Terms often associated with stockings:
- Cuban heel - A stocking with a heel made with folded over and sewn reinforcement.
- Denier - The lower the denier number the sheerer the garment. Stockings knitted with a higher denier tend to be less sheer but more durable.
- Fishnet - Knitted stockings with a very wide open knit resembling a fish net.
- Fencenet - Similar to fishnet, but with a much wider pattern. These are sometimes worn over another pair of stockings or pantyhose, such as matte or opaque, with a contrasting colour. Sometimes referred to as whalenets.
- Full Fashioned - Fully-fashioned stockings are knitted flat, the material is then cut and the two sides are then united by a seam up the back. Fully-fashioned stockings were the most popular style until the 1960s.
- Hold-ups or Stay-ups - Stockings that are held up by sewn-in elasticated bands (quite often a wide lace top band). In the US they are referred to as thigh-highs.
- Knee-Highs - Stockings that terminate at or just barely below the knee. Also known as half-stockings, trouser socks, or socks.
- Matte - Stockings which have a dull or non-lustre finish.
- Mock seam - A false seam sewn into the back of a seamless stocking.
- Nude heel - Stockings without reinforcement in the heel area.
- Opaque - Stockings made of yarn which give them a heavier appearance (usually 40 denier or greater).
- RHT - Abbreviation of reinforced heel and toe.
- Open-toed - Stockings that stop at the base of the toe with a piece that goes between the first and second toes to hold them down. They can be worn with some open-toed shoes, especially to show off pedicured toes.
- Sandalfoot - Stockings with a nude toe, meaning no heavier yarn in the toe than is in the leg.
- Seamed - Stockings manufactured in the old Full-Fashioned manner with a seam running up the back of the leg. In the past they were manufactured by cutting the fabric and then sewing it together. Today stockings are generally fully knitted and a fake or mock seam is added up the back for a particular fashion look.
- Seamless - Stockings knit in one operation on circular machines (one continuous operation) so that no seaming is required up the back.
- Sheers - Stockings generally of a 15 to 20 denier.
- Thigh-Highs - Stockings that terminate somewhere in the mid-thigh.
Stockings can be held up in one of three ways:
- A garter belt is the most common way of holding up stockings. It is a piece of lingerie worn around the waist like a belt which has "suspenders" or "stays" that clip to the tops of the stockings to hold them in place.
- "Stay-up" technology is the second most common means of support. The inside of the top of the stockings has a band (typically silicone) that resists slipping down the thigh.
- A garter is also a means of support. It is slipped over the top of the stocking to hold the stocking by essentially clamping it to the leg. These are the garters typically seen at weddings.
