page_title: Tights
section_title: Historical background
hierarchical_section_title: Tights / Historical background
caption_attribution_description: Cropped version of the full portrait, showing the "jags" (i.e., cuts) in the body and sleeves of the doublet, through which "puffs" of the shirt have been pulled through.
context_page_description: Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concept of the American term pantyhose with sheer legs and opaque panty.
context_section_description: Originally, leggings covered only the legs (not the lower torso); were two separate pieces; and did not contain elastic fibres, so were cut close fitting (to use less fabric) and were loose, not tight.
  Originally derived from the hose worn by European men several centuries ago, tights were made as close fitting as possible for practical reasons when riding horseback. For men of nobility, the material would be made of silk or fine wool rather than the coarser fabrics used by the lower classes. At the time of King Henry VIII of England, such was the male fashion for displaying a well turned leg that even the king padded the calf area under his hose. Portrait paintings of him and other nobility often portray the wearing of a cod piece covering the groin.
  In both historic and modern times, the wearing of tight hosiery by males has been associated with an accompanying garment fitted at the groin over the male genitalia.  In the 15th century, some men wore an elaborate and decorative cod piece to accentuate their genital endowment, and as a symbol of their virility. In modern times, male ballet dancers generally wear a dance belt beneath their tights both to provide support to the genitalia and to promote a smooth, regular appearance since tights are so thin and skin tight as to be revealing of the detailed contours of the male genitalia.
  Wearing of tights has a history going back several centuries, when they were worn by both men and women. Today, they are worn primarily by women and girls. In recent years, they have been sometimes offered as men's fashion.
caption: Henry VIII of England in tights
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