The Best Leggings to Wear Under a Dress

Wearing something under a dress solves two different problems, and the right answer depends on which one you actually have.

The first is chafe. Thighs touch, it is warm, you are walking, and by the second hour the skin is raw. The second is smoothing — wanting a cleaner line under a fitted fabric. They call for different garments, and buying for one when you need the other is the usual mistake.

If the problem is chafe

You want a short. Full-length leggings under a dress in an Australian summer is a heat problem you do not need.

The requirements are specific:

• An inseam that sits below where your thighs actually touch. Measure it rather than guessing — stand naturally, note where contact ends, and add two centimetres. Most people need more length than they expect.
• A knit that breathes. This rules out most shapewear, which is built to be flat rather than ventilated.
• A flat, wide waistband so nothing shows through a lighter fabric.
• No silicone grip strips unless you want a visible ridge under a clingy dress.

Our high-waist under-dress shorts are cut for exactly this — long enough in the leg to stop contact, in an activewear knit rather than a shapewear one, so they do not turn into a sauna.

If the problem is smoothing

Now you are choosing between a high-waist compression legging and actual shapewear, and the honest answer is that it depends on how long you will be wearing it.

For an evening, shapewear smooths more. For a working day, a medium-compression legging is the one you will still be glad of at 4pm. Our comparison of tummy control leggings versus shapewear goes through the trade-off properly.

Either way, the details that matter under a dress are different from the ones that matter at the gym:

• Seams should be flat. A raised seam telegraphs through fabric. Seamless knits are the safest option here.
• No pockets. Pocket seams create a line down the thigh.
• Match to your skin, not the dress. Under light or thin fabric, a garment close to your own skin tone disappears; black shows as a shadow.

Length, by dress

The full-length option, as a look

Leggings under a dress read as intentional when the proportions are deliberate rather than accidental — an oversized shirt dress or knit dress over full-length leggings works; a summer dress with leggings underneath because you were worried about the length usually does not.

If you are going that way, choose a dense, matte knit. Anything shiny or thin reads as an undergarment showing rather than a styling choice. The pairs in our shaping leggings range are matte and dense enough to carry it.

Three things to skip

Anything with a drawstring. It creates a bump at the front under a fitted dress.

Light-coloured shorts under a light dress. Counter-intuitive, but white shows through more than a skin tone does.

A size down for extra smoothing. It creates a ridge at the hem and at the waist — exactly the lines you were trying to avoid.