An habiliment of the stage designed to reinforce the general acclamation of the press agent with a particular publicity. Public attention was once somewhat diverted from this garment to Miss Lillian Russell's refusal to wear it, and many were the conjectures as to her motive, the guess of Miss Pauline Hall showing a high order of ingenuity and sustained reflection. It was Miss Hall's belief that nature had not endowed Miss Russell with beautiful legs. This theory was impossible of acceptance by the male understanding, but the conception of a faulty female leg was of so prodigious originality as to rank among the most brilliant feats of philosophical speculation! It is strange that in all the controversy regarding Miss Russell's aversion to tights no one seems to have thought to ascribe it to what was known among the ancients as "modesty." The nature of that sentiment is now imperfectly understood, and possibly incapable of exposition with the vocabulary that remains to us. The study of lost arts has, however, been recently revived and some of the arts themselves recovered. This is an epoch of _renaissances_, and there is ground for hope that the primitive "blush" may be dragged from its hiding-place amongst the tombs of antiquity and hissed on to the stage.
Close-fitting garments, especially for the lower part of the body and the legs.
A heavy, opaque one-piece garment from hip to toe worn with leotards for dance, exercise, etc. It is usually made with 40 denier yarn and over and is sometimes made of yarn other than nylon. English term for all waist high hosiery including sheers. Toelets: Knitted hosiery of various weights that is designed to cover the toe portion of the foot only. Designed to be worn with special types of shoes such as clogs.
skintight knit hose covering the body from the waist to the feet worn by acrobats and dancers and as stockings by women and girls
man's garment of the 16th and 17th centuries; worn with a doublet
Tights or garments looking like have been worn for centuries. Ove most of this era they were worn by adults, mostly men, and not children. They fell from style in the late 16th century as men began wearing knee breeches. They appeared again in the 19th century for specialized wear such as theatricals and athletics. They did not become coomonly worn children's clothes until after World War II in the late 1940s and early 50s. Children wore over the knee stockings in the early 20th century, but these were usually stockings and not tights. Conventions for wearing tights have varied from country to country. Very young boys might wear tights in America and England, but they were mostly worn by girls. In coninental Europe and Japan it was more common for boys to wear them.
Sheer one-piece leg covering usually made of nylon.
These are pantyhose made of a heavier denier in opaque or semi-opaque yarns. They are usually dyed in deep colors and are more sporty and durable than pantyhose.
Tights are a type of fabric leg covering, usually extending from the waist to feet, and fitting as tightly as possible to the body (from which the name derives).