Dos and Don’ts of putting your tights on
If you’re new to wearing tights, hold ups and stockings or indeed any kind of legwear, you may not be aware of the pitfalls of putting these items on or taking them off. We thought it would be a good idea to give you a list of things to do and a list of things not to do when putting your tights and other hosiery on, which will help you prolong the life of your legwear.
Putting your tights on the right way is vital if you plan to wear sheer legwear such as 10, 15 or, even, 20 denier hosiery. You’ll notice that these items are very delicate. The lower the denier, the more delicate the fabric.
Therefore, it’s always best to do the following:
Do…
Make sure you have no snags on your fingernails. Use a good quality hand lotion and make sure your fingers and the skin around your fingers are soft and snag-free.
Give your feet a treat
Make sure your toenails are not long or sharp in any way by cutting them and, then, filing the edges so that they don’t poke through your legwear. Again, use a good quality foot balm or body lotion to make your feet soft, pliable and have no hard skin or snags. This will help prevent your hosiery from laddering prematurely.
Use hosiery gloves
Even though you’ve done all of the above, we would still recommend you invest in a pair of hosiery gloves. These are normally cotton gloves that are relatively inexpensive (prices start from as little as 4.99). It will save you a lot of money in the long run. Where sheer tights are concerned, it’s just so easy to put your fingers through them, so better safe than sorry.
Make sure you order the right size
So many people think that their shape hasn’t changed over the past 20 years. Let us tell you, this is a rare occurrence. Be realistic. If you’ve gone up or down a dress size when shopping for clothes, then the same will probably apply when shopping for hosiery.
Nevertheless, there are a few things you should consider here:
- Your weight, height, waist and thigh circumference are some of the factors you’ll need to look at when looking for new hosiery. Your tights size doesn’t necessarily have to match your dress size.
- Do check out the individual size charts for each brand and product before you buy them. This information is available for every product available on our website, as well as the package itself.
- In our experience, most of the people who claim that hosiery is uncomfortable haven’t yet found the right pair of tights or stockings and, of course, the right size.
Treat your tights with love and care
Now it’s time to put on your hosiery. Take great care when you are taking them out of the packet. A lot of legwear has a card insert that can easily snag the fabric as it leaves the packet. We all get excited when we are going to wear our new favourite garment for the first time. Treat them with love and care. Don’t let that excitement ruin your new hosiery.
Don’t…
Don’t simply tug the product
Don’t tug the product but remove it gently and open it up with care. Make sure you gather your hosiery from the top to the toe in a careful manner. Don’t pull on the fabric too hard, as the strands can break and you may ladder your stockings or hold ups without even getting to wear them.
Don’t rush to put on your hosiery
We know you are busy, but it’s very important that you don’t attempt to put your tights on quickly. Take your time with this, smoothing the fabric up to your leg as you go.
If putting on tights, don’t try to take the first leg all the way up before starting on the other leg. This is never going to work. Take the first leg up to the knee then the second leg and work on each leg alternatively until you get to the panty and pull them up gently over your bottom and tummy. Make sure you leave enough room in the toes. If these pull too much in the toes, your big toe may peek over the day, ruining your tights.
Don’t think that your legwear will last forever
Your hosiery won’t last forever, especially if you don’t take the due care when putting them on, removing them and, even more, washing them. Take care when you’re washing them and then you will get much longer out of them. Make sure to always wash your hosiery by hand and use a gentle fabric wash. Rinse them well in cold water and let them air dry naturally.
You can read more hosiery care tips here. Now that you know how to put your tights, it’s time to put our advice into practice and enjoy your hosiery.
44 Comments
Sally
Thanks for this great post. And I love the website. But it would be nice to see a section for older women (over 60) and how to wear tights with suitable outfits so that we can also look good in something a bit different to the norm.
UK Tights
Hi Sally,
Thanks for your feedback. That’s actually a great idea for a blog post. Our sister site created a wonderful guide for lingerie for +50 years old. We’ll look into doing something like this for UK Tights as well. We’d also suggest you take a look at Instagram for Inspiration. There are a few great bloggers in the 50s and 60s with amazing style and they often share their outfits on Instagram.
Thanks
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Matthew
I am a 27 year old man I have a tights obsession I have so many tights I can fill up 3 large carrier bags I prefer the winter weather as everyday I can enjoy wearing tights under trousers keeping warm all day .In the summer I sometimes wear sheer tights with shorts and I look to see if anyone looks and notices even though I’m not bothered about it I’m open and I like talking to woman about tights it’s a passion it’s a part of life they make me happy
UK Tights
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Many men wear tights under their trousers and shorts. We believe it’s amazing that you are open about it. Life is too short to be bothered about these things. If you like wearing tights, just go for it! We love to find people who share our love and passion for tights. We really do. Keep on with the things that make you happy 🙂
Thanks
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Jerry
I am man who loves wearing tights. I have worn them since I was a child. My favorite are Falke Seidenglatt in XXL. I recently received a new pair, and the XXL seem to be made smaller than previous XXL. Have they changed their sizes and made them smaller now? Any recommendations for us who wear bigger sizes?
UK Tights
Dear Jerry,
Thanks for your message. Falke has recently upgraded their Seidenglatt tights indeed. They may have changed their sizes, but we haven’t had any bad reviews in this regard. Do they still fit you? If you compare them with a previous pair you’ve worn, it’s normal that the used pair seems bigger, as these expand over the time. If they don’t fit and they should, according to the size chart, feel free to contact our customer service team, please.
Maybe you can take a look at these two blog posts of ours:
* Best hosiery brands for tall people
* Best hosiery brands for plus size
We hope that helps.
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Red
Great Post as always. As a men that I love to wear tights, I would love to see a blog of what tights are more appropriate to wear under trousers.
Good work and keep going.
UK Tights
Hi there!
Well, we’d say any tights are appropriate to wear under trousers, so that would be a really short blog post from our side. Maybe you can follow blogger Hosiery for Men for extra tips on the men’s side. We are huge fans of their work.
As a personal choice, we’d suggest you go for tights with cotton gusset, rather than nylon gussets.
Thanks for your feedback 😉
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
John Sizer
It gives me great pleasure to wear tights or suspender belt and stockings under my jeans in the job that I do plus it keeps my legs warm especially in the wintertime. I do have my favourite styles that I prefer to wear more than the others.
UK Tights
We couldn’t survive winter without our cosy tights, stockings or hold ups. What’s your favourite style at UK Tights, John?
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Kari Hilden
An important item you forgot to mention, about extending the life of your tights, is to pull the nylon away from your toes after putting them on. This will reduce the pull on the toenails and significantly reduce tearing at the toes.
UK Tights
Yes and no… it will certainly help, but it cannot be too loose or it wont’ be comfortable when you walk. We’ll amend the post with your suggestion 🙂
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Marie
No matter how much I file and smooth my toenails, my big toe will poke through within an hour, even with tights that have reinforced toes and even with a bigger size of tights (crinkles at the ankles, Nora Batty style, but toes poking through).
Any tricks you can teach me?
UK Tights
Hi Marie,
That’s really weird. When your tights are too short for you, it often happens that your big toe pokes through. Is it maybe the shoes you wear? This sometimes happens if you wear ultra sheer tights with trainers, Converse-like trainers or hard shoes (eg. with the Oxford or some laced shoes). Maybe try going for slightly higher denier tights (e.g if you wear 10 denier tights, move to the 15 and 20 denier tights to compare) and maybe give ladder resist tights a go. Do let us know if that helps 🙂
Thanks
UK Tights team
Gary
Hi
What a great site. I am a guy who has been wearing tights openly for a good few years with shorts or Jean’s and tend to go for Nude or Barely Black. I have found that they really do keep my legs warm as I do have an outside job. My wife does often comment that I have more tights in my wardrobe than her.
UK Tights
Hi Gary!
LOL. Lucky you. You should treat her with some feminine hosiery to level up 😉
Jokes apart, it’s great that you can openly talk about hosiery with your wife, as many men tell us they struggle to openly talk about this with their partners.
Also, it’s great to meet another hosiery fan. Thanks for your feedback and we hope you keep coming to our blog for information and style tips.
Thanks
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Maree
Hi,
I am five feet one inch. I have short well defined muscle legs and am size 18. I would like some warm tights for the winter. What would you advise?
Thanks Maree
UK Tights
Cette, Glamory and Pamela Mann are ideal for you. Don’t close yourself to trying new styles. If you look at the size charts for some products, you’ll notice that some brands recommend a size Large for your height/weight, while others will advise you to go for XL or even XXL/MAXI. We’ll name a few good styles we would give a try this winter:
* Charnos Opaque 60 Denier Thick Tights
* Trasparenze Sophie 70 Denier Opaque Tights
* Pamela Mann 50 Denier Curvy Super Stretch Tights
* Trasparenze Wilma Tights
* Pretty Polly Curves 200 Denier Fleecy Tights
* Cette Sochi 120 Denier Plus Size Cotton Tights
* Bahner Stripes Ribbed Support Tights
* Wolford Cotton Velvet Tights
* Cette Dublin Plus Size Tights
Gloriabelly
May I concur that the Pamela Mann larger size tights are superb for the larger, curvier lady. We tend to have wider thighs and calves with slender ankles worthy of emphasis, I am size 24 lower body at 5’3″ tall and adore the variety of jewelled colours to pick out those featured in my favourite tunics and shorter dresses and even fancy footwear. The range of sizes exclusive to this site in the fully fashioned stockings is a joy and they fit all members of our household.
UK Tights
We, at UK Tights, at committed to stocking as many sizes and good styles as possible. We ourselves struggled in the past to find a variety of tights to fit larger and taller women, so we have tried our best to expand our Plus Size range with the right hosiery styles. We are very proud of this and your positive feedback means that we are on the right path. Thanks!
Kind regards,
Marta. UK Tights team
Anonymous
I am 5ft tall size 6 dress and skinny legs. I always wear stockings and hold ups but find hold ups are far too wide at the tops and have to take them in 2 inches each stocking top. I really dont think they should be as wide as they are and can be quite uncomfortable to wear. I am a size small but it seems for some strange reason that med/small only fit medium sized people and not us smaller women. Thank you from Linda
UK Tights
Hi Linda,
Maybe try wearing X-Small/Small or proper Small-sized hold ups, rather than Small/Medium sizes. S/M sizes try to accommodate the shorter people who need size Small because of their height, but aren’t as slim as petite people, the taller but slender, people who are plain size Medium and some, like you, who are after a size Medium. Here you can find some petite hold-ups. Giulia hold ups are a great choice, we believe.
Thanks.
Kind regards.
UK Tights team
Anonymous
I too am a guy who wears tights. I wear sheers under my suit every day to work and on an evening when the suit comes off the shorts go on.
I’ve also worn skin tone shade sheers under shorts on weekend when I’m out and about and love getting the odd curious looks at my legs.
Love coloured 40 and 60 denier opaque tights too, to brighten up grey, dank Autumn days, like today.
Ian
john
in response to a previous comment, some of my favourite styles of tights are the open crotchless ones in summer about 10-30 dernier sheer tights and about 80-100 opaque tights in winter.
Allan
I think this blog is fantastic..enjoy reading the comments of guys wearing tights..as a crossdresser myself I soo loove gorg loveheart tights and my faves are gorgeous diamond patterns…the thicker the denier the better for me….so as I don’t cry when I rip my favourite hoisery
UK Tights
Thanks for your kind words, Allan! We are glad you follow our posts. There’s new content coming live soon!
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Alan
or maybe try trasperenze fiore or guilia for hold ups as av always found them great when accommodating sizes…be different for smaller sizes I suppose xxx
UK Tights
Sure, Trasparenze, Fiore and Giulia are great options. Girardi is a good brand in this case as well!
Alan
last pair of tights I got from uk tights was pamela man tights…rose patterned ones for 25 pounds…they were utterly gorgeous and soooo sexy xxx
Alan
dear uk tights…those new guilia pari lurex mock tights are absolutely gorgeous!!!! they look soooooo pretty…..a definite must folks xxx
UK Tights
Thanks, Alan! Giulia always has some gorgeous party tights, don’t they?
Alan
uk tights…they certainly do…I have had numerous gorgeous girlie hosiery from them…sexy and soooo comfy…..I am sooo crazy for tights…best item ever…av always got a gorg pair on with a little dress or skirt xxx
Anonymous
also have had oroblu tights aswell…which are also gorg…. uk tights..with a sexy pair on with heels and a mini skirt they are to die for xxx
Alan
definitely…av had a few pairs of oroblu aswell….today I have got a pair of gatta lace tights on heels a floral tiered mini skirt with an off the shoulder lace top….its utterly amazing feeling those gorgeous tights on your legs xxx
alan
trasperenze are putting out some ‘out of this world ‘ hosiery…OMG please stop!! its making me buy even MORE tights!!! lol utterly utterly GORGEOUS!!!!
David
Absolutely love UK tights as a man who wears all makes I find these so easy to use and quick delivery a bonus
UK Tights
Thanks for the great feedback, David! Much appreciated.
Kind regards,
UK Tights team
Pingback:
Pingback:
Neil K
Hello. I can across your website. It is very informative. I am a male wearer of tights. I started wearing in March 2003. I have sunburned myself so many times Dr said no more sun. So I wear tights everyday for leg color. Milk white legs out of shorts is just nasty. So spring till late fall I wear tights with shorts everyday. I just go about my business everyday in tights and shorts. Its always a non eventful day. I actually have all brands. ActivSkins, Wolfords, Cecile de Rafael, Solidea and many other brands I picked up when I was in the UK. I am in the USA.
Again,
I really enjoy your blog site.
Kind Regards
Neil K
Samantha S. Rivera
I’m so glad that I know my size before buying anything.
Now I know the sizing chart is different from each style and each company making it a little harder for customers that remember the company that they have ordered from.
It’s especially harder people like myself, I’m in my 30’s (that’s not the reason), I’m a full-time crossdresser (that’s the reason). So the sizing gets a little more complicated or even confusing at times.
I had read articles about changing ur male size to women’s about 2 sizes up? Well, not every man is built the same way, i wear men’s 10 so in women’s that’s a size 12, sorry but that theory is wrong, men’s sneakers size 10 but I can but a 4-4.5 inches in heel height a d fit into a 10, wedges 8-8.5, flats and flat sandals are both size 9.
Everyone else that I met is following that 2 size difference, its a little weird because they fit and too tight. Which it’s weird to others and myself.
This article is very resourceful and jam packed information, I will definitely keep this article for a young lady that doesn’t know much about there sizes.
UK Tights
Hi Samantha
We’re glad that you like the article! Hope it is useful for you
-Alex (UK Tights)
Shane
I think that if you buy a few pairs of the same style and brand wear them alternately so you are not wearing the same ones more than once this is what my mum used to do years ago.
Geoff Whittaker
This is my time on this site, it’s good to hear that so many men like to wear tights I have been wearing them for years I like to wear them at work under my trousers and under my cycling trousers.
I would like to wear more often especially with shorts but not sure my wife would agree to me doing this.
She knows I wear them but sadly doesn’t encourage it would love it if she would.
She always says my legs are way better than hers.