How to Wear Tights

How To Put On Tights

Hosiery can be a delicate item so it's important that proper care is taken when putting on or taking off your tights. This simple guide will help your hosiery look great and last longer!

1. Always remove jewellery that may catch on the yarns causing snags or ladders.  Also make sure nail edges are smooth and rounded.

2. Roll the tights completely from toe to waistband.

3. Put your foot into the rolled tights and carefully unroll them up your leg. Take care to get the rolling and unrolling straight so that the pantyhose sit correctly, particularly if they involve patterns or back seams.

4. Once placed correctly at the waist you can carefully smooth out the legs or straighten up the tights if needed, being careful not to over stretch the pantyhose in any area.

5. When removing hosiery, roll from the waist down and off at the foot, without pulling from the toe. Again, be aware of jewellery and nails.

What style and denier of tights should you choose?

A mixture of your personality, current trends and the seasons will form the basis of which tights you choose to buy. Your own interpretation of fashion and how you style your outfits can be complemented by your choice of tights or hosiery.  What better way to express your individuality than with a pair of pantyhose. They are also perfect for giving your legs comfort and warmth, covering any blemishes, and adding colour and shine to pale legs making them look irresistible and elongated.  Pantyhose are the ideal addition to any outfit, from everyday office wear to a striking evening look, for a casual Sunday afternoon vibe or a sexy seductive appeal in the bedroom. The term denier is often referred to as the thickness of an item of hosiery but, to be more specific, denier refers to the weight of the yarn that was used to produce the item of hosiery. A higher denier of yarn results in a thicker pair of tights. Hosiery items range in denier from as low as 5 up to as high as 200 or more. When choosing hosiery you need to think about how much coverage you require, depending on; where you wish to wear the item, the weather at that time of year and what look you wish to achieve.  Common terms used to portray the level of denier of a particular item are:

Sheer hosiery

Available in subtle matt or high gloss finish, between 5-30 denier.

Semi sheer / opaque hosiery

Perfect for giving your legs a little coverage during the early autumn weather, between 30 and 50 denier.

Opaque hosiery

Ideal for the autumn and winter months, between 50 to 200 denier or more)

No matter the denier, tights come in many different different finishes such as:

Matt Tights

Matt tights usually fall in to one of two categories. 

 1. Nude, sheer tights that aim to achieve a natural look without giving any shine or shimmer to your skin tone.

 2. Opaque tights of 40 denier or more that give a solid, opaque colour without any shimmer or gloss properties to the yarns, particularly common with wool blend hosiery.

Ideal for causal daywear or a smart look at the office.

Silk Tights

A silk finish will give a bit of shimmer to the yarns used to make the hosiery item producing a slight sheen. Somewhere between full on gloss and matt, these items are ideal for achieving a luxury texture to your legs without drawing too much attention. Note - a silk finish doesn’t necessarily mean that the product contains silk.

Shine and Gloss Tights

Products with a Shine or Gloss finish will give a highly polished, glamorous look. Think silky smooth, just oiled skin for sheer or high quality silky yarns for opaques. Highly popular for their look and feel, gloss tights are favoured by celebrities, royals and stage performers.

Cut & Sew Tights

Cut and Sew means that the product has been created by sewing two pieces of knitted hosiery together to make the tube of the leg - resulting in a seam down the back of the leg or the inside seam of the leg. Usually this type of construction is found in high deniers or lace products where it is difficult to knit the product in a circular tube. It's more expensive to make items in this style so it's a technique used mainly for luxury hosiery items or by high quality fashion brands.