Fashion Girls Are Using Sheer Knee-High Socks to Level Up Their Looks

So, you bought a new mini skirt and want to take it out for a spin. But it's too leggy for a fall outfit on an unsuspecting Tuesday. A pair of tights would be the more obvious addition to your mini-skirt outfit. But street-style maven Chloe King will tell you to try sheer knee-high socks (or stockings, as my nana called them) instead.

King, a luxury retail professional you'll spot in every best Fashion Week street style round-up across the internet, has become the unofficial face (or rather, legs) of the burgeoning knee socks trend. The fashion darling has styled sheer hosiery with mini shorts and jackets worn as dressers. Though she's experimented with "more masculine brogue loafers, a super high heel is more fun," King writes me over email.

"As hemlines have gotten shorter (and shorter) the last few seasons,"—cue the parade of runway models and celebrities in micro mini skirts, hot pants, and often no pants at all—"adding a knee-high sock to a mini short or jacket-worn-as-dress helps tone down all the skin," she says. "Plus, the sheer-to-skin gradient adds a new texture to the look and is a more unexpected choice than a tight." Who knew nylon stockings would be trending in 2024!

Sheer knee-highs are a curveball choice, and that's precisely why they work with a short, seductive hemline. "There is something delightfully confusing about adding a knee sock to a look," King says. "The sheer nylon simultaneously adds sex appeal and a hint of grandpa's closet—it's that 'ugly cool' that Prada does so deliciously well!" A styling decision is so wrong that it circles back to being so very right.

King has mastered the tightrope walk between an awkward outfit and a really good one. She has a knack for knowing the finishing touch to make an outfit sing, whether it's a quirky little chapeau or a dangly pair of cherry earrings. Remember the brooch trend in New York Fashion Week street style last season? King's massive red rosette pin was one of the first signs of the accessory's comeback.

All this to say: King knows a thing or two about the right way to level up a look—and if the trendsetter recommends adding sheer knee socks into your arsenal, it’s style advice you’ll want to heed.

But she's not alone in using knee-skimming pantyhose as a clever styling hack. When combing through the most recent Fashion Month street style, I found knee-high black fishnets in New York, sheer white nylons in London, and gauzy stockings in Paris teamed with a phenomenal pair of platform heels.

Off the city sidewalks and onto the runways themselves, Christian Dior's models rarely walk out in a modish mini skirt or sharp pair of pleated shorts without a pair of sheer black stockings to complement them. The same goes for Cecilie Bahnsen, though the Danish designer prefers to style knee-high tights with her signature girlish puffball dresses. King also throws Simone Rocha into the mix: "While I'm inclined to a classic black sheer, the thigh-high nude hosiery at their Spring '25 show has my wheels turning about new shades and proportions."

I, too, am a fan of knee-length stockings and own sheer black ones, purchased on a whim from Amazon last August for layering outfits in autumn. Since then, I've found they work well with tailored Bermuda shorts as a fall work outfit and that a leg-slit maxi skirt is a fun chance to show off a sheer calf. And when I'm drawn to darker, angstier style inspirations and want to reconnect with my raised-on-Tumblr roots, I'll turn on "Knee Socks" by the Arctic Monkeys and slip into my own set with a pair of lug-sole black boots.

Take it from King, myself, or a recent runway model: sheer knee socks are an unsuspecting fall 2024 trend worth a try. They make an outfit feel more fun and could be the key to unlocking a new, more playful level of your personal style. Or, at the very least, they're a good reminder to give your grandma, the original sheer pantyhose muse, a call.

Peruse More Sheer Knee-Sock Styling Ideas