A little black dress, a crisp white button down shirt, tailored jeans, and the perfect pair of heels are all staples for the fashionable woman. However, a quality selection of hosiery is just as important to complete the foundations of your wardrobe. There are many different styles of hosiery, and they can revitalize your outfits without breaking the bank.

Sheer Tights

The most essential and basics of hosiery are sheer tights. It is worth the time to look at many brands in order to find the one that has colors that will match your skin tone and give you a barely there look. They can also give your legs a healthy tan appearance that will make it seem like you just came back from an exotic vacation. Hanes Silk Reflections line is a customer favorite that is also a budget-friendly choice. Another inexpensive option is the Pretty Polly Naturals range. The sheers, control tops and thigh-highs in the collections come in a variety of colors that suit most skin tones. Falke Shelina, a personal favorite of mine, has the wonderful bare leg finish and a great spectrum of skin tone shades.

Opaque Tights

For slightly chillier days, opaques are a necessity, and DKNY Basic Opaque Tights are good quality opaque tights that also come in a control top style. During the winter you’ll need the warmest wool tights, and the luxurious Trasparenze Gennifer Merino Wool Tights and Falke Soft Merino Ribbed Tights both combine warmth and texture to provide maximum coverage. There’s not need to stick with plain black since some of the deep blues and purples, greens and metallic that were launched last fall are still fashionable this year.

Colored Tights

Colored tights are an easy way to turn an ordinary outfit into an extraordinary fashion statement. Just look at the likes of Bridesmaids star Kristin Wiig and Sarah Jessica Parker who are masters at rocking the colored opaques. Jonathan Aston 40D and Pamela Mann 50D offer two of the largest color ranges around spanning 54 different shades from electric brights to strong pastels and soft primary colors, all with a long lasting texture.

Elegant Fashion

I know it’s a recession and we should all be pulling our belt in, but what if your dress doesn’t have one? The quickest (and cheapest) way to make our clothes work a bit harder is a stylish pair of elegant fishnet or patterned tights. Over the past few months there have been some really sophisticated and chic designs created.  Among our favorites are Pretty Polly Secret Slimmer Lace Tights which merge fashion with a control top. HUE Micro Mesh Tights, as well as Pamela Mann’s Jive Seamed Tights and Sheer Dotty Tights feature graceful designs that emphasize your lovely legs, all for under $15 per pair. All of these choices will add a grown up note to your outfit and add a hint of glamour to your evening outfit.

Control Top

If you need a little extra support here and there, control top tights like the Aristoc Bodytoners range and Spanx In Power Line will help smooth your figure and make your outfits fit even better. Best selling Givenchy 575 Body Smoothers Support Tights has firm control throughout the tights to sculpt and tone your legs and tummy. All of our control top tights are extremely comfortable (I sometimes forget I even have control tights on!) and come in a range of natural skin tones and classic black.

Footless & Open Toe Tights

There’s no better way to celebrate warmer weather than with a cute pedicure, so add some footless and open toe tights to your hosiery drawer. Footless tights are in the middle of a big revival and will ease transition from tights to bare legs. The soft textures used by brands like HUE are easy to wear under both the lightest or warmest of fabrics. And my last tip for this week – if you haven’t tried open toe tights, now’s the best time to try them.  When correctly positioned, open toe tights, such as Falke Shelina Toeless or Donna Karan ‘The Nudes’ Toeless, are basically invisible under sandals and will give you a smooth blemish free look and extra coverage, plus I can show off my pedicure too.

Now that spring cleaning has given your wardrobe a fresh start to grow again, head to AlexBlake.com to get your pantyhose online and create your staple wardrobe of hosiery that will see you through every season.