- A snug stretchable garment covering the body from the waist or neck down, designed for general wear by women and girls.
- A similar garment designed for athletic use, worn especially by acrobats and dancers.
Dictionary:
tights (tīts) ![]() |
| Dictionary of Dance: tights |
A body-hugging garment which covers the dancer's body below the waist. Today's tights are made of a stretchy fabric which allows for complete freedom of movement in the legs and hips.
| Devil's Dictionary: tights |
n.
An habiliment of the stage designed to reinforce the general acclamation of the press agent with a particular publicity. Public attention was once somewhat diverted from this garment to Miss Lillian Russell's refusal to wear it, and many were the conjectures as to her motive, the guess of Miss Pauline Hall showing a high order of ingenuity and sustained reflection. It was Miss Hall's belief that nature had not endowed Miss Russell with beautiful legs. This theory was impossible of acceptance by the male understanding, but the conception of a faulty female leg was of so prodigious originality as to rank among the most brilliant feats of philosophical speculation! It is strange that in all the controversy regarding Miss Russell's aversion to tights no one seems to have thought to ascribe it to what was known among the ancients as "modesty." The nature of that sentiment is now imperfectly understood, and possibly incapable of exposition with the vocabulary that remains to us. The study of lost arts has, however, been recently revived and some of the arts themselves recovered. This is an epoch of renaissances, and there is ground for hope that the primitive "blush" may be dragged from its hiding-place amongst the tombs of antiquity and hissed on to the stage.
| Wikipedia: Tights |
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) |
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name.
Wearing of tights has a long history going back several centuries, when they were worn by men. Today, they are worn primarily by women and girls and some men, as well as infants and toddlers of both sexes. In recent years, they have been sometimes offered as men's fashion. Athletic tights are already considered unisex.
In American English, the difference between pantyhose and tights is determined in the weight of the yarn used and the thickness to which the garment is knitted. Generally, anything up to 40 denier is known as pantyhose and anything over can be classified as tights. In the United Kingdom the word "tights" is used in all cases when referring to pantyhose.
There are many sub-classifications of tights/pantyhose that describe the precise construction (such as control top, seamless, support). Although most tights are mainly nylon or cotton, lycra is normally included in modern blends to improve fit.
Unfooted tights are usually called leggings. Athletic tights are often unfooted, although they may have a "stirrup" that goes under the foot to hold the cuff down near the ankle.
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Originally derived from the hose worn by European men several centuries ago, tights were made as close fitting as possible for practical reasons when riding horseback. For men of nobility the material would be made of silk or fine wool rather than the coarser fabrics used by the lower classes. At the time of King Henry VIII of England, such was the male fashion for displaying a well turned leg that even the king padded the calf area under his hose.
Tights are common in the world of theater, especially in Renaissance-era costumes, and dance, particularly in ballet.
The term "tights" has been used to try to ridicule certain traditional British uniform. Most famously the Serjeant-at-Arms at the Palace of Westminster, after a protester got past the security, were described in the media as "middle aged men in tights". [1]
For horseback riding, tights refers to light jodhpurs (riding pants that extend to the ankle) that are worn in summer or as an undergarment in winter. These pants, or 'riding tights', are cheaper to buy than jodhpurs or breeches (riding pants that extend to mid calf intended for use with tall riding boots). In warm climates they can be worn all year round.
Tights can also describe the leg coverings worn in cycling and other athletics, especially by runners and wrestlers. These tights are usually a thicker spandex-blend, and are usually footless. It has also been proven by sport scientists that the use of tights can also reduce muscle strain and other injury.
Athletic tights received some publicity during the 2005-2006 basketball season, when players started wearing the ankle-length tights under their uniform shorts. A prominent NBA player, Kobe Bryant, was one of the first to wear tights, and the style was subsequently adopted by several other NBA players, as well as some college and high school players. The style sparked controversy, leading to proposals to prohibit wearing tights with basketball uniforms.[2]
Because the fabric used in tights is made of interwoven fabric such as nylon or cotton there are pores in the fabric where modern manufacturers have been able to place other items which benefit the skin. They can use microencapsulation techniques to place substances such as moisturizers and other skin creams in the tights. These creams are said to act against the skin to create a health and/or beauty benefit for the wearer. Some manufacturers have even put caffeine in tights which they claim can reduce cellulite for the wearer.[3]
The UK was hard hit with hosiery sales decreasing from £400m in 2000 to below £300m in 2004.[4]
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| Translations: Tights |
Dansk (Danish)
n. pl. - strømpebukser, trikot
Nederlands (Dutch)
panty, maillot
Français (French)
n. pl. - collant, maillot
Deutsch (German)
n. pl. - Strumpfhose, Trikot
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - (ενδυμ.) καλσόν
Italiano (Italian)
collant, calzamaglia, fuseaux
Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - malha (f), collants (f pl)
Русский (Russian)
трико (одежда танцоров, акробатов, иногда спортсменов, колготки, ношено дамами вместо длинных чулок
Español (Spanish)
n. pl. - mallas, leotardos
Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - stumpbyxor, trikåer
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
紧身衣, 紧身下装, 贴身衬衣
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. pl. - 緊身衣, 緊身下裝, 貼身襯衣
한국어 (Korean)
n. pl. - 몸에 꽉 끼는 옷, 타이즈
العربيه (Arabic)
(الجمع) ثوب ضيق يرتديه ألراقص, ألرداء ألمحكم
עברית (Hebrew)
n. pl. - מכנסי-גוף, מכנסי-בלט, מכנסי-לוליין, גמישונים
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Copyrights:
![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Dictionary of Dance. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Copyright © 2000, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911 Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tights". Read more | |
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