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Red Dress Woes By Retha Hill Washingtonpost.com Staff Monday, December 29, 1997

Skin-colored hose works with lighter-weight garments.
(Illustrations by Anne Maika for wp.com)

Post Fashion Columnist Robin Givhan railed against wearing white hose with dark skirts. I was one of the offenders, but I've since stopped and gone bare-leg during the summer. But now that it's winter.... I have an equally perplexing hose dilemma. What color hose do you wear with red dresses and skirts? Some of my colleagues wear sheer black hose and others go with nudes and one wears textured red stockings. What's right?

Kathy,
Rosslyn

Dear Kathy of Rosslyn,
Red can be a hard color to match. Wear black hosiery with a red dress and you can end up looking like either Mrs. Claus or a working girl on 14th Street NW. Wear red tights with a red dress and red shoes and you start to resemble a schoolgirl on her way to a Christmas pageant, only the schoolgirl looks young and cute and you look big and silly.

While there are no hard and fast rules, here are some guidelines to keep in mind, our experts tell us. The color of the stockings often depends on the weight of the garment. Generally, it's best to match the color of the leg covering with the shoe rather than the dress or suit skirt.

For a red suit worn during the colder months, a woman could wear a red or black shoe with natural, skin-tone hosiery.

"Choose a nude that matches your skin tone," says a spokeswoman for Sara Lee Hosiery, which makes Hanes, L'Eggs and DKNY hosiery. "Selecting nude hosiery for your red dress, whether it is for the office or for a cocktail party, will help to make all of your other accessories fall into place, including shoes, handbag and jewelry."

With a heavier red skirt, try pairing textured opaque hose with brown crocodile shoes for a modern look.

Heather Femia, corporate fashion director for Nordstrom, agrees. But adds, "For a more modern look, try a brown crocodile shoe with an opaque leg or with a fishnet or crochet texture in the brown family."

Femia doesn't rule out wearing black leg wear with red, but says it is "more challenging to pull off." If the buttons on your suit or dress are black or gray, try pairing a textured hose with a gray shoe. How meaty the texture is, again, depends on the weight of the dress.

Contrasting colors can work sometimes – black tights with a wool red skirt, for example. "Some of the most smashing looks come from breaking all of the rules," Femia says. But, she warns, keep in mind when venturing toward an edgier statement that a look either works or doesn't work.

If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, get a second opinion from a friend you really trust.

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