Katie's curious misstep: sheer black hose

As illogical as it seems to have faith in Katie Holmes' - excuse me, Kate Holmes-Cruise's - judgment, I really do consider her one of only a handful of women I can trust for consistently elegant, DC-appropriate style inspiration.

Not all style inspirations are without their weaknesses, however, and when it comes to Tom's baby mama, that weakness consistently comes in the form of hosiery. Her penchant for wearing sheer black hosiery, in particular.

Aside from square-toed pumps and trouser pleats, every style has its appropriate time and place - even over-sized Christmas cardigans have recently found their niche - for sheer black hosiery, that time is between 9am-6pm on a weekday and that place is called "the office."

Maybe Sunday morning church services, too, but certainly not for evenings out on the town in Oscar de la Renta's sheath dresses and vintage Armani Privé suits .

What should she have done instead?

For the look she donned above right, I would have gone bare-legged. She was in L.A. in November, so it couldn't have been below 60 -- a good 20 thermometer ticks above my 40-degree threshold; it was also a dinner date with Tom, J.Lo and Marc, not a ladies' lunch. And judging from J.Lo's outfit choice that night, sans hosiery would have been completely venue-appropriate. Though, to be honest, were I not-quite-back-to-my-pre-baby-weight Katie, I would have opted for trousers on that double-date -- there's just no competing with Ms. Lopez's thin, muscular gams.

Especially when they're on full display in a mini dress.

For the Joan Collins costume Katie wore to an Armani party during fashion week in Paris last month, my first instinct after wanting to burn this velvet monstrosity that looks more like '80s wall decor than a dress, is to pair it with some opaque black tights. Patterned tights would have created too much drama with the velvet material, diamond brooch, fan-like texturing and beaded clutch, but a thick opaque black tight would have injected some much-needed youthfulness to this outfit. It wouldn't be enough to save it, but it would have been a start.

I realized this morning that even though I've recommended tights, both opaque and patterned, in nearly every post I've written this winter, I have yet to link you to any specific styles and/or brands.

Here are my recommendations for the best sheer black hose substitutes:

Top to bottom:
1. Control-top opaque tights by DKNY ($12.50 at nordstrom.com)
2. Herringbone tights ($19.95 at anthropologie.com)
3. Fine ribbed opaque tight ($14.50 at bananarepublic.com)

4. Cable tights ($28 at freepeople.com)

5. Soft ribbed tights ($18 at freepeople.com)

6. Opaque control-top tight ($11 at hue.com)

7. Shine diamond tight by HUE ($8.75 at amazon.com)