Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Tights are a type of leg covering consisting of heavy fabric extending from the waist to the feet. Originally made for men of nobility, tights are today worn in fashion primarily by women and girls, and by infants and toddlers of both sexes, and they are common in theatre and dance. Pantyhose are sometimes seen as a version of tights, and in the United Kingdom the word tights covers both, but pantyhose are a separate garment: they are composed of much thinner fabric and may contain a built-in panty piece, which tights typically do not have. The thickness of tights is known as denier.
Tights are a type of leg coverings which consist of heavy fabric extending from the waist to feet. Originally invented for men of nobility, tights are today worn in fashion primarily by women and girls, as well as infants and toddlers of both sexes. Tights are also common in the world of theater and dance.
Pantyhose are sometimes seen as a version of tights (and in the United Kingdom are referred to as such), however pantyhose are, in fact a separate type of garment. The main different between tights and pantyhose is that pantyhose are composed of a much thinner fabric and may contain a built in "panty piece", which tights typically do not have.
The thickness of tights, known as "denier" determines how heavy the tights are. Some tights, like pantyhose, have a panty piece and are known as control top tights.
Tights can also describe the leg coverings worn in athletics, especially by runners and wrestlers. These tights are usually a thicker spandex-blend, and are usually footless. Athletic tights are considered unisex.
The term "tights" has also recently been used as an offensive term for any Traditional British uniform, most famously the Serjeant-at-Arms at the Palace of Westminster.
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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tights ). 8/8/05 |
Denier organizes the whole tights market. Sheer tights in low deniers give a light, polished finish and snag easily; mid-range deniers balance coverage and durability for everyday wear; high-denier opaque tights function almost as leggings, providing warmth and full coverage through winter. Yarn and knit decide the rest of the character: matte or slight sheen, cotton-rich blends for warmth, microfibre for softness, wool blends for cold climates. Fit is sized by height and weight because the garment must stretch evenly over the whole leg; a wrong size shows as sagging at the ankle or excess pull at the waist.
Theatre and dance kept tights visible in their older form: footed, opaque, worn by performers of all genders as a base that unifies the leg line under costume and light. That stage use descends directly from the garment's origin as dress for men of nobility, when close leg coverings in rich fabric displayed the leg as court dress required. Fashion tights for women and girls, and the toddler tights worn by both sexes, are the modern mass-market branch. Reading the three branches together, stage, sport and fashion, explains the garment's range: one construction, waist to feet in a knitted heavy fabric, tuned by denier and fibre to very different jobs.
Fabric weight and construction. Tights are made of heavy fabric extending from waist to feet; pantyhose are made of much thinner fabric and may contain a built-in panty piece, which tights typically do not have. Some tights do have a panty piece and are known as control-top tights. In the United Kingdom, tights is the everyday word for both garments.
Denier is the measure of the tights' thickness: the higher the denier, the heavier and more opaque the fabric. Low-denier tights are sheer; high-denier tights are opaque, warmer and more durable, which is why denier is the first specification a buyer checks.
Tights also describe the leg coverings worn in athletics, especially by runners and wrestlers. Athletic tights are usually a thicker spandex blend and usually footless, and they are considered unisex, a separate branch from fashion tights.