Will you dare to go bare this winter?

The latest bulletin from Planet Fashion is that tights are passe. So...

THERE’S a distinct chill in the air and all over the country people are unpacking their woollies from the back of their wardrobes. Previously, reaching for warmer wear has always meant an expensive restock of tights because those pesky essentials have never been made to last. If you can even locate a pair from last year, they’re likely to be unusable. Until now, that is. If you want to be ahead of the fashion curve this season, then you can save yourself a trip to the shops because tights, especially opaque ones, are decidedly old hat. Instead, if the fashion set have their way, this winter we will all be braving bare legs under our skirts and dresses.

As somebody who loathes tights, it is marvellous news. Has there ever been a more hideously unsexy, impractical, financially draining invention?

I’m not usually one to religiously follow fashion, but if someone who knows more about style than I do announces it’s time to say ta-ta to our tights, then I am prepared to obediently do as I’m told.

I can date my loathing of tights back to early childhood when, in the Seventies, my mum used to dress me in scratchy pink woollen tights that made my legs itch like mad. They would also fall down an inch with every step I took, so every now and then, Mum would grab hold of the waistband and pull them up with an almighty yank, lifting my feet clean off the ground at the same time.

That was about 45 years ago and I’ve been trying to work out how to keep a pair of tights in place ever since.

When I was a teenager in the Eighties, the craze was for elaborately patterned tights — and the tackier the better. They had seams at the back with diamante bows, polka dots, and vine patterns running down the sides of our legs.

The only problem was that seams and patterns only stayed straight provided you didn’t move. Once you started to walk, run or dance, the once pencil-straight seam at the back of your leg, twisted around and formed a helter- skelter pattern around your calves.

Men have always wondered why women, on a night out, disappear into the loos in packs. Well, I can tell you that in the Eighties, it was to straighten each other’s seamed and patterned tights.

My friends and I spent more time in the ladies than we ever did on the dancefloor. FISHNET tights, also popular at the time, were no better. Men loved them because they had a whiff of Moulin Rouge about them, but they made you look like you had webbed feet and toes.

As I got older, and a little tubbier, the biggest challenge was just keeping tights up. Tights, as many women know, are no friend of the muffin top.

I’d start the day with them nicely in place and by the time I reached the office an hour later, the gusset had worked its way down to my knees and I would be waddling around as though restricted by a giant rubber band.

There was only one solution to this problem and that was to wear my knickers over the top of my tights, like Superman, and hope I didn’t get hit by a bus or seduced by the man of my dreams.

But, of course, the other big problem with tights is that they ladder. It only takes one snagged nail, one zip on a boot, and that’s your money gone.

For some, the idea of bare legs in winter may seem far too vulgar or chilly, but how much warmth does a pair of tights provide anyway? Yes, they make the soles of your feet reach boiling point, but that’s about it.

The real perk of thick tights has always been that it meant for four months we didn’t have to shave our legs. But now that bare legs are back in style, grooming regimes can no longer be put into hibernation. Thank- fully, the fashion is for longer hemlines but fake tanning or tinted leg moisturisers are still advisable for a polished look.

For those not brave enough to have bare legs on cold days there is, of course, always the option of trousers worn with a lovely pair of chunky socks. Perfect.

And as for what to do with a drawer full of old tights — they can be put to excellent use as draft excluders.

CAN YOU BARE IT?

STYLE editor Dinah van Tulleken explains how you can go without tights this winter. SO CAN you make it through to next Spring without breaking into a packet of tights? Understandably, the thought makes most women very nervous indeed.

Parting with our trusted opaques has some downsides: there’s the chill factor, obviously, then there’s the multitude of sins tights manage to conceal.

What to do? Well, worry not, because the silver lining is that this season hemlines are dropping (surely no coincidence?).

So whatever you need to conceal, this season’s midi-length skirts and dresses will do the job nicely. And boots will be your new best friend — there are plenty of overthe-knee styles which hide your legs completely, without any danger of an ugly or knobbly knee peaking under your hem.

There’s also the latest take on the ankle boot which stops at the lower calf, and is a great way of concealing chubby — or neglected — ankles.

If you’re not a fan of midi-length skirts, then go for something shorter, but stick to this rule: the higher the hemline, the lower the heel. This is a look that should scream ‘I am rich and classy’, after all, the only people who can afford to take this on with confidence are those with personal trainers, year-round tans and a driver.

For the rest of us, the flesh that is on show will need a little attention, but it doesn’t take much to get rid of that terribly British blueish-white hue. A good fake tan gets you most of the way there. Try St Tropez Classic Bronzing Mousse, £21 ( johnlewis.com).

If you’re nervous about applying it yourself, head to your local salon. You will get a better quality cover and it will last longer, too. For something more instant, invest in Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs, £9.99 ( boots.com), a sprayon that covers any imperfections.

The only way to forsake your tights is to do it with confidence, but if you’re too scared to leave the nylons behind, then get some 30 deniers: the only ones that anyone with any sense of style will tolerate.

The sheer revival started on the trendy and edgy runways of Saint Laurent but these are even harder to carry off than bare legs. If you’re feeling brave, then M&S’s Body Shaping 15 denier, £6 for pack of two, are the ones to choose.