperfections — varicose veins, scrapes, bruises, scars, ripply peel — we would rather cover up.

Possibly it took a pandemic of pyjamas and sweatpants to brand us yearn for silky, smoothen legs again and the pleasurable formality of hosiery. The trend re-emerged with leggings nether skirts for spring 2021, a throwback shout-out to the early years of this century. Then this October, Harper'southward Boutique ran a shopping spread of covetable tights, complete with an assortment of sheer options. Fancy tights have been spotted on Lady Gaga, who wore fishnets to great acclamation for the U.K. premiere of "House of Gucci," paired with platform boots and a regal Gucci dress with a thigh-high split to better show off the hosiery.

I grew up on Hanes and L'Eggs commercials on TV, and pantyhose were sold equally youthful, sexy and empowering. And then, I'thousand ready to go back. And just retrieve of the entire generation that has never worn stockings and can now play with a brand new accessory!

So, bring on the pantyhose. Except, we don't call them "pantyhose" whatsoever longer: part of the hosiery rehabilitation projection has included a name change. The word to use now instead is "tights." "Tights" used to simply mean opaque leg coverings, but now includes sheer styles. Tights is a British expression, an import from the country whose regal women are quite literally not allowed to get out of the palace without sheer tights on. Americans tend to utilise the word "nylons," in reference to the breakthrough applied science that replaced silk stockings with nylon versions but before the Second Earth War.

"People actually don't like the discussion panty," says Xenia Chen, a Toronto tights entrepreneur who formerly worked in finance (and struggled with a stocking mandate). Her company, Threads, offers direct-to-consumer tights (twenty denier sheer, with tone-matching technology, and sixty denier opaque) with an optional subscription service.

She came upwardly with Threads when she got tired of "either spending $10 a pop on drugstore tights of terrible quality," or spending six times that for European brands such as Wolford or Falke. These rip, too — they just pause your heart a petty chip more. "I thought, 'How come we don't have a better product that is thoughtfully designed and well-priced?'" She also noted that "control top" hose "often made yous feel like a sausage in a casing." So she did her research and found out, to no one'south surprise, that well-nigh hosiery conglomerates are run by men.

What was a big surprise, says Chen, is that in one case she started selling online (placing ads via Facebook) she discovered there are also a lot of men out in that location who desire tights of all weights. "About 40 to 50 per cent of our business organization is now men," she says. "We are hopefully making headway with the societal stigma. A lot of men are very self-conscious about ownership in stores, then they prefer to order online, and the packaging is gender-neutral and discreet." Chen adds that the allure is often practical: "A lot of men tell me they desire the warmth under pants or for compression; a lot of guys in the army tell me they wear tights under their uniform for chafing, and to protect from ticks and bugs. Many men wear tights for fun and fashion." Chen adjusted both sizing (A to F is the current extended range for men) and marketing (half the images are shot on male bodies) to accommodate the customer base.

Tights also accept no age limit. "Nosotros have clients between xviii and 85," says Chen. She's recently started aiming ads via TikTok at the younger stop of that spectrum, one that has never probable tried sheer tights earlier.

As for the shapewear aspect, Chen says, "Women similar some shaping and control acme, but they were clear on not wanting to feel like they can't breathe. Merely they desire to set some areas, similar love handles or stomach, so we targeted those areas and added a boost to elevator your bum."

Threads uses 3D construction to improve durability and though they don't last forever, particularly the sheer ones, Chen says they should terminal about a year (longer for opaque) if yous common cold-water wash them in a laundry purse and lay flat to dry. They're also fabricated past a family unit-owned factory in Italia, then she can guarantee labour practices are fair and the supply chain for the tights is OEKO-TEX certified.

Sheer blackness and sheer nude are the line's bestsellers. "There is something about a pair of sheer black tights that actually pulls you together. It takes your outfit from fourscore to 100." And in the language of social media, "Information technology is like a real-life Instagram filter for your legs."

Send your pressing fashion and dazzler questions to Leanne at ask@thekit.ca.

Shop the communication

For those wanting to dip a toe back into the tights trend, the market has shifted probable since your last trip to the hosiery alley.

Threads sheer tights, $20, yourthreads.co Shop HERE

An original bestseller, this style, with some shapewear control around the waist (and bonus barrel-lifting), comes in black and four nude shades from ivory to chestnut, with shade lucifer applied science to piece of work on a broader range of pare tones.

Threads Sheer-To-Waist tights, $20, yourthreads.co Shop Here

This new way merely debuted this calendar week. It launched in tan in a wide range of sizes (for men and women), with more colours coming.

Wolford tights, $70, farfetch.com SHOP Hither

A practiced mix betwixt sheer and opaque, these European luxury tights give your legs prissy shadows with a toning effect.

Sheertex sheer tights, $109, thetightspot.com Shop HERE

Another direct-to-consumer Canadian brand, Sheertex offers a thirty-day guarantee against impairment. I'm guessing I'm in their demographic from the number of times I come across their targeted ads on Instagram!

Simons Valenza sheer pantyhose, $12, simons.ca SHOP HERE

A sheer-to-waist budget-friendly option. Fabricated in Italia, exclusively for Simons, in a range of skin-tone and black options.

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Source: https://www.thestar.com/life/fashion_style/2021/11/20/is-it-uncool-to-wear-pantyhose-ask-the-kit.html

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