If You're Going to Wear Tights This Winter, Wear These Exact Styles to Look Your Chicest

The other day, I was sitting around the Who What Wear UK office with some of my chicest colleagues, discussing my winter dressing philosophy. As someone who has relocated to London from Sydney, I was waxing lyrical about the plights of covering up for the cold and how, surprisingly, tights were a fail-safe wardrobe essential for both combating the freezing temperatures and helping me seem like I hadn’t lost my sense of personal style.

“Tights make me feel like I’m back in a classroom,” someone said in response, much to my dismay. With somewhat matronly connotations, thicker grey styles and fleece-lined black versions can certainly transport you to your time in sixth form. But as someone who adores the way a pair of coloured stockings or printed hosiery can inject a playful and thermal touch to any look, I considered this an opportunity to school her on the chicest tight trends that are anything but dowdy.

Indeed, the key tight trends for winter 2025 in particular are ones that stealthily enhance any ensemble. Be it a wash of primary colour or ditsy prints, these major tight trends bring an unsung bold dimension to your winter outfit that’s unrivalled by any other category. Wearing animal-print trousers or dainty pointelle leggings might feel a tad too out of comfort zones for more demure dressers and commitment-phobes alike, the key tight trends for winter 2025 resolve to add an experimental slant, whilst not being too overt.

Conspicuously bold and cold-resistant is entirely the mood I strive to achieve in winter and, as my formerly unconvinced fellow editors came to learn, only achievable by tights. This season, we’ve shifted away from the rococo flourishes encapsulated by white lace tights and the boudoir-inspired takes seen by the reign of fishnets. The mode of now is epitomised by a restrained elegance, with primary colours like blue and white being layered against statement coats to bring an element of either harmony or contrast, depending on your tastes.

Sure, there is a case to be made that wearing tights with pieces like button-down shirts and pleated skirts might make you feel like a teenager stuck in homeroom again, but that’s not to say that’s the only way you have to wear the major tight trends for winter 2025. To prove this point further, I’ve pieced together a guide to the top shades and styles of now and compiled chic examples that showcase how to wear them well. A masterclass in trialling tights, if you will. So, without further ado, uncover the key tight trends for winter 2025, ahead.

The 6 Key Tight Trends for Winter 2025

1. White Tights

Style Notes: From ivory denim to cream coats, winter whites are a colour story that always makes you feel incredibly polished and put together during cooler months. Blame it on the fact that you blend in with the frosty surroundings or the bravery it takes to wear a stain-attracting colour during moments where rain, hail, snow and sleet are guaranteed, but adding a touch of white will ensure an incredibly refined outfit every time. If opting for a jacket or trousers is too contentious, a pair of bright, white tights are the solution.

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2. Polka Dot Tights

Style Notes: Spotted: The elegant print trend that dominated the street style set over summer returning for winter. It’s true, after reigning supreme as the pattern du jour, polka dot is reemerging for one final hurrah in the format of speckled tights. Reminiscent of an old-world glamour, this tight trend will appeal to anyone who wants to channel their inner ‘60s socialite or ‘80s aristocrat, albeit with a modern flair.

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3. Blue Tights

Style Notes: Blue has always been a source of inspiration for the most stylish. From Joni Mitchell’s seminal album to Picasso’s blue period, the hue is one of the most evocative on the colour spectrum. For winter 2025, the hue finds new meaning in the form of tights. Reminiscent of the shades worn by nurses in the ‘50s, this baby blue tint takes a normally clinical hue and turns it on its head by pairing it with lavish leopard-print coats and spritely mini dresses.

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4. Animal-Print Tights

Style Notes: Animal print tights are one of the crucial tight trends of winter 2025, but it’s actually a movement that dates back nearly thirty years prior to when a young Chloë Sevigny wore a tiger style to a film premiere in 1996. Adopted by many taste makers and It girls like Chani Ra, Camille Charriere and Leandra Cohen in the time since, you’ll find this style at leading tights brands like Swedish Stockings and Wolford.

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5. Designer Logo Tights

Style Notes: Logomania pandemonium has certainly quelled since the 2010s. But at a time where even entry-level luxury goods are out-pricing some people out of the market, why not embrace your favourite designer by wearing a pair of tights embellished with the brand’s sigil? Given how tights are a staple in any Parisian wardrobe, it should come as no surprise that maisons like Celine and Givenchy do this style well.

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6. Argyle Tights

Style Notes: Fans of Saltburn and the dark academia literary classic The Secret History rejoice! Argyle print tights have left the country club and polo fields and entered the fashion set, with searches for the trend currently at an all-time high. The diamond print is a classic preppy fashion staple, but as they say, the shape is forever.

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