What Is a Bodystocking? A Complete Intro

A bodystocking looks like a pair of stockings that refused to stop at the hips — one continuous weave of net or lace that covers the torso and legs in a single garment. Asking what is a bodystocking usually means you have seen one and could not file it anywhere: it is not hosiery exactly, not a bodysuit exactly, and not quite lingerie in the teddy sense either. This introduction fixes that — the definition, the near-relatives it gets confused with, how the fabric and coverage choices work, and how to get one on without a fight.

What Is a Bodystocking, in Plain Terms?

It is a full-body garment knitted or woven as one piece, worn against the skin, made from the same families of fabric as stockings — sheer mesh, fishnet, lace — rather than the satins and jerseys of sleepwear. Coverage runs the full spectrum within the same idea: long sleeves and high necklines at one end, halter and open-design variants at the other. What holds the concept together is not modesty or the lack of it, but construction: the fabric is the fit. There is no tailoring to speak of, no darts or panels — the stretch does all the shaping, which is why the sizing section of this article is short.

Bodystocking vs Catsuit vs Teddy

Three full-body pieces, three different jobs. A catsuit is outerwear: opaque, sturdy fabric, cut and sewn with real pattern pieces, worn as a statement outfit on its own. A teddy is fitted lingerie with a closure at the crotch, usually sheer or lace, designed to be taken off rather than layered — the teddy vs babydoll vs chemise breakdown covers it in detail. A bodystocking sits closer to the catsuit’s coverage and the teddy’s intent, but is built like neither — it is knitted as a single tube in hosiery-gauge fabric, pulls on from the feet, and has no closures at all. If the catsuit is architecture and the teddy is lingerie, the bodystocking is hosiery that grew upward.

Fabric and Design Choices

Material sets the register. Fishnet reads bold and graphic; fine sheer mesh reads subtle and second-skin; lace reads romantic and traditional; fencenet — the wider, squared grid — reads deliberately dramatic. Coverage and design follow the same spectrum, from fully-covered long-sleeve versions that work as a foundation layer under other clothes, to open-cup and open-crotch designs that exist purely for the bedroom. None of these are graded better or worse; they are registers. Choose by the evening you have in mind, the same way you would choose between a slip and a corset — and for the building-block version of the idea, sheer and net legwear in the stockings collection and the fishnet collection are where the same fabrics live as separates; for the full-length one-piece side of fishnet, the fishnet bodystocking edit rounds up every net style we carry in one place.

Color behaves differently on a bodystocking than on any other garment, because the fabric is open enough that skin becomes part of the palette. Black net over skin still reads black, but the same net in white or red reads as much skin as fabric — the effective coverage of a pale or nude bodystocking is lower than its knitting would suggest. Deep colors are the forgiving choice; paler tones are the dramatic one; and a color close to your skin tone does something quieter and stranger than either, which is exactly why it has its fans.

How to Put One On

The technique is borrowed wholesale from stockings, because that is what the fabric is. Gather the garment from the hem downward into a ring of fabric, slip it over one foot, ease it up the leg in stages — ankle, calf, knee, thigh — then repeat on the other side before drawing the body of it over the hips and shoulders. Work it up gradually rather than yanking; netting stretches generously but a fingernail or a ring caught mid-pull is the classic way to put a run in one on the first wearing. The same stage-by-stage method, with more on handling netting generally, is in our fishnet wearing guide.

Sizing, or the Lack of It

Do bodystockings come in sizes?

Most are graded loosely — far fewer sizes than a fitted garment would need, because the knit stretches to meet the body rather than being cut to fit it. Height and weight carry more predictive power than bust-waist-hip measurements do; a listing’s height-and-weight chart, where one is given, is the number to check. The one honest exception: very stretchy does not mean unlimited, and the tallest and fullest frames should look for listings that say tall or queen rather than hoping.

Bodystocking FAQs

Are bodystockings comfortable enough to keep on?

Sheer mesh and fine-knit versions, yes — many people find them close to wearing nothing, which is part of the appeal. Wide fishnet and fencenet versions sit differently: the grid presses a light texture into the skin that some people enjoy and some find distracting after an hour. Lace versions fall between the two. Comfort tracks fabric fineness more than anything else.

What do you wear under or over one?

Under: usually nothing, by design — the garment is the layer. Over: an open shirt, a slip dress, or a robe turns a bedroom piece into something you can answer the door in, and the long-sleeve sheer versions work as a foundation under sleeveless dresses in cooler months. Treat it as hosiery and the layering answers suggest themselves.

Can you wear one under everyday clothes?

The sheer, fully-covered versions, yes — they were practically made for it, and they add a private layer of intent to an otherwise ordinary outfit. Two conditions make it work: a smooth outer layer rather than a clingy one, so the knit texture does not print through; and an awareness that bathroom logistics involve more of a production than a bodysuit would. Wide fishnet under clothes, on the other hand, prints through everything and is not worth the attempt.

How do you wash one?

Exactly as you would wash stockings or fine netting: cool water, gentle cleanser, a press rather than a scrub, and flat to dry. Machine washing is how bodystockings die young. The full method, with the fabric-by-fabric detail, is in our guide to washing delicate lingerie elsewhere on this blog.