Are skirts and tights now old fashioned?

[coxesorangepippin]

Went in to the office today, wore a belted pencil skirt with tights.

Noticed that I was pretty much the only one wearing tights, are they now outdated?

She’s styling that like a Millennial though as far as the sock situation is concerned. I believe the Gen Z Council would say she needs ankle socks (though they call them crew socks). 😁

Like this. It’s how I’m seeing people wear skirts now, with flat shoes or trainers and ankle socks. There is a whole Australian TikTok channel which focuses on this btw which is very funny

I wear sheer tights and nude heels at this time of year when I'm wearing brighter/lighter coloured dresses. And never with socks, occasionally trainers with a dress if I'm going to be walking but I constantly feel I look like a toddler.
But I'm all about dressing for the weather and I've never cared about fashion.
My colleagues tend to wear think back tights regardless of what colour dress or shoes they are wearing - I therefore assume that is the fashion.

I think that style of dressing makes you look like you’re on The Apprentice and does feel very dated. That said I work in a very casual industry and nobody dressed like that even pre COVID.

To me the skirt plus white trainers look looks like you forgot to change into your proper shoes when you got to the office. But I freely admit to being stuck in the 90s/00s and untrendy

I do still wear knee length skirts - not full on pencil skirts but more straight or slightly a-line because the length suits me. I am short and just look dumpy in midi length.

I usually wear brogues which I find comfortable without looking too casual for the office.

I am rarely warm enough to go bare legged - every office I have worked in has had really fierce air con

To me the skirt plus white trainers look looks like you forgot to change into your proper shoes when you got to the office. But I freely admit to being stuck in the 90s/00s and untrendy.

It does. It doesn't look great. I am not stuck in the 90s/00s but I didn't wear pencil skirts and heels then or now. It would be flat shoes and a fuller skirt.

Ever heard of sockettes or no show socks?

Me too actually - the knee length, slightly fuller than pencil style and flat shoes is my normal office look and has been since the 00s!

The only time I see pencil skirts and tights is from girls at 6th Forms that insist on "business wear". I always think they look a bit dated and it's very unflattering * (sorry OP).

• they do seem to wear the skirts very very short though - barely covering their backsides.

Yes, office wear has changed completely post-covid. Pencil skirts and sheer tights will always look smart, in the way that Princess Kate always looks smart on official visits, but it's not necessarily a look one would wish to emulate on a day to day basis.

I saw someone at the station in a body con dress, sheer tights and court shoes, it was such a blast from the past. She was late 50s or so, had found her signature look and stuck to it.

I try to keep current but nothing is going to make me bare my white tending to blue Celtic legs in a work situation or indeed any situation. Fake tan just turns me strangely orange or a patchy beige. In extreme weather conditions ie Greece in mid summer I have resorted to leg makeup. If at all possible I'll wear black, otherwise the palest finest tights I can find. I can't wear court shoes without tights either because my feet blister. In fact the only person who is complimentary about my snowy legs is the dermatologist who told when he sees tanned white skin he just sees sun damage. (He was checking for skin cancer at the time.)

That's a great look but she certainly isn't wearing with court shoes and sheer tights!

As an aside, I cannot stand the word brogue - who the heck wears brogues? Sounds like something Sherlock Holmes would sport

Honestly the only women I see wearing sheer tights / sockies / or 'pop socks' <shudder> are my mother and MIL, in their 80s/90s. And I feel sad for them as they are the saddest, limpest, stinkiest and most impractical pieces of clothing ever invented.

I remember feeling pressured into wearing them as part of 80's office outfits, with grim court shoes which fell off your feet as soon as you actually tried to move or do anything, especially if you were wearing slippery tights.

So if they are out of fashion (which they surely are) then frigging embrace it!

Each to their own but it's absolutely no better than heels. It looks a bit daft to my eyes.

As for not wearing sheer tights, I'm convinced this is another "only on MN thing" Good quality sheer tights look much better in a formal situation than bare legs.

I don't wear heels but I'd sooner emulate Kate than the Minnie Mouse effect of wearing trainers with skirts.

It's not the rights OP...it's the pencil skirt! Tights are just something we wear to keep us warm on a chilly day if we are wearing a dress. But a pencil skirt?? Just no! Sorry 🤦‍♀️

I work in a very formal office (city law). The pencil skirt/sheer tights/heels was standard when I started work in 2010. By about 2016 the heels started to go except for court/important meetings, but pencil skirts (usually with opaque tights) remained.

Post-covid it’s now trouser suits and kitten heels or flats (Mary Jane’s or loafers mainly). I rarely wear skirts/dresses for work in the summer because I much prefer trousers, but if I did I would definitely wear sheer tights because bare legs are not appropriate in my office environment.

I haven’t worn a pencil skirt since I was chased down a corridor by a client who wanted to congratulate me and ask my due date. I wasn’t pregnant, we were trying and failing and I was really upset by it.

I do love a wrap or flared skirt dress though, (never got on with shifts) but find those difficult to style for the office in summer without sheer tights. In colder months I wear opaques and knee high boots. The material is too heavy to go bare legs and it’s too cold inside with the aircon anyway. And shoes rub. Am in a City type environment, def more casual and relaxed than it once was (eg I never wear a jacket).

What do people wear on legs or feet with non-shift dresses? This sort of style:

No chance of bare legs with our office airconditioning unit.
No word about stockings yet?

As for not wearing sheer tights, I'm convinced this is another "only on MN thing" Good quality sheer tights look much better in a formal situation than bare legs

Agree with this! I no longer work in a typical 'office' environment so I'm not sure that the norm is, but bare legs with formal closed (court/brogue/loafer etc) shoes looks a bit shit, surely?

Bare legs should be with sandals only as far as I'm concerned, so you do need sheer tights to fill that gap when it's too warm for opaques but not warm enough for sandals.

I'm almost 65 and I can't even remember when I last wore sheer tights, but I do know it was a very, very, long time ago. Bare legs look fine in any situation when the weather is warm.

As for the people who wear tights because their offices are air conditioned??? Most offices are air conditioned where I live, but no-one wears tights.

What is with the triple question marks? How hard is it to understand that the air con in some buildings makes them cold to be in with bare legs?

And “most offices are air-conditioned where I live”- most offices are air-conditioned where everyone lives??? (To use your style)

Are we talking sheer tights as in skin coloured tights? I’ve not worn those since I was about 19.

I wear skirts all the time, get complimented on them a lot. They are short though, thigh length but do cover my bum. I wear them with the blackest of black tights.

if I’m wearing a body con dress or pencil it’ll be with denier 20 in cold weather, bare legs and white ankle socks in warm weather, big boots in either instance. And sandals in hot weather.

im older, mid 40’s.