Everything old is new again. So the saying goes, and it’s especially true for fashion. We live in an era of reassessing and reclaiming quote-unquote bad fashion moments, of bringing back things that used to be considered passé or uncool. Anything can be so bad it’s good if you have the right attitude. But does that feeling extend to nude tights? Few things remain as maligned and downright triggering as hosiery, which were once a nonnegotiable part of a woman’s wardrobe.
Now, I am not talking opaque tights, cold-weather essentials that have also been trending on the runways lately, but actual sheer nude pantyhose. The kind that come in egg-shaped containers, the kind whose penchant to rip can only be stopped by a quick application of clear nail polish. Apologies if that last sentence was triggering.
A look from the Maison Margiela fall 2006 collection. Photo: Marcio Madeira
Margiela used a pair of pantyhose as a makeshift belt on a trench coat for his spring 2000 collection. Photo: Courtesy of Condé Nast Archive
A few seasons ago, I noticed the models in The Row’s autumn/winter 2022 look book were all sporting nude tights. Their inclusion was likely a nod to Martin Margiela, who often used the material in his collections, most famously as full-body stockings or face masks that aimed to conceal the identity of the models. (The typewritten descriptions on each image in the style of Margiela’s look book from spring 2000, the collection that also featured a pair of tights as a makeshift belt on a trench coat – which the sibling designers also re-created as in their collection – is further proof they had the elusive Belgian in mind.) At that time I wondered if pantyhose could ever actually make a comeback. Then Miuccia Prada, the queen of subverting notions of femininity, delivered a blockbuster Miu Miu collection for AW23 where sheer hosiery was on full display, pulled high over the waistbands of low-slung skirts, sometimes with prim and…
