The UK tights and leggings market is worth over £500 million annually and growing steadily, driven by fashion trends, dancewear demand, and the year-round need for hosiery. For retailers, wholesale tights and leggings offer consistent sales, excellent margins, and low storage requirements. Here's your complete buying guide.
Why Tights and Leggings Are a Smart Wholesale Buy
- Year-round demand — Unlike seasonal fancy dress, hosiery sells 12 months a year
- Small and lightweight — Easy to store, cheap to ship, low breakage risk
- High repeat purchase rate — Customers buy tights and leggings regularly
- Excellent margins — 3-5x markup is standard on wholesale hosiery
- Cross-sell opportunity — Pair with fancy dress costumes, dancewear, and activewear
Seasonal Buying Guide
Autumn/Winter (September-February)
This is peak tights season. Stock up on:
- Thermal tights — Fleece-lined and brushed interior styles for cold weather
- Opaque tights — 60-100 denier in black, navy, and burgundy
- Patterned tights — Fashion patterns for the party season
- Coloured tights — Halloween (orange, purple, green), Christmas (red, white)
Spring/Summer (March-August)
Summer hosiery focuses on lighter styles:
- Sheer tights — 15-20 denier for office wear and events
- Fashion leggings — Printed, coloured, and novelty styles
- Dance tights — Year-round demand, peaks with dance school terms
- Neon and fishnet — Festival season and fancy dress events
Fancy Dress Crossover
Don't overlook the fancy dress hosiery market — it's a significant revenue stream:
- Striped tights — Witch costumes, Alice in Wonderland, Wally/Wenda
- Fishnet tights — Rocky Horror, 80s outfits, burlesque
- Coloured tights — Character costumes, colour-coded themes
- Hold-ups and stockings — Hen parties, vintage costumes, Halloween
Dance Tights — A Specialist Opportunity
Dance schools represent a lucrative niche within the hosiery market. Ballet tights, jazz dance tights, and convertible tights have steady demand throughout the school year. Many dance teachers buy in bulk for their students — often 30-50 pairs at a time. Stock ballet pink, tan, and black in all sizes.
Activewear Leggings
The athleisure trend continues to drive leggings sales beyond traditional hosiery. High-waisted, squat-proof, and seamless leggings sell well both as everyday wear and for gym/fitness use. This category has some of the best margins in the wholesale leggings market.
Browse Our Wholesale Hosiery Range
Wicked Nights offers a comprehensive range of wholesale tights, wholesale leggings, and dancewear at competitive trade prices. We also stock wholesale activewear including gym leggings and sports tights.
Apply for a trade account today and browse our full range of over 10,000 products. Orders before 2pm are dispatched same-day from our Manchester warehouse.