Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparency. Today, stockings are primarily worn for fashion and aesthetics, usually in association with mid-length or short skirts.
Cuban heel: A stocking with a heel made with folded over and sewn reinforcement.
Demi-toe: Stockings which have a reinforced toe with half the coverage on top as on the bottom. This results in a reinforcement that covers only the tip of the toes as opposed to the whole toe. These can be with or without a reinforced heel.
: The lower the denier number the sheerer the garment. Stockings knitted with a higher denier tend to be less sheer but more durable.
Denier
: Knitted stockings with a very wide open knit resembling a fish net.
Fishnet
Fencenet: Similar to fishnet, but with a much wider pattern. These are sometimes worn over another pair of stockings or pantyhose, such as matte or opaque, with a contrasting colour. Sometimes referred to as whalenets.
: typically made out of heavy cotton or a thick, durable synthetic fabric that reaches the knee.[9]
Football stockings
: Fully fashioned stockings are knitted flat, the material is then cut and the two sides are then united by a seam up the back. Fully fashioned stockings were the most popular style until the 1960s.
Full Fashioned
(British English) or Stay-ups: Stockings that are held up by sewn-in elasticated bands (quite often a wide lace top band). In the US they are referred to as thigh-highs.
Hold-ups
: Stockings that terminate at or just barely below the knee. Also known as half-stockings, trouser socks, or socks.
Knee highs
Matte: Stockings which have a dull or non-lustre finish.
Mock seam: A false seam sewn into the back of a seamless stocking.
Nude heel: Stockings without reinforcement in the heel area.
Opaque: Stockings made of yarn which give them a heavier appearance (usually 40 denier or greater).
Point heel: in a Fully Fashioned stocking it is a heel in which the reinforced part ends in a triangle shape.
RHT: Abbreviation of reinforced heel and toe.
Open-toed: Stockings that stop at the base of the toe with a piece that goes between the first and second toes to hold them down. They can be worn with some open-toed shoes, especially to show off pedicured toes.
Sandalfoot: Stockings with a nude toe, meaning no heavier yarn in the toe than is in the leg. They are intended to be worn with sandal or open-toe shoes.
: Stockings manufactured in the old Full-Fashioned manner with a seam running up the back of the leg. In the past they were manufactured by cutting the fabric and then sewing it together.
Seamed
Seamless: Stockings knit in one operation on circular machines (one continuous operation) so that no seaming is required up the back.
Sheers: Stockings generally of a 15 to 20 denier.
Contrast Tops: Stockings with a different colour top to the main stocking, such as black tops with a natural beige colour stocking
Stocking Feet: Shoeless feet covered by stockings or socks.
14 Strap Burlesque style Suspender BeltSuspender belt (British English) or Garter belt (American English): a belt with straps to keep stockings (not hold-ups) in place: usually they have 4 or 6 straps, but may have from 8 to as many as 14 straps. Suspender Belts with 12 or 14 straps are often associated with the Burlesque style and era.
: A fine denier fiber which gives the ultimate in sheerness. Usually 10 denier but can be as low as 1 denier.
Ultra sheer
Welt: A fabric knitted separately and machine-sewn to the top of a stocking. Knit in a heavier denier yarn and folded double to give strength for supporter fastening.
In modern usage, stocking specifically refers to the form of hosiery configured as two pieces, one for each leg (except for American and Australian English, where the term can also be a synonym for pantyhose). The terms hold-ups and thigh highs refer to stockings that stay up through the use of built-in elastic, while the word stockings is the general term or refers to the kind of stockings that need a suspender belt (garter belt, in American English), and are quite distinct from tights or pantyhose (American English).
