By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 14, 2012
Now, I know when a West Coaster says it’s getting cold, the rest of Canada perks up their heads from behind their mountainous snow banks and out of their balaclavas to laugh and point at our wussy attitude, but it’s true.
It is colder this month than it was last. There are more leaves on the ground than there are on the trees and more accidents on roads because people see frost on the median and freak out. But the big question is, how do we still look cute in dresses and tights when the moist cold air nips through our many layers straight to the bone?
We add another layer.
Tights have this way of reproducing in the back of closets everywhere. You think you have one pair and then you look and there are pantyhose spilling out of every corner. Some have runs, certainly, but some are perfectly fine. They were that one pair you bought for that one occasion that you forgot about. Or that other pair you bought at the drugstore on the way to work when you found a run from where your untrimmed toe nail made destructive contact.
There are the fun tights with crazy patterns like stripes and polka dots you once bought on a whim at H&M but have never had the guts to actually wear. There are the colourful tights in a range of hues that punch up your dull winter outfit. And there are the many shades of grey that sit beside the many shades of black.
All these tights just waiting to be used, but it is way too nippy outside to brave it. Or is it?
Why not double up?
Put black on black for an extra opaque look. Or stripes on grey for a really cute layered look. Go crazy with stripes on bright blue to complete a Pinterest-worthy look.
Throw on ankle boots to let the fun tights reign or, for colder days, tall boots with long socks peeking out over the top.
Really, anything is possible when you start marrying your tights.
I know what you’re thinking, though. Two pairs of tights? Isn’t that a little . . . claustrophobic? Wouldn’t my waist have permanent indentations from the multiplied control top? Wouldn’t my toes start to freak out from being trapped under two, possibly three layers if I were to add the socks? Wouldn’t a level of bunching occur in all the wrong areas?
It depends which tights you marry with one another. I would avoid doubling up on two 100 denier tights with major control tops – make sure the coupled tights lean towards the “opposites attract” cliché.
If you have one pair that has a less Spanx-like fit, I would put it overtop the more constrictive one. And I would avoid, at all costs, putting together two pairs of looser fits. There will be bunching and slipping and crawling and readjusting going on at all hours of the day.
And as for your toes, I’m sure in this kind of weather they wouldn’t mind being pulled closer together for warmth. Mothers everywhere tell their kids to keep their toes warm for a reason, so listen to your mother and double up.
