What to Wear: Tights 101

Jessica wrote in with a request about one of my favorite things: tights!

I don’t know why tights, but let’s be honest- clothes in general, perplex me. Most of the time I wear pants- either jeans, chinos, or corduroys. And a lot of the time it’s white or black chucks with those for shoes. I don’t like my legs, pale and plenty of spider veins from on-my-feet jobs. I was really excited when fun tights became popular, until I realized I had no idea how to incorporate them into my wardrobe. The best outfit I’ve managed so far is a cream sweater, denim pencil skirt, red tights, and dark brown riding-style boots.

I would love to wear more skirts and dresses with tights, but I get so confused as to how to pair things up. Sweater and textured tights are especially confusing. And what shoes do you wear with it all? So yeah, that’s the sad state of my tightphobia. I’m going to go home and look at my closet more carefully tonight.

I’m not fond of my legs au natural either and it’s always freezing in San Francisco, so I love wearing tights with everything. I hardly buy a skirt or dress without a plan for wearing it with tights. Here’s a quick tutorial for four looks

1. The basic – Tweed, corduroy or denim mini with black opaque tights. For this look, flats, boots or pumps all work depending on how fancy you want to be. The easiest is black, brown or gray shoes, but red and others can work perfectly depending on the tops you’ve picked.
2. The other basic – Dresses and tights love to work together. With a black dress, I usually go for gray tights. With a lighter or brighter color, black or nude fishnets are my choice. With a lower hemline, pick black heels to make your legs longer.
3. The intermediate – Tailored shorts are surprisingly easy to wear for fall. Toss on a tee, scarf and cardigan and you’re set to go. Both flats, heels and boots work. Modeled here expertly by Academichic.
4. The advanced – Wear bright colored and textured tights as if they were another item of clothing. Make sure the rest of your outfit is balanced with the tights – not too busy or too simple. Jessica’s pair of red with brown boots and a denim skirt is a great choice. Avoid yellow or orange – which make me feel like Big Bird. When in doubt – browse outfits featuring various kinds of tights on flickr or Anthropologie for inspiration!