Do stockings for women’s legwear need to be opaque?

Questions:

1. Must a woman’s stockings be opaque (I.e. the leg isn’t seen through the stockings)?

2. Is it permissible to wear stockings which cover the leg completely (no holes), are somewhat sheer (can see the leg through hosiery) but are visibly not the woman’s leg (I.e. there is a seam or design, or the color is darker than the leg/black)

Answers:

The area below the knee is considered the Shok and thus is an Ervah and therefore must be covered. The denier of the stockings should be such that it is impossible to see the legs through the stockings. Yet, it need not conceal the shape of the leg. Some suggest the number 40 and others suggest higher numbers.

There are many women who are accustomed to wearing stockings of a lesser denier. While this goes against the straightforward understanding of the halacha, there is some room within halacha to defend those do so, as long as it blurs the image of the leg. Lechatchila one should be Machmir that the skin shouldn’t be visible at all, as above.