Beyonce, SJP and Cheryl Cole all love tan tights
BEYONCE, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claudia Schiffer and Cheryl Cole are among the celebrities choosing a flawless, “cosmetic” finish - wearing tan tights instead of baring their legs.
A survey for the Charnos hosiery company discovered 81 per cent of the 1,750 British women questioned preferred to wear tan tights in summer.
President Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni hit the headlines in June when she arrived at Downing Street wearing sheer hosiery in stark contrast to Samantha Cameron’s bare legs. It highlighted the trend for “cosmetic hosiery” – tights that offer the illusion of perfect pins.
Charnos brand manager Alison Baines said: “In this hot weather women want the instant sun-kissed, polished effect. They don’t need to worry about ‘faking it’ or streaky pins, they can just pull on a pair of tights and go.”
A new generation of ladder-resistant, ultra-natural hosiery, featuring “invisible” skin colours and lightweight or cooling fabrics, means the days of thick wrinkled stockings, as worn by Nora Batty in Last Of The Summer Wine, are over.
The hottest style is the Falke Shelina Toeless, as worn by Sarah Jessica Parker.
It has sold out nationwide and will not hit stores again until the end of this month. The durable design gives the effect of bare legs, is cool in hot weather, and the toeless feature means there is no giveaway seam. The brand reports a 20 per cent increase in sales of tan tights and it is a similar story elsewhere on the high street.
Marks & Spencer has seen a 28 per cent rise in sales of its sheer toeless styles this year, with women looking for an instant dewy, contoured effect.
Soozie Jenkinson, the store’s head of lingerie design, said: “A look once frowned upon in fashion circles is now selling out and is surprisingly sported by many celebrities this summer.”
Marks & Spencer’s Ladder Resist Cooling Open Toe Tights offer an invisible finish and release tiny cooling bubbles as you move to help keep legs cool.
Debenhams also says tights sales are up 46 per cent on last year. Its hosiery buyer Kirsty Lipscombe said: “No longer the ‘American Tan’ nightmare of the Eighties, nude tights are back in fashion and our sales figures reflect this revival.
“This previously difficult-to-wear shade has become an acceptable, even essential part of every woman’s lingerie drawer.”
