hot legs Bold, colorful tights heating up as cold weather arrives

Remember when bare legs were all the rage? In January?

Yeah, so do we. We’re still shivering.

Those were colder times in fashion, but this fall, the look for legs is really heating up.

“In the cold weather, people need to wear some sort of tight,” Rae Ann Scandroli Herman, accessories director for Glamour magazine, said in a recent interview. “I feel like they’re very happening, especially this fall.”

Hallelujah.

If you’ve trolled the aisles of your local department store or picked up a fashion magazine recently, you may have noticed the endless selection of tights – in vivid colors, bold patterns, understated textures and, of course, basic black.

“For the last year, we’ve really seen a lot happening with hosiery,” Herman said. “We’ve seen patterns and fishnets, and there’s really been a big push. A big trend is the opaque tight. Patterns get a little trickier. With patterns, you really need the right shoe and the right skirt.”

That hasn’t stopped Lindsay Parker, 25, an intrepid tight-wearer in Ellsworth. She owns seven pairs of patterned hose and five pairs of wild knee-highs, and they’ve become a conversation piece at Ellsworth City Hall, where Parker works as the assistant code enforcement officer.

“The best reaction I ever got was actually for my Geisha tights,” she recalled over lunch at Frankie’s, a cafe in Ellsworth.

The tights, which she wears with a pair of handpainted geisha shoes, caused a stir one day when a woman walked into her office, looked her up and down and said, “Those are interesting tights.” The woman left, then returned and said, “You must be really weird.” Parker replied, “I am, actually.”

“It was very rude, but I don’t mind,” Parker said, smiling and shrugging her shoulders. “Most people laugh and say, ‘Those are great.’ It brightens their day.”

That’s the whole point, according to Kristie Billings. Her first pair of tights were black and white striped, a la Wicked Witch of the West. Her taste hasn’t gotten much tamer, especially since she opened her own shoe-tique, ShoeGazer in Ellsworth (where Parker bought the Geisha tights).

“I love tights and crazy knee-highs because you can totally express yourself through that one accessory,” Billings said.

She has always been gung-hose – wearing fluorescent florals and racing flames without batting an eyelash – but she has noticed a trend in the last year or so among some of her more conservative customers, too.

“I definitely think colored tights are making a huge comeback,” she said. “People want more of a textured tight now, and patterns. I think there is a bigger demand for it. People would come in and say, ‘Oh, you don’t just have plain chocolate brown?’ Now they want something different, and that’s good for me.”

Among her best sellers are pink tights dotted with red cherries, rainbow styles, harlequin diamonds, and “anything mod.” But not everyone is that adventurous.

“They start off with a solid bright color,” Billings said. “That’s their first step. … When they’re not accustomed to wearing something, it’s like they’re stepping out of their element. But once they take that leap, they definitely experiment more.”

For tight neophytes, Rae Ann Scandroli Herman recommends starting off subtly – say, a winter white skirt with opaque black tights and high boots. But if you’re looking for something that makes a real statement, let the tights do the talking.

“Keeping it simple on the leg is the safest way to wear tights,” Herman said. “Stick with a basic black skirt, a solid color skirt with a very simple shoe. A patterned tight looks good if everything else is sort of understated.”

Tights make fall’s ubiquitous miniskirts look a bit more modest, but they also work nicely with pencil skirts, fuller knee-length skirts and hemlines below the knee. The key is to pair them with the right fabric and the right shoes. A tweed skirt has enough texture on its own without rib-knit tights and embellished pumps, Herman says, and if you’re going to wear wooly, “sweater-type” tights, try pairing them with ballet flats.

That doesn’t mean you should shy away from pointy-toe pumps or slingbacks, however. Boots are always a good mix with tights, whether you choose a trusty, classic high boot or a more trendy ankle boot. Herman has even seen women pairing tights with a miniskirt and leg warmers – yes, they’re back – but not everyone can make this look work.

“I definitely see that in the city on a younger crowd,” she said. “It’s a little more funky, a little more downtown. To pull that off, you definitely have to have a great style about you or else it’s going to look silly.”

One way to ensure you don’t look silly – or like you’re dressing 10 years too young – is to keep your whole outfit modern and understated.

“Play it safe,” Herman said. “All the elements of what you’re wearing should go together so you’re not clashing textures and patterns and all that.”

Once you’ve got that down, feel free to express yourself. Like stripes? Wild for argyle? Ga-ga for geishas? Give ’em a go. You never know what might happen.

“It always makes me put a smile on my face and it makes other people smile, too,” Billings said. “I guarantee people will look at you in a different way, and it’ll be a fun way.”

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.