More on the London black tights thing - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Inspiration

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

More on the London black tights thing

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

When I was in London I saw women of all ages wearing black tights with all and sundry - summer dresses, office wear, you name it. This was a new look for me - around here usually tights are winter only and you don't really use them to winterize otherwise summery things. I was monkeying about on the Guardian site with Jess Carter-Morley's fashion videos and found this one about how to wear black tights: http://www.guardian.co.uk/fash.....ghts-video

What do you think - do you like the look of black tights and shoes with a bright, summery outfit? Do you see this look where you live?

24 replies

Latest reply was from jurocha

Anonymous

I saw a girl of around 18 sporting some today ( I don't live anywhere London, more central UK) She had a short, quite flared denim skirt and a light coloured tee shirt tucked in. The tights were quite opaque but not really thick. I thought she looked quite cute. Not sure whether I would wear them though.

Joy

Veteran

I suspect the black tights feel like a method to get away with wearing the skirts and dresses that are too short. I haven't seen it here but it is far too warm for tights. Maybe in the fall.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I don't see much of that where I live, but it's much too hot and humid for tights. I don't personally care for looks that are so seasonally confused. It can work if done really right, but whenever I've seen it IRL, it's never looked great.

rachylou

Veteran

In the '80s. No doubt London is ahead of SF in an '80s revival.

hedgiehog

Veteran

I agree with Joy. When I was in London two weeks ago I saw black tights everywhere. Paired with summery dresses, skirts and short shorts. They varied from sheer to opaque. Because the weather was still a bit cool for summer, it made sense that some ladies were still wearing them.
I am not a fan of the shorts and tights combination but it was very popular there. I suspected that the tights were a bit of a compromise to the shorts.
I live in Florida so I do see a fair amount of short shorts but never with tights.

hedgiehog

Veteran

ETA: I did like the outfit in the video. To my eye, her colours are bright, summery colours and I thought the black tights were too opaqu and heavy for the bright colours. Maybe I'm just not trendy enough to appreciate it. :/

Ana

(website)

Veteran

I won't say never, but I agree with Janet that I don't really like seasonally confused looks either. Black tights just look so heavy to me that pairing them with bright, summery fabrics just seems, I don't know, unbalanced somehow? But if I lived in England, maybe my eye would adjust to the look. You never see black tights around here, not even in winter, so I don't have a lot of good examples to think about.

ElleH

Veteran

Hmmm maybe I should wear black tights & shoes with a dress for the UK wedding. Black shoes are much easier to find & I already have black booties.

MsMary

Veteran

In in So Cal and we never see black tights here, even in winter.

That said, I loved each and every one of the outfits in the video, with or without the tights!

Caro in Oz

Veteran

It's mainly a student look here - summer dresses with tights & Docs

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I've owned one pair of black opaques in my life - in the '90s - which was orphaned. It's just not my thing!

I do not like the look - black opaques and footwear with colourful Summer outfits. I'd prefer to see nude hose and tall boots in lighter colours.

But I DO get that the weather in the UK can be cold and wet, and that wearing tights with closed shoes is one way to wear your Spring and Summer-y outfits and not feel cold. We have the same weather in Seattle. Although our Summer so far has been off the charts!!!!

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Ditto w/ Caro - it's a very student look. I see it on the subway all the time.

MovingFashionForward

It only looks seasonally confused/clashing if you don't live somewhere it makes to wear warm tights all year round. In London it is often warm enough to wear a summer dress if you wear tights but not if you don't. Seems perfectly seasonally appropriate in Britain to me. It is also a way for those who don't want to show their legs to wear shorts and short summer dresses. It is a look that has been around for as long as I can remember in Britain. I shall be interested to see what replaces it, when it eventually goes 'out'.

I've been looking for a pair of opaque WHITE tights, but of course few women are likely to want to wear thick white tights. (Not that I would wear them the same way we Brits have tended to wear black tights.)

Astrid

Veteran

I see that a lot here, like Caro and Lyn said. It's a student look, black tights with short skirts or under short shorts. I personally don't like it much.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I don't wear them much even in winter so they do not feel right to me with light and bright summer clothing as well. As Angie I would rather wear nude hose and / or light tall boots if it is too cold in summer to go barelegged.

Anonymous

The look was very popular here in NYC this past winter. I like it.

Mia

Veteran

I saw a gal (not super young) rocking this look a couple of days ago. It was a black tunic type dress with leggings just below the knee.

From what I know of London it makes perfect sense from the point of view of the weather and getting around on the Tube. Too short dress can be "icky".
Lots of the docents in the the museums had an 'arty" version of this look when I was last there. Like it.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

The look never grew on me personally. To my eye something about heavy tights just does not work with summer dresses, period. There is season for everything and there is wardrobe for every season.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

People wear black tights (and other opaque tights) in winter here, all the time. Myself included. I could not wear skirts or dresses at all, unless I wore dark tights. (Nude hose are not warm enough, full stop! Not even if I layer them.) But I have a poison eye for what I consider seasonally confused looks, so I tend to prefer them with wintery fabrics. I did like these outfits minus the tights, however! And I thought she gave great advice for how to pull it off if you want to.

Diana

Veteran

I actually think it's a cool look (especially with chunky boots!) but I can't imagine wearing tights at all in the summer here. I would die of heat.
I have worn black opaques in winter with a lightweight, floral skirt and boots though. Kind of a 90s look.

Runcarla

Veteran

I would second what Suz says. It is a winter look. Lots of black worn in the winter ( black skirts, black dresses) and thick black stockings with black boots, booties or shoes. What colour there was, was worn on top.

Please understand, we get snow in October and it stays till May. We even got snow in June this year, and had a cold spring. Thick hose is about self preservation! If one can be stylish doing it...so be it!

Deborah

Veteran

What Caro said! I do think it has been popular here at times though. I see the looks around town on young girls going to office and sales jobs. I have also recently seen it on British starlets. Having been a black opaque tights offender, I am torn, part of me thinks it is just lazy styling and part of me likes it. I am not keen though on the opaque tight with summer dress look though.

Scarlet

Veteran

I love the outfits in the video! I haven't seen this too much in the summer, but I understand that London is having a cold summer, so probably people are just wanting to get on their spring and summer clothes anyway. I can understand that. It's not seasonally confused then but just practical. Having said that, I don't care for black tights under denim shorts which I have seen quite a bit.

jurocha

(website)

Veteran

I am a great fan of the shorts, opaque tights and boots combo for winter and I do it a lot. It might seem tee or (insert name of this blonde female character who wears jeans shorts and tall boots here; I forgot her name. Pfff!), but for someone as trouser-challenged as I am... it's the fool-proof cold weather outfit.

Therefore, I would expect myself to embrace this summer + thighs idea. It follows the same guidelines: mixing items from different seasons to bring some edge to the outfit and make the most out of seasonal clothes (make them linger while temperatures are... hm... themselves confused). However I don't. I just find it plain weird: something like "I still hv my gym/ballet clothes on, below my walk-around outfit". Bu for my prejudice!

I do get some people wearing this around here in Vienna, most jeans mini (all sorts of colour, from jeans to bright egg yellow) and opaque black thighs that stops at knee leght. It is a free-time or student look, thanks fashion gods (prejudice, prejudice, tsk tsk tsk) no office lady thought of bringing it to work.