Internet sleuths jumped on the case when a woman asked why celebrities have such perfect, shiny legs—and revealed a trade stage secret in the process.
Kristen Taylor, who posts on TikTok under the username @kris10.taylorr, mused on the social media platform on November 16: Why do pop stars’ legs look so shiny on stage?
Taylor posted photos of both Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift, pointing out the bright sheen on their limbs and asking if there was a particular way to achieve the look.
Taylor, from Canada, told Newsweek she asked because she had never seen such shiny legs before but they “seem to be growing in popularity among singers nowadays,” and “What better way to get an answer than from TikTok?”
“I just always found myself staring at their legs trying to figure it out whenever I would watch a video of them,” she said. “I found a lot of people also had those same questions. And it blew up from there.”
And while the question was straightforward, it had a positively enormous response, with her clip racking up almost 10 million views and half a million likes in just two days.
“It looks like it’s layered, but like what is it layered with?” Taylor asked about the “perfect and shiny” look of the stars’ legs.
Thousands of TikTok users rushed to comment the answer, and while some simply insisted the stars were wearing tights or pantyhose, other answers were more detailed.
“Any competitive dancer knows the answer to this question,” one user wrote, as another explained it was “Capezio shimmer tights.”
Giving more information, one said Swift was “also wearing the Capezio fishnets over the shimmer versions. “They are dance tights so they are built to withstand tons of movement,” they explained.
A dance teacher commented: “I always forget normal people have no clue Capezio tights exist! These are the shimmer tights with suntan color fishnet tights over them.”
Capezio is a brand favored by multiple celebrities. Beyoncé said in a 2010 interview on The View that she wore four pairs of stockings at once, to keep everything tight as she danced on stage.
Despite being the choice of billionaire Swift, the Capezio tights won’t break the bank for more ordinary folk: ultra-shimmery tights are available on its site for just $15.
The tights company wrote in an Instagram post in 2023 that its professional fishnet tights were “worn by dancers, performers and celebrities alike,” thanks to the their “incredible stretch and hold.”
And in 2022 the brand shared a snap of Swift on stage and revealed she was wearing its Ultra Shimmery Tights and Professional Fishnet Tights together—to which one commenter replied: “Capezio is a Swiftie confirmed.”
There are many reasons performers choose to wear tights, particularly when it comes to dancing. As well as professional brands offering unhindered mobility, tight-fitting clothes can improve blood circulation in the legs, reducing muscle fatigue after a performance, according to the Dance Innovations Dance Center.
