Hosiery

Hosiery, (UK: /ˈhoʊziəri/, US: /-ʒəri/)[1][2] also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs.

The term is also used for all types of knitted fabric, and its thickness and weight is defined by denier or opacity.

[3] The first references to hosiery can be found in the works of Hesiod, where Romans are said to have used leather or cloth in forms of strips to cover their lower body parts.

Modern hosiery is usually tight-fitting by virtue of stretchy fabrics and meshes.

Older forms include binding to achieve a tight fit.

This 1886 advertisement for a hosiery factory demonstrates both handmade construction and factory production with nineteenth-century technology.
Close-up photograph of knitted nylon hosiery
Roller derby athletes shortly after a bout in Boise, Idaho , wearing fishnet and patterned pantyhose