Hosiery

Hosiery: The word hosiery is the name given to a class of tight-fitting garments worn on the legs and/or feet. And hosiery, for the most part is of a knit construction. So, socks, pantyhose, fishnet stockings, nylons, leggings, tights and stockings all fall under the category of hosiery.

It used to be that hosiery was a kind of secret accessory to be worn without necessarily being seen. However, with the popularity of leggings in the 1990's most hosiery like tights, pantyhose and stockings now fit very closely and thus can stand alone as an outer garment to be seen.

Pantyhose: The term pantyhose was first coined in the United States around 1959 when Glen Raven Mills introduced a seam-free stocking made from circular knitting machines. Before then, women wore nylon stockings with garter belts. So, the word pantyhose comes from combining the words panties with hosiery. No longer did women need to wear garter belts, panties and garters with their stockings. Pantyhose took 3 garments and turned them into one. as an outer garment to be seen.

Sheer Hosiery: The sheerness of the knit fabric has a lot to do with the naming of the pantyhose or stocking style in hosiery. The sheerness is measured by the number of denier - the lower the denier, the sheerer the hosiery. Any pantyhose below 15 denier, for example, is extremely sheer and delicate. 15 denier is your standard sheer pantyhose thickness. 20 to 30 denier is semi opaqe and frequently referred to as sheer tights. 70 denier makes very opaque tights. Support or compression pantyhose are usually 30 denier or higher. For support pantyhose, the compression tends to be higher with higher denier.

Wear support pantyhose to keep your legs healthy, apart from your regular exercise.