Colored tights are a fashion decision again
Pea green, burnt orange, printed wool. The cheapest color you can add to an autumn outfit.
Tights are the last thing most people think of as an accessory and one of the most effective, because they are a large block of color in the lower half of an outfit where there is usually nothing happening at all. A gray dress with black tights is one outfit. The same dress with burnt orange tights is a different one, for about twelve dollars.
Opacity is the whole quality question. Denier is the measure: 40 to 60 denier is properly opaque and is where colored tights should live, because a color at 15 denier just looks like tinted skin and shows every variation in leg tone. Below 40, color goes patchy at the knee and ankle where the fabric stretches thinnest, and that is what makes cheap colored tights look cheap.
Choosing the color is easier than it seems if you pick up something already in the outfit rather than trying to contrast. Burnt orange tights under a brown coat, bottle green under gray, burgundy with almost anything given the season's palette. Matching the tights to the shoe rather than the dress lengthens the leg, which is the trick worth knowing if you are hesitant.
Wool and wool-blend versions are the ones being shown and they are worth the difference in autumn — warm, matte, and they hold color far better than nylon, which goes shiny at the thigh under any kind of pressure.
How to wear it
- 40–60 denier. Below that the color goes patchy at the knee and reads cheap.
- Match the tights to the shoe, not the dress. It lengthens the leg.
- Wool blends hold color; nylon goes shiny where it stretches.
Sources
This page reports what the fashion press published. We have not handled any of the products below. How we work.
- W Magazine — The 14 Biggest Accessory Trends From the Fall 2026 Runways (read Aug 14, 2026)
