Storing Tights, Hosiery And Leggings: 4 Storage Ideas And Tips

Any fashionista has a drawer full of tights, hosiery and leggings. If you're like most people, these delicate items are just tossed in a jumbled mess, which means stress and frantic searching whenever you try to find a specific pair to wear in the morning. If this is you, fret no more! We have the perfect storage solutions for your tights, hosiery and leggings.

1) Get Rid Of Rips!

Ripped hosiery pieces are kind of like pens that won't write. You try them out, realize they're ripped and then shove them back in the drawer, only to repeat the process the next time you're looking for a specific pair. If this sounds like you (and it likely does - no judgment here!), keep a bag nearby to stash them. Ripped hosiery has a number of uses, even after it's no longer wearable. From crafts to breast cancer pillows, ripped hosiery can be repurposed. Some cities have organizations that make breast cancer pillows stuffed with hosiery so consider calling around to see if your ripped tights can help provide comfort to a woman recovering from breast cancer surgery.

2) Roll Or Fold In A Drawer?

Rolling and folding tights, leggings and other hosiery pieces in a drawer is the most popular storage method. To keep hosiery looking like new, carefully roll or fold them after each use. Some people like to use a small ribbon or rubber band to bind them, but if you stack them instead of laying them down, you'll have better luck keeping your hosiery from unrolling or unfolding.

Some people take this rolling or folding one step further and actually place each pair into it's own plastic storage bag. This is a great solution, especially if your dresser has small wooden splinters that could damage the hosiery. Another benefit to this method is that you'll always know where each item goes, making it easy to find a specific pair when you're rushing around getting dressed in the morning.

3) What's The Hang Up?

Another popular, though less employed method, is hanging up your hosiery. To do this, choose your hangers carefully! Spend a little more and get high quality velvet flocked or quilted hangers. If you go with a cheaper version, such as plastic, you could find your hosiery snagging and catching on small flaws where the plastic was molded. Another benefit of a quilted or flocked hanger is that your hosiery will stay where you placed it instead of sliding around, making organization easy to maintain.

To hang hosiery, loosely tie them on the hanger. Take care not to pull too tight or else you could create a lumpy, misshapen spot on the hosiery that sticks around even after you've pulled them on.

4) Operation Organization

Once you know which storage method you're going to employ, it's time to put it into action. Decide how you're going to organize your tights, hosiery and leggings. Are you going to organize them by weight and segregate the lightweight summer hosiery from the heavier, winter weight ones with leggings in another area? Or will you group them in patterns, with solids segregated from the patterned, lacy tights?

Probably the most popular organization strategy is by color. If you organize each piece by color, you won't need to worry about whether you determined a pair to be a winter or summer item. Grouping them by color also helps you know when a pair needs to be replaced because you'll easily see a hole in your color palette. If you place leggings next to tights in the same color palette, you just might come up with an entirely new outfit.

Keeping tights, hosiery and leggings organized and properly stored does more than just make it easy to get dressed in the morning. Taking care of each piece helps extends the life of the garment, which is a great thing for your wardrobe and your wallet.  

More Undergarment Resources:

The Guide To Wearing Brightly Colored Tights

How To: 5 Ways to Wear Shorts and Tights

The 8 Hosiery Commandments: How To Look Beautiful In Tights

About the Author:

Cindy Prosser is a former underwear model turned freelance writer and mom. She's not ashamed to admit she looks gorgeous in leggings for women, which honestly isn't THAT difficult but hey, moms have to count every fashion victory When not glamorously overdressing for grocery store visits she stays busy writing for Bare Necessities.