Photo:  Trouser socks by Wells Hosiery	Boots, skirts, layering and the return to career dressing are trends that are expected to positively affect legwear sales during fall and winter 2003.     Boots, from ankle-length to over-the-knee lengths, are expected to again be hot items begging for boot socks, knee highs, over-the knee-highs, tights and sheers to accessorize the look. Skirts of all lengths also will be accessorized with knee-highs, tights, or sheers.      Also boosting the sock and tights categories will be apparel layering. Socks and tights can be layered to create a variety of fashion statements.      “You can layer with two pair of socks like a solid and a tweed and cuff one over the other,” says Linda Measmer of Wells Hosiery. “Legwarmers will be important also and can be layered over socks. You can wear our capris (footless tights) over a tight and then put a sock over that using different colors for each layer.”      InStep by Paul Lavitt Mills is offering a roll-top sock in several styles that can be worn over other socks. Paul Lavitt also has an open weave tight which can be worn over a tight.      Sock designers are again concentrating on creating surface textures with yarns that create visual interest. Soft, elegant yarns will again be popular as consumers continue to seek comfort and fashion in their footwear. Mohair, angora, wool and wool blends will dominate fashion socks. Neuville Industries is using an acrylic blend to make socks that look like angora but that are not as expensive as the real thing.      Paul Lavitt Mills has a Moroccan group of socks that are accented with bits of Lurex creating the look of jewelry on the sock but which is actually a knit-in design.
	Career Dressing Up Or Down?      Sheers are expected to see at least a slight upswing in sales as the working women of the world inch closer to career dressing and further from casual dress in the workplace.      After years of declining sales, due in large part to the movement away from career dressing, some sheer manufacturers say they are seeing sales inch up and that they expect to see further growth.“We expect to see growth in the sheer category as the trend is moving back to business attire versus casual dressing in the workplace,” Howard Upchurch, president of Sara Lee Hosiery, told Women’s Wear Daily.      Maria Basquil, national sales manager at Wofford USA, says the sheer business has already increased by double digits because women are wearing more sheers in the daytime.      Patterned sheers are expected to be a hit for career and evening wear, according to Jody Eskenazi of Kayser-Roth Corp. “There will be Herringbones and laces and ribs and even fishnets in a kind of a new modern way,” explains Eskenazi.      Another trend that promises to boost sheer sales is the skirt which has been making a major fashion statement for the past couple of season. That and the new feminine shoe styles provide opportunities for sheers, tights and trouser socks.      Cajah Corporation is making trouser socks in an assortment of texturized patterns including florals, vines, cable and rib. The patterns are not so intense that they are busy, according to Cajah’s Eric Hurd. Instead, one pattern may be situated on the trouser sock so that it is seen in the right place on the leg. Ribbed patterns, from micro to standard size ribs, also will be important, according to Hurd.     Fishnets have enjoyed several good seasons, and trend watchers say the new movie “Chicago” which features stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger stepping out in style in fishnets might boost sales.