I used to buy tights by the fistful. Every fall, as the weather started to chill, I'd head into my local discount store (read: Target) and buy tights. You could get them for about five or six dollars in an array of colors. I always bought a pair of basic black and a creamy ivory. After that, it was whatever I thought would work in my wardrobe that year. I had tights in reds, blues, and even a pair in a hot pink.
As my wardrobe got more sophisticated, I ventured out to the department stores for tights. I would pick up durable pairs by Hue and sleek pairs from DKNY (Now those were a splurge! I think I paid $25 for a pair, but they felt like butter.). Even in those bougie years, I still had a stock of budget pairs because, let's face it, they run, snag, and are not made to last.
Then came my "I refuse to be cold" period. That's when I stopped wearing dresses in winter. Instead I opted for pants, jeans, and cozy leggings. Anything that would stop the wind from coming into contact with my legs. Tights didn't cut it and so I cut them out. I used to be able to look into my sock drawer and see a few pairs of tights left over from the previous year. I had them for a just in case moment. It's always been that way.
Until it wasn't.
Earlier this month I promised my Instagram followers a session on styling shorts with tights. Because why should you ignore a chunk of your wardrobe for half of the year? So I went to my sock drawer, peeked inside, and what should I find? No tights. !!!!!
Well, this was a problem.
But easily solved, right?
Wrong.
I trotted into my local discount store (Walmart this time) and found not a single tight in sight. Plenty or leggings. But no tights. Had the rest of the world given up on tights, too? I checked the Target app to see what I could pick up from my local store. The answer? Next to nothing. I could buy only the most basic basic tights in brown or red. That's it. And they were $8.50! Hello, Inflation. (Note: they were available in 5 colorways available for shipping. None of them black.)
Okay, it was time to go online. Google, show me the best women's tights. Always wanting to please, Google did not let me down. It brought up a plethora of tights I could read about, browse, and buy. I even discovered the fleece lined pairs that were blowing up on Tik Tok (of course). It also alerted me to the fact that tights were no longer a cheap commodity. Most pairs were starting at $20 (!!) and went up to over $50 (!!!). Who was paying $50 for such a risky item of clothing? As anyone who's worn tights knows, you are as likely to snag or run them on the first wear as you are on the fifth wear. You never know. It's a gamble. Which is why $5 was more my speed. But we can't live in the past, can we?
So now my search begins for tights that I can style with shorts. What an adventure! I never imagined such a simple styling request would send me down such a massive rabbit hole. But here we go!
SHOP a curated collection of tights below.
Note: Items in this post have been hand selected by me and may contain affiliate links. I may earn a commission or other benefit from items you choose to buy. This comes at no cost to you but does help support this website and other social endeavors. Thanks in advance for your support.