hosiery

right|200px|thumb|This 1886 advertisement for a hosiery factory demonstrates both handmade construction and factory production with nineteenth-century technology. Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose. The term is also used for all types of knitted fabric, and its thickness and weight is defined by denier or opacity. Lower denier measurements of 5 to 15 describe a hose which may be sheer in appearance, whereas styles of 40 and above are dense, with little to no light able to come through on 100 denier items.

== Etymology == The word hosiery is a morphological derivation of the Anglo-Saxon word hosa, which meant a woven garment for the lower body and legs.