Pantyhose
sheer stockings woven in one with panties
Pantyhose, sometimes also called sheer tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertisement of new design panties (Allen Gant's product, 'Panti-Legs') as a convenient alternative to stockings and/or control panties which, in turn, replaced girdles.
Like stockings or knee highs, pantyhose are usually made of nylon, or of other fibers blended with nylon. Pantyhose are designed to:
Be attractive in appearance,
Hide physical features such as blemishes, bruises, scars, leg hair, spider veins, or varicose veins,
Give those with very pale skin a tan-like appearance,
Reduce visible panty lines, and
Ease chafing between feet and footwear or between thighs.
Besides being worn as fashion, in Western society pantyhose are sometimes worn by women as part of formal dress. Also, the dress code of some companies and schools may require pantyhose or fashion tights to be worn when skirts or shorts are worn as part of a uniform.
Terminology
The term "pantyhose" originated in the United States and is a combination of panties (an American English term) with sheer nylon hosiery. In British English, these garments are called "sheer tights". The term tights alone refers to all such garments regardless of whether they are sheer lingerie or sturdy outerwear.
In American English, the term "tights" typically refers to pantyhose-like garments made from thicker material, which are generally opaque or slightly translucent.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pantyhose” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.