Tights aren’t just an accessory anymore

From high-end Wolford to low-end Wal-Mart, everybody’s pushing tights these days, but cold weather has little to do with it being their time of year.

Tights have become a fashion accessory, used in the same way as a necklace, bracelet or pin. They paint your legs with colors and patterns that turn an outfit from bland wallpaper into walking artwork. They’re woven with metallics that can give a black dress all the shine it needs. And the stalwart basic neutrals — black, navy blue, brown, gray, cream — give all kinds of clothes a sophistication that bare legs can’t.

Tights were a strong presence at the fall runway shows, and some designers have even begun cutting deals to design tights. (Stalwart tights maker Hue got Tracy Reese to do its first celebrity collaboration, in stores now, and it plans to work with another designer for next fall.)

Here’s a guide for adding tights to your accessory list:

- Tights are generally sized like hose. Always check the size chart because sizes vary from brand to brand. Be especially attentive and honest with yourself about your size when considering a $60 pair of Wolfords. A good fit means the tights will last longer.

- Don’t wear tights with frilly skirts, slip dresses, silky halter dresses and the like. Tights have a more substantial look. They pair better with tailored clothes such as shirt dresses, sheaths, wrap dresses, A-line dresses and skirts, pencil skirts, and for the young and lithe, denim miniskirts.

- Prints work best with a neutral base: a black dress, a solidcolor skirt, basic tweed shorts. Don’t pair them with prints; that’s too much.

- If you’re intrigued by color but don’t have the confidence to wear pink or yellow, try a subtler color, such as plum or olive green.

- If you’re intrigued by patterns but fear they may be overwhelming, wear

them with a skirt that hits an inch or two above the knee, and knee-high boots. The adventurous can layer one pair over another, say fishnet tights over a bright or patterned pair. Done well, that doesn’t qualify as overaccessorizing.