ISSUE 1566 Wednesday 8 September 1999
Stocking up
Vogue
Alexandra Shulman on that first day back in tights THANKFULLY, the ghastly question of what we should wear on our legs in the cold has been delayed for a while by the late summer heat. The first day back in tights rings a horribly symbolic note, warning that winter is on its way. The other day, I heard a fashion editor telling the American designer Michael Kors that she always puts off this moment until the fashion shows, in late September. He responded, not entirely jokingly, that one of his conditions of employment was that his staff were never to wear tights. Bare-legged was the order of the day, even in January. In New York, where Kors bases his company, a lot of women in the fashion industry seem to sport bare legs throughout the year - but then, most of them lead pretty cosseted lives, exposing their limbs to the elements only in the quick dash from their chauffeured car into the office (this also accounts for the number of sleeveless shell tops in the New York winter collections). Even so, it's pretty ridiculous and certainly not realistic for most people. The problem of what we are going to wear on our legs this winter has been much discussed at Vogue, although I'm feeling guilty about the fact that, despite this being a subject of interest to most women, we don't seem to have written anything very helpful about it. Moreover, almost every fashion shoot one sees dodges the question by sticking with naked skin. There is no easy solution. Yet again, black opaque tights are out of fashion. When this last happened, a couple of years back, and Follow Me patterned tights became autumn's cult accessory, men throughout the country regarded those winter months as a rather bleak time. There's nothing men like less than a pair of thick, woolly tights - except, possibly, a pair of holey, beige, thick wool tights. I'm afraid that, this year, it's bad news again: if you want to sport fashionable leg-wear, the men in your life are not going to be happy. This season, the best tights for the really fashion-conscious are brightly coloured. Jonathan Aston has a range of plain, vividly coloured tights and also a particularly splendid pair with an Argyle check. These can be worn only by women with straight, thin legs but they do look great in a crazy, country marchioness way. The problem with plain black opaques is that they clash stylistically with the slightly folky, boho twist to many of this autumn's clothes, injecting the wrong Eighties power-suited touch to a look that is meant to be soft and relaxed. Dark chocolate brown tights are much better; both Wolford and Fogal produce excellent ones, although they aren't cheap. Personally, I'm going to hunt out some thinner yarns with a bit of a texture, perhaps with a fishnet or a small diamond pattern. I'm also going to invest heavily in boots, working on the basis that there's only going to be a small gap between the top of the boot and the hem of the skirt in which any tights have to be seen. Some problems are so tough they can be solved only by avoidance.