A tights outfit works when two choices are right: how thick the tights are and how they connect to your shoes. Pick the denier by the temperature and the occasion, from a sheer 15 for an evening out to an opaque 80 or more for a cold commute, then match the tights to your shoes or to your hem so your legs do not become a separate stripe of colour. Opaque black goes with almost everything, and sheer black, burgundy, navy, grey and skin-tone each have their own job.
Which of your own skirts and dresses look right with your boots is the part a list cannot see. Wdrobe, the app we make, can put a skirt and your boots together on a photo of you.
How to choose tights: denier first
Denier is the weight of the yarn. The lower the number, the sheerer the tights, and from about 60 up they are fully opaque. Two things decide which number to buy: how cold it is, and how dressed up you are.
| Temperature | Denier | How it looks |
|---|---|---|
| Above 15°C (59°F) | Bare legs, or 10 to 15 for an event | Barely there |
| 10 to 15°C (50 to 59°F) | 15 to 30 | Sheer, skin shows through |
| 5 to 10°C (41 to 50°F) | 40 to 60 | Semi-opaque, lighter over the knee |
| 0 to 5°C (32 to 41°F) | 80 to 100 | Opaque and matte |
| Below 0°C (32°F) | 100 or more, or fleece-lined | Thick, close to a knit |
Then let the occasion move you a row. The dressier the plan, the sheerer the tights can be: 15 to 20 denier looks right at a wedding or a formal office, and 80 looks right with trainers and a sweatshirt. When the two disagree, as they do at a December party, wear the sheer pair and let a long coat and boots do the warming.
The line rule: tights join the shoe or the hem
Tights are the colour between your hem and your shoes, which leaves them three options.
- Join the shoe: black tights with black boots, burgundy tights with burgundy loafers. Leg and foot read as one piece, so the skirt can be any colour.
- Join the hem: navy tights under a navy skirt, charcoal under charcoal shorts. The lower half becomes one column, so the shoes can be a contrast such as tan or cognac.
- Stand alone: patterned tights or a strong colour, with the skirt and shoes kept plain and darker. This is the hardest of the three.
The check takes five seconds in a mirror. Count the blocks of colour from your waist to the floor. Two blocks look planned. Three, say a camel skirt, grey tights and brown boots, look like three separate decisions, unless one of them is clearly the point of the outfit.
Skin-tone tights follow a different rule. Their job is to disappear, so choose the shade by your own legs rather than by the name on the packet, and keep them for nude, tan or metallic shoes.
Coloured tights only work if the matching shoes are already in your wardrobe. Burgundy tights with no burgundy shoes are just a third colour between hem and floor. See all your shoes in one place before you buy a coloured pair.
8 tights outfits
1. Opaque black tights, a mini skirt and loafers
The everyday version, for the office or the weekend. Black tights and chunky black loafers keep everything below the skirt dark, so a cream knit on top is the only light piece.
Outfit formula: charcoal wool A-line mini skirt + black 80 denier tights + black chunky loafers + cream crew-neck jumper.
2. Sheer black tights, a coloured dress and heels
For a dinner, a party or the theatre. Sheer black under an emerald, cobalt or red dress makes the colour look deeper, and black suede heels let the tights run straight into the shoe.
Outfit formula: emerald satin midi dress + black 15 denier tights + black suede pointed heels + black wool coat.
3. Burgundy tights, a grey skirt and burgundy loafers
Coloured tights look most deliberate when the shoes match them. With a grey flannel skirt and a cream knit, nothing in the outfit is louder than the tights.
Outfit formula: grey flannel A-line skirt + burgundy 60 denier tights + burgundy leather loafers + cream roll-neck knit.
4. Navy tights, a navy pleated skirt and cognac boots
Here the tights join the hem instead. A navy pleated midi skirt over navy tights makes one long column, so cognac ankle boots can be the contrast. For more ways to wear the skirt itself, see how to style a pleated skirt.
Outfit formula: navy pleated midi skirt + navy 60 denier tights + cognac leather ankle boots + cream fine-knit sweater.
5. Charcoal tights with tailored shorts
Wool or tweed shorts become a winter outfit with opaque tights in the same colour, which makes the shorts part of the leg line. Add loafers and a coat that ends well below the hem.
Outfit formula: charcoal wool tailored shorts + charcoal 80 denier tights + black leather loafers + white shirt + long camel coat.
6. Skin-tone tights with a light dress for a daytime event
For a wedding, a christening or a formal office, sheer skin-tone tights add a little warmth and polish without changing the colours of the outfit. Keep them at 10 to 15 denier and keep the shoes light.
Outfit formula: blush floral midi dress + skin-tone 10 denier tights + nude block-heel courts + cream wool coat.
7. Patterned tights with a plain black dress and Mary Janes
Patterned tights are easiest when they are the only pattern in the outfit. Small dots or a fine rib in black on black is quiet enough for work. If your dress is printed, go back to plain tights; how to mix patterns covers when two prints can share an outfit.
Outfit formula: black fine-knit shift dress + black micro-dot tights + black leather Mary Janes + grey wool coat.
8. Black tights, a denim skirt and trainers
The weekend version. Black leather trainers carry opaque black tights into the shoe, which leaves a mid-blue denim skirt and a grey sweatshirt as the only other colours.
Outfit formula: mid-blue denim mini skirt + black 60 denier tights + black leather trainers + grey marl sweatshirt.
The right denier depends on weather you will not know until the morning. A mild afternoon can turn into a cold walk home, and the 15 denier pair stops making sense. Plan the outfit with that day's forecast beside it.
Which shoes to wear with tights
- Ankle boots: opaque tights in the boot's colour, so no bare strip shows between hem and boot.
- Knee boots: any denier, since the boot covers most of the leg.
- Loafers and Mary Janes: 60 denier or more, because the whole top of the foot shows.
- Heels: sheer, 10 to 20 denier, in black or skin-tone. Opaque tights suit a block heel better than a slim stiletto.
- Trainers: opaque only. Sheer tights with trainers look as if you changed one half of the outfit and forgot the other.
Want outfits like these from clothes you already own? Wdrobe's AI stylist builds them from your wardrobe and shows each one on your photo.
Frequently asked questions
What denier tights should you wear to the office?
Between 40 and 60 denier in black or navy suits most offices from October to March. Go sheerer, 15 to 20, for a formal dress code, and thicker, 80 or more, if you walk to work in the cold.
Can you wear tights with trainers?
Yes, with opaque tights of 60 denier or more and a casual skirt or dress in denim, corduroy or jersey. Black tights look most finished with black or dark trainers.
What colour tights go with brown boots?
Dark brown opaque tights look the smoothest, and black works when the boots are a deep chocolate. With tan or cognac boots, try chocolate tights or skin-tone sheers, because black draws a hard line at the top of a light boot.
Are tights and pantyhose the same thing?
Mostly. In the US, pantyhose usually means sheer and tights means opaque, while in the UK and Australia tights covers both. Denier is the clearer way to shop: under 30 is sheer, 30 to 50 is semi-opaque, and 60 or more is opaque.
For the dresses that need tights most, sweater dress outfits matches boots to each hem length, while what colour shoes to wear with a black dress looks at the same decision from the shoe side.
Denier by the weather and tights joined to the shoe or the hem are easy to remember; which skirt and shoes went with which pair is not. Wdrobe saves each outfit you build from your own clothes, so the grey skirt and burgundy loafers are there to repeat in January, and the tights follow from the shoes. Keep the combinations that worked this winter.
