How a new generation is giving granny tights a leg up

Kayleigh Werner explores how Gen Z superstars like Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift have reclaimed a hosiery staple most Brits associate with Nory sa and made it me

- Kayleigh Werner

Even from the nosebleed seats of the Short n' Sweet tour, Sabrina Carpenter's legs look like they were dipped in Krispy Kreme glaze. You almost can't take your eyes off them. And if you caught her opening set for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, her show at Coachella, or her 2024 VMAs performance, you'd have seen the same thing: her legs glistened with every outfit change and sassy hip pop.

Over the past year and a half, the 25-year-old “Espresso” singer has taken a style cue from Swift’s stage book and donned double-layered nude tights – a functional and flattering fashion secret that’s been embraced by everyone from Beyoncé to Demi Lovato.

No need for these pop icons to lather their legs in moisturiser or liquid shimmer; the sheer garment creates an instant glossy leg effect, no muss, no fuss. Now, performers’ preference for the trend is finally filtering down to the woman on the street – skintoned tights are officially making a comeback.

Allen E Gant first created “pantyhose” – what the British call “sheer tights” – in 1959 to solve his pregnant wife’s issue of constantly needing to pull up her stockings. He sought to design a garment that would run from the waist down and over the toes, eliminating the need for garters entirely.

Moving into the 1960s, when Mary Quant popularised the miniskirt, tights transformed the style into an “appropriate” everyday look. Just because hemlines rose, it didn’t mean it was suddenly appropriate for women to show off their stockings and lace garters. Women relied on pantyhose to keep things somewhat modest beneath the thigh-skimming garment.