How to wear tights with open-toe shoes?
Love this time of the year when you have to dress “in between” seasons.
It is so fun for fashion!
Coats are still here but in a lighter version, you can use thin layers, skip the sweaters…
Not ready to get rid of tights yet but eager to wear your open-toed shoes?
The is THE perfect moment to try this debated fashion combo which is the “tights in open-toe shoes”.
The question is no more “can we do it”? We can.
Alexa Chung proved being the jedi master of this style along with many other fashionistas and stylists.
The question I am answering today, my little padawans, will be how to do it and look great.
I. The don’t
- Super summery shoes
By this I mean any shoes that do not look urban enough and have a bit of a countryside feeling.
The first thing you shall be careful about is the fabric.
Forget about rope soles and natural colored leather.
I’ll make an exception for the wooden clogs, which, I do not know why, manage to eventually look good with tights..
- Tights with a noticeable seam
Your tights, if not opaque, may have a noticeable seam at the edge of the toes.
It does not look chic to see it.
Either you get seamless tights or you make sure the seam is not to be seen. You know, tuck it under your foot sole ^^
- Flat open toed shoes
Honestly, even if you can manage an acceptable look with some very urban open-toed ballet flat, it’ll never look “wow” anyway.
And 99% of the other looks that match flat open-toed shoes and tights look ugly.
I luckily could not find many pictures to prove my point (saving my poor eyes), so you’ll have to trust me on this.
Of course, as always, I never say never. Maybe in the future some genius stylist will come with such a combo that will look stylish.
Note that the Bircks and tights pairing that we saw the years before IS NOT good looking (at least to my taste) even if some ladies got streetstyled for this.
- Worn out shoes
Tights and open-toes evoke fashion fashion and refinement.
They do not work with worn-out shoes.
(To be honest, almost nothing works with worn-out shoes except if we are talking sneakers or kind of grunge looking shoes.)
Bonus: my little “gift” for you
I know you just love when I give proper examples of what do not do ^^
So here is a special treat, because she achieved to get all the four aforementioned don’ts in just one outfeet (no spelling mistake here, kind of proud of my neologism).
✓ super summery shoes: honestly these shoes are meant to be worn bare feet in the midst of summer. See how sad they look? Looks like they are screaming “free the toes from the tights oppression!”. And you do not want your shoes to start rebelling against you don’t you?
✓ tights with a noticeable seam: sure you spotted it.
✓ flat open-toed shoes: obviously.
✓ worn out shoes: obviously.
II. The do’s
Now, some eye-soothener.
A. Choose the proper tights
- Opaque tights
Opaque tights are the easiest option to be stylish with this tricky mix.
To be sure not to make any mistake, go for the black opaque ones.
They’ll match any sophisticated pair of open-toed shoes: delicate jewel like sandals, chunky sandals and peep-toes pumps.
Giovanna Battaglia probably by The Sartorialist
If you are comfortable with colors and pattern mixes, you can find a more daring match.
Dries Van Noten spring 2016
Want personalized style advices? Reach me for distance styling or personal shopping!
- Wool tights
With those, make sure the shoes are not too frilly.
I can picture sandals with chunky straps way better than delicate ones of peep-toes pumps.
Of course fashion editorial will do those kind of mix. You may have spotted some ladies who got street styled with nike socks along with jewel sandals. Real life vs fashion life. Good thing crazy fashion people exist, they are creative and often come out with great stuff to wear. Sometime they also, well, come up with crazy stuffs ^^
Prada
- See-trough tights
Like sheer tights or fishnet tights.
First, as mentioned in the don’t, you shall not be able to see the toe seam.
Second, most times, the less toe you can spot the better it’ll work.
Pandora displays no more than two little toes with those sandals
Same here
B. Choose the proper open-toed shoes
- Chunky sandals
They shall be urban.
By that I mean shoes you feel belong to the city and could not be worn in a field. And yes, even if you could not walk with them in the said field, cord platform shoes, feel like they could belong there.
They’ll look great with opaque black or colored tights, see-trough tights and eventually wool tights.
Vintage Tommy Ton circa 2007 (I estimated the time period according to the Balenciagas)
You could try the clogs with a wooden sole though. You may even try the wool tights combo. But it’s a fail, please do not complain if you are requested to gard sheeps ^^
- Delicate sandals
I mean super sophisticated delicate sandals with thin straps.
They often look amazing with tights.
Choose opaque black or see-trough tights for them.
Zoom on Sparks album cover “the number one song in heaven“, 1979
- Peep-toes
The peep toes are very urban pumps.
They do not display lots of toes so you can go for any type of tights except for the wool tight which would create a bulk.
Et voilà! Ready to rock tights and open-toes shoes like a fashion queen?
Cover collage: my friend Claire’s pretty feet by Roman Bonnery, Alexa Chung
I enjoyed your article very much! Until this past spring, I only wore pantyhose in cooler weather and on special occasions. My legs aren’t getting any younger, so this was the first summer I wore pantyhose daily. My preference for shoes were heeled sandalettes and peep-toes. But this meant changing gears with the pantyhose. I had to go to a much lower denier (30 to 10), and, I had to go from reinforced toe to sandal toe. Going sandal toe meant paying more attention to my toenails, making sure they were kept short, and the free edge of the nails filed smoothly.
Bonjour moi je ne suis pas fan des sandales porter avec un collant ou des chaussette ce sera mieux quand il fera plus chaud, moi je trouve que les sandales ouverte d’été ouvertes avrc des chaussettes ou des collant ca faut too mutch,c’est mieux en période estivale moi je préfère avoir chaud ou pieds dans des bottines ou des boots plutôt que dans des sandales ouvete et en plus c’est pas encore la période pour ça, Merci
I love almost all your do pics.
The don’ts- black sandals with black tights, other than the seam (which no, should never be seen) is not actually a don’t. Summery flat sandals over opaque tights is on the edge of coming back this season. I say edge because I don’t think North America has totally caught it yet.
Bonjour Aloïs,
Pour un évenement qui a pour thème le violet je pensais à des talons violet mais les seuls “jolis” que j’ai trouvé son ceux du lien.
https://www.zalando.fr/glamorous-sandales-purple-gl911a00a-i11.html?selectedsizes=39,40,39.5
Je ne suis pas sure de comment les porter sachant qu’au mois de Novembre, les collants sont de rigueur !
Merci pour ton aide,
Maude
Hello,
Tu peux carrément les porter avec des collants mais…. franchement cette forme de sandale ça TUE les pieds surtout si c’est de piètre qualité.
Je te conseille plutôt… les COLLANTS VIOLETS! Il y a en a des super chez Calzedonia. Et en plus c’est moins cher. Tu peux aussi ajouter d’autres accessoires violets qui ne coutent pas cher comme des BO violettes, ou du makeup violet ou même une teinture temporaire violette.
Hi there,
Thanks a lot for the article. I would be so grateful if you could tell me if it is OK (and classy) to wear lacy pantyhose or fishnets with lacy corset open-toed stilettos. I thought that would create so much exaggeration of the lace, though.
Thanks a world.
Dear Mahsa, It would probably not be a classy result indeed
https://www.express.com/clothing/women/long-sleeve-pocket-shirt-dress/pro/07800749/color/ENSIGN%20BLUE
Salut Aloïs,
Si tu cliques sur le lien au-dessus, tu trouveras une robe bleue que j’ai acheté. J’ai un tatouage sur ma jambe alors je veux porter tightst opaque pour le couvrir pour mon travail. De quelle couleur dois-je porter avec ? Et aussi j’ai des sandales nues que je pense ira bien avec. Avec tes talons de peut-être 4 cm. Mas je ne sais pas si je porte ces sandales nues, je pourrai porter tights et si, de quelle couleur? Ou éviter les sandales nues avec des talons et porter des chaussures ? Ah! Quelle option ? Merci et j’espère que tu suis tjs ce blog je viens de trouver 🙂
Hola, me podrías ayudar a saber que tipo de pantimedias podría usar con unos zapatos de tacon cerrado de color nude
D
What color tights would be best with peep toe nude pumps/wedges that will be worn with eggplant pants?
Something very thin delicate and yellow or dusty pink.
Hi there
What about opaque tights in peep-toe-booties?
For example, could I wear something like the below with a dress/skirt and some black opaque tights?
http://www.naturalizer.ca/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?p=EC0113720&pg=7009531
Yes it works!
I do not really like those booties to be honest they are a bit thick and lack sophistication.
If you have to pair them with tights, go for semi transparent. Opaque black would not be noticed.
actually I do not like to wear tights with open toe shoes.I wear them with over the knee boots more than the others because they make beautiful and cute.some times I wear tights with ankle boots too.
What about booties?
I really want to buy these booties but just noticed they’re open-toe. Can I still style them with tights or fishnets this fall/winter?
https://www.nordstromrack.com/shop/product/1792027/french-connection-quintina-bootie
They may look tacky with fishnets and with black tights you won’t see they are open toes.
I’d wear them with colored tights. Burgundy sounds great.
quelle marque propose des collants noirs opaques sans coutures au bout du pied ?
Ahah je ne sais pas trop en vrai, mais j’en ai déjà vu. Au pire sur du opaque, si vous vous débrouillez bien, vous n’avez qu’à plaquer les coutures.
Hi Alois,
Thank you for a fabulous website and always very good advice on the Parisian way to dress.
Regarding tights I wonder why you don’t mention nude coloured tights – are they absolutely no go in Paris? I often find Black tights to dark for spring and I don’t like coloured tights, but is it too much out of style to wear nude coloured?
Best regards, Tine
Well, I recommend to avoid them. I like to wear nude fishnets instead.
But if you really want to wear nude tights, you shall make sure it looks like you are not wearing any tights.
Pile le type de sujet que je cherche actuellement, “comment s’habiller à l’intersaison”. Entre les ballerines et l’article sur les collants, je bois tes paroles que ce soit pour trouver des idées ou me rassurer en me disant que niveau style je ne suis pas si nulle que ça ^^. Merci beaucoup pour ton blog !
🙂
“tights in socks” (first few lines) might be a spelling mistake…?
Either way: I say opaque black tights can make almost any shoe stand out, as long as it’s a shoe you’d normally wear with evening wear.
I also say: if it looks good with fishnets, it looks good with opaque tights. There’s some severe ladylikeness about it, but in a 60ies kind of way. Be aware you might approach dowdyness-area, when you’re either styling it very… prissy and good-girl-ish. Here, I feel like you can wear your sexiest and most flashy shoes with! You see, I’m not too deterred by the trend, and I admit I’m a bit of a tights horse, I just like them. Even coloured, check-patterned ones, but wearing them stylishly can be such a pain!
A word towards clogs: maybe they are not too unfamiliar to our eyes when paired with tights. In very, very rural areas in Austria, some elderly farmer’s wifes are still wearing woolen tights and clogs wigh wooden soles for stable/stud work etc., so to my eye it’s not unfamiliar and I think it’s somehow sweet.
And a notification towards woolen tights in heels: this might apply to any tight in heels: you may feel very slippery in the shoe. Your naked feet sweat a little and usually make your shoes stick to your feet quite well, helping you walk. When there’s a even-so-thin layer in between, I noticed I slipped in well fitting shoes quite a lot. With heels, your feet will undoubtedly slip forward (“downhill” or rather “downheel” ^^). If the toe straps are narrow, they might start rubbing or squish your toes and hurt. I’d recommend trying it for a few minutes at home.
On the other hand I felt like I could wear my smaller/tighter shoes very well with tights, just because of slipping less!
Before I thought tights with sandals was an absolute no-no. This blog has truly opened my eyes to trying something new. Thanks Aloïs!!!
🙂
I have a question: how about leggings with shoes? If it’s warm enough I wear invisible socklets, but when it’s cold and I don’t want to wear booties or boots, I never know what to do about socks.
I second this question
I am not sure I understand your question.
First, jersey cotton leggings are never an option for me. They are not considered pants here in Paris. You wear them only at home or at the gym.
I am ok with leggings that look like tights without feet.
In this case, I indeed would wear socks with booties and bare feet with pumps, ballet flats or sandals.