When Do You Start Wearing Boots and Tights in the Fall?

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We had a great discussion a few years ago about when it was time to STOP wearing boots and tights — including some surprisingly strong opinions about knee-high boots with bare legs! But I think we should also discuss the corollary: When do you START wearing boots and tights?

Psst: In the past we’ve rounded up our favorite tights, pantyhose, and boots for the office — as well as stylish winter coats!

When Do YOU Start Wearing Boots and Tights?

Obviously, do whatever you want, but I do think there are unwritten rules around this and tights and boots can make an outfit look “off” if it’s too early. Some questions for you guys:

• Is it purely a temperature thing? Do you wait until it’s consistently below 60 degrees, or is the first chilly morning enough to pull out your boots and tights?
• Or is it more about the rest of your outfit? For example, can you wear black tights and knee-high boots with a dress if you’re only wearing a sweater on top? Or does the outfit somehow look unbalanced until it’s cold enough for a coat?
• On the flip side, when do bare legs look strange? Do you wear boots with bare legs? (Hat tip to Sandra Bullock in Speed, who makes bare legs and boots look stylish… but is it right for the rest of us?)

Interestingly, in our previous discussion, some readers felt strongly that knee-high boots with bare legs looked strange, while others loved the combination. I’m curious whether opinions have changed!

I’m also curious whether sheer tights (what we used to call pantyhose!) are the transitional answer here. Do you wear sheer tights in September and October, saving more opaque tights for November and December?

(Oooh, or here’s another question raised by commenters in the last post — does the skirt length matter when choosing tights and boots? Some were noting that slightly shorter skirt lengths look much more work appropriate with opaque tights.)

For my $.02…

I feel like boots are most temperature dependent, if only because you don’t want to be sweating in them if the day is too warm… I’d probably save them for 50 and below, but that’s me. Clearly, plenty of people wear boots even in the heat of summer — just look at the enduring cowboy boots + short shorts trend! And I suspect my 50-degree rule is on the conservative side: in our previous discussion, one Atlanta reader said she’d happily wear knee-high boots whenever the high was below 75! (Meanwhile, every fall I practically have to hide my husband’s shorts, or he’ll keep wearing them well into winter… then in the spring I hide his corduroys. Ah, marriage!)

Sheer tights or pantyhose, in my mind, are THE transitional hack… if you’re cool with pantyhose. Many, many, (many!) readers over the years have hated hose with a fiery passion.

I feel like if you’re wearing a coat, you should not have your legs bare. I fully recognize that this is my own weird little rule: In my middle school years I was in a club where we went to a lot of plays, dinners, and other fun activities… and I will forever associate bare legs and ski jackets with those years. (And 6″ tall bangs and hairspray. Lots of hairspray.)

I would save opaque tights for when you’re wearing a coat, I think… but I’m sure a lot of people will disagree. (Fleece tights definitely require coat weather though, I think!)

Readers, what say you?

Stock photo via Pexels / Nayla Bernardes.