Oh twist my arm.
So unlike the usual 'Temptation Thursday' post, I'm not going to simply feature stuff that requires a bank robbery or sugar daddy to acquire. What can I say? It's spring and I'm in a good mood. I don't wanna window shop today :).
I actually get a lot of questions about seasonal tights, such as what is good in the summer and what is good in the winter? Of course, tights can be a great accessory in the winter, allowing you and extra layer to stay warmer. But that doesn't necessarily mean that tights gotta go back in the closet when the summer months arrive. You just have to know what to buy.
Fishnets or openwork tights are always a great option, of course, because they allow for the legs to breathe, even though you've got leg wear on. But you can wear regular tights as well, if you pick the right ones. The best thing to do is look at Denier count. The lower the count, the sheerer the tights and the more your legs can breathe. In the winter it works in just the opposite, of course. When people ask me for good winter tights, I always like to recommend tights north of 70 denier. But for the summer, a good rule of thumb is to look at 10 denier or lower. You just have to be careful, of course, because more sheer can often mean more delicate.
Tights
Okay. Nothing like breaking my own rule of thumb with my first pick. But I absolutely have to give a shout out to the Falke Shelina 12 tights. These are dubbed as "makeup for your legs" as they really do look and feel like you're wearing nothing. They also come in 5 different shades to allow you to close match your skin tone, if that's the look you're going for. My very favorite thing about these tights though, is that I bought them years ago, and I've worn them countless times. Not only have they not snagged or torn, but they still fit just as well now as the first time I put them on. Falke can often be pretty expensive, but these particular tights will only run you are $13.
The Oroblu Couture Tresor Tights are a moderately priced pair of 10 denier tights. Again, you're getting the lightweight feel, but you're getting it with a strong, sturdy, well-fitting pair of tights. These should also last you through many wears and washes and be a go-to pair of tights all summer long.
I don't think anyone has a larger selection of basic sheer tights across a wider range of denier counts than Cette. The Cette Long Beach Tights are the sheerest, however at 9 Denier. I recently tried Cette tights for the first time, and now I'm buying them up like crazy. They're very reasonably priced and they're very soft and comfortable tights no matter how sheer or opaque you go. These also come in a variety of skin tone colors, so you can find a pretty close match if you're going for that invisible look.
Open Work Tights
Open work tights are another great option in the summer as they provide a fashion look for the legs while still allowing them to breathe. Open work can mean fishnets, but there are also a ton of other styles available now as leg wear continues to become increasingly more popular.
In my opinion, fishnets do not get any better than the Oroblu Eclatat Fishnet tights. Fishnets can always be tricky in terms of quality. For a long time, it seemed like many designers didn't want to associate themselves with fishnets and left it to the Leg Avenues of the world. In the last several years, though, fishnets have become a mainstream look and, often times, the perfect fashion accessory, especially in the summer. Once again, quality wise, its going to be hard to find anything better than Oroblu. These will look fashionable in just about any type of fishnet look, but will last you about five times the lifespan of your average Leg Avenue fishnets, at a price that isn't significantly higher.
Not only are these tights an exciting variation of the fishnet look, they're absolutely gorgeous. The Le Bourget Futura Fashion tights take open work to a new level. The combination of color and hole variation make these tights an absolute show stopper. If you're looking for a fun and exciting pair of tights in the summer, you're probably not going to do better than these.
You can't do a post on fashion tights without including Trasparenze. The Gipsy Net Tights is Trasparenze's exciting take on fishnet tights. Once again, they've found a way to do their own unique take on a common look. Here, they do fishnet with large circular holes, creating an absolutely dazzling look. For just about the same price as the Oroblu fishnets above, you can be sure to stand out several times as much.
Wow. When I started typing this, I hadn't planned to break it up into multiple posts, but I didn't realize I was going to have this much to type on the subject. I hope you like my suggestion for tights that can help make you feel cool and stylish all summer long. Check back next Thursday for Part II of this post, when I make some thigh high and stocking suggestions.
