Women's Thigh-Highs (Hosiery & Socks)

Each leg gets its own stocking with thigh-highs, ending around mid-thigh instead of continuing up to a waistband. A wide band at the top, either a strip of silicone or a deeper lace border, holds each one in place, since there is no waistband anywhere to share the job.

Sheer pantyhose and tights both run waist to toe in one piece, joined at a gusset, the small panel where the two legs meet, and neither depends on grip at the thigh at all. Knee-highs stop lower, just below the knee, and hold on with a band of stretch knit around the calf rather than a silicone grip against the thigh. Boot liners are shorter still and built to be seen inside a boot rather than to disappear. Of the group, thigh-highs are the only shape that covers most of the leg while leaving the hip and stomach completely free.

Anyone who finds a waistband uncomfortable, or who is wearing something with its own close waist such as high-waisted trousers or a fitted skirt, gets the coverage of tights with nothing doubling up at the stomach. The honest weakness is staying up. A silicone band grips bare, clean skin well, and grips far less well over body lotion, oil or freshly shaved skin still carrying residue, so a pair that stayed up perfectly one day can slide by lunchtime the next for reasons that have nothing to do with the stocking itself. Lace-topped versions rely on a wider band of friction rather than silicone, and they tend to hold up better on skin that has lotion on it, though never as well as a fresh silicone edge on bare skin.

Sizing follows calf and thigh measurement more than height, since a band cut too tight leaves a mark and one cut too loose has nothing to grip. Try a pair on and walk, sit and cross your legs before deciding, because a band that looks secure standing still can still slide once your leg bends repeatedly.

Wash cool by hand or in a mesh bag, and skip the dryer, since heat takes the elastane out of both the leg and the grip band. Keep lotion and oil off the top few inches of your thigh on days you plan to wear a silicone-topped pair, and wipe the band itself clean with a damp cloth occasionally, since the same residue that makes skin slide also builds up on the silicone over time.