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 of them, such as the original concept of the American term pantyhose with sheer legs and opaque panty. Wearing of tights has a history going back several centuries, when they were worn by men. Today, they are worn primarily by women and girls. In recent years, they have been sometimes offered as men's fashion. Athletic tights are already considered unisex. 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. When made of fine silk this hosery was considered to be a stocking. When nylon fibres were developed and introduced in the 1940s, these stockings were referred to as nylons. When the separate legs were woven together with a panty that covered the lower torso up to the waist in a single, integrated format, the term pantyhose was coined, since it was a one piece cinstruction of a panty with a pair of separate hose, one for each leg.
