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![woman with ballet slippers on and lacy, patterned tights](https://corporette.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/are-patterned-tights-appropriate-for-work.png)
You may have missed it, but there was some outcry this weekend over the outfit Dr. Jill Biden was wearing when Air Force One landed in D.C. on April 1. We haven't talked about whether patterned tights are appropriate for work in almost a decade — it felt like we've come so far with matters of hosiery choices! — but as the debate has come up again I thought hey, maybe I'm just a crazy liberal and we should discuss this.
Here are some of the choice comments people had about the First Lady's outfit:
(Technically, I think Dr. Biden was wearing patterned tights instead of fishnets! Possibly these Wolford tights.)
When we last polled the readers on patterned tights, only 5% of readers thought “anything goes,” while 33% thought any pattern would work, but only in a neutral color, and 36% thought people should stick with neutral colors in the patterns men have historically worn — pinstripe, windowpane, etc.
Interestingly, when we last discussed whether fishnets could be worn at a conservative job, 58% thought NO, 23% thought they were OK only as trouser socks, and 15% thought they'd be OK “if the skirt is demure enough.” So there s a difference, even though nude-for-you fishnets have been gaining in popularity lately, in stores at least.
Readers, what are your thoughts? Do you wear patterned tights often yourself? Would you raise an eyebrow if a coworker wore patterned tights to work? Are patterned tights appropriate for work, and if so, where should the line be drawn?
Hunting for great patterned tights to wear to work? They're a big trend right now — stay tuned for some of our latest favorites! Definitely check Wolford, Spanx, and Target…
Stock photo at top via Deposit Photos / Voyagerix.
Panda Bear
These days I am a) not really going to the office b) not wearing tights even if I am and c) if we’ve gotten used to seeing co-workers in tees and sweats, who cares about their tights? Anyway… I do wear some patterns – small polka dot, back seam, or fishnets – but usually for parties/going out rather than the office.
Cat
lol same. My reaction to even seeing this post was — tights? Who here is even thinking about wearing tights, much less patterned tights?
I think of them as winter partywear if I think of them at all…
Anon
+1
Anon
I represent a high-powered, corporate board. Two lessons I have learned from women on the board: 1) leather can be a power statement; and 3) patterned hose can send a good message, in the “I’m a boss way.” I appreciate the smart, rule-the-world women with whom I have had the opportunity to work.
bellatrix
Patterned tights are one thing — patterned tights with booties and a flippy (leather?) skirt add up to kind of a Look. Which is not necessarily bad, it’s just not what we’re used to seeing from First Ladies. I personally wouldn’t wear this combination, and probably not patterned tights either (when I wear tights at all), but I’m not clutching my pearls either. I don’t get what’s supposed to be so sexy or scandalous about them.
(Re the poll mentioned above — I would wear, and have worn, trouser socks in fishnet patterns, and it would never have occurred to me that it would be problematic. Good thing I’m in a more casual field, I guess.)
Anon
I don’t really think they are, and I would say especially not like the ones pictured. Maybe polka dots could be okay. Frankly, the people I see wearing patterned tights are really young and are wearing the kinds of outfits that are, like, weekend daytime dress + blazer, so not that professional to begin with.
Anon
But, when it comes to Dr. Biden, I want her to wear whatever she damn well wants to.
Senior Attorney
I agree with both these posts.
Anon
I think her look is fire. I also think I would love to hear a conversation about a First Lady that doesn’t tear into her appearance (obv this is a style blog and thus on topic; I just mean in the world at large). Nobody GAF what Joe wears.
Anon
She’s not going to a business meeting or a trial, is she? I don’t get the critique. I wouldn’t wear them to work but I would for her purposes. She looks great and I frankly love the Moira Rose vibe.
Vicky Austin
Yeah, I don’t think I would even really class FLOTUS as a “conservative job” in the same way that lawyer/banker/WH staff member is a conservative job. And I’d happily rock those tights for my bizcas office.
Phoebe Bridgers
This is so timely! I have a large collection of black dresses and black skirts and often am wearing all black. But I’ve reached a point where black tights feels like too much and am wondering what options I have. Patterned tights don’t feel quite right and neither do stockings. Which leaves me bare-legged, which is sometimes okay but sometimes isn’t. My office isn’t conservative and neither am I, and I’d welcome ideas to not look like a goth kid in head-to-toe black. Thanks!
Anonymous
I don’t mind simple patterns like polka dots and vertical stripes, but I did always do a double-take when my boss chose the short black dress and cheetah-print hose for the bank clients’ annual audit visits.
Anonymous
I’m a dress/skirt person when it comes to workwear. I wear patterned tights almost daily during cool/cold-but-not-freezing months. I think nude and transparent black hose look dated and opaque black hose are fine but a bit dull and don’t go with everything (I wear a lot of blues and jewel tones). Nude fishnets have been my jam for nearly 10 years. I would wear lacey black tights like the ones pictured, or Jill’s pictured tights, with a black sheath dress, sensible black pumps or pointed toe flats, and understated jewelry, perhaps a cameo brooch if the mood strikes. A simple outfit needs some texture in it, and tights are a great way to do that (and also keep you warm!).
Jeffiner
I purchased some nude fishnets a few years ago and planned to wear them with a pencil skirt and blouse, but I never did. I suppose I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I have worn argyle patterned tights, and cable knit tights, as well as tights in blue, green, grey, and purple. I don’t wear a lot of black at all, and haven’t worn black tights in a while. I’m all for patterned tights by anyone who wants to wear them.
anon
I think patterned tights would look super weird in my office, but this is definitely a Know Your Environment thing. I think Jill’s outfit looks fabulous, btw.
alexis
She looked fantastic, she wasn’t at a super formal event or something, let her live her life. Also, she IS an English professor, a profession not known for dressing boring after all.
Anonanonanon2
I definitely got big Moira Rose vibes but I was 100% here for it. To my knowledge, she wasn’t carrying out somber work duties in them, right?
Anon
Am I the only person who sort of bristles when the first lady (any first lady) is presented as a model for “professional” dress? Yes, she has some roles, but her job is really to be married to the president – she’s not the professional in that role (I realize that she has or has had another professional job, but she’s wasn’t performing it at the time of this picture).
With respect to these tights (and this was the first I’d seen this story), I think they’re a bit of a “look”, particularly with the skirt – quirky and funky for a woman her age (that’s not an insult; I aspire to be a quirky and funky older woman myself someday). But they would look out of place in anything even approaching a conservative professional office. More a look I would expect to see on, say, a singer or artist. For truly professional wear, the ones that are just a fairly subtle ribbing or dots are probably fine, but they shouldn’t be very eye catching.
Anon
That outfit was really unprofessional. She was exiting Air Force One and, however cute she may have looked in a bar, looked really undignified.
Jules
You have to be dignified just to board or exit Air Force One? The first family uses it to travel to vacations on, among other things, and they might wear casual clothes. And isn’t this the same aircraft Melania Trump boarded while wearing the “I don’t really care, do you?” jacket and towering spike heels to vist a disaster zone?
Anon
No to all of this
theguvnah
okay ivanka
iliketoknit
….what??
Mad
I LOVE a patterned black tight and in the “before times,” wore them all the time in the winter. My rule of thumb was to wear them with a conservative, more ladylike outfit, such as a plain black dress. Polka dots, diamonds, lace, even small-woven fishnets (those look like sheer black hose from a distance) — I wore all of them! I work in healthcare administration, so the office was pretty conservative.
Madi
I LOVE a patterned black tight and in the “before times,” wore them all the time in the winter. My rule of thumb was to wear them with a conservative, more ladylike outfit, such as a plain black dress. Polka dots, diamonds, lace, even small-woven fishnets (those look like sheer black hose from a distance) — I wore all of them! I work in healthcare administration, so the office was pretty conservative.
LaurenB
I’m not a fan of this particular look, but I’m not clutching my pearls over it – just not my personal style preference. And Jill Biden rocks.