A stocking (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and some part of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency. By analogy, the term is also used to describe a type of horse marking in which the white coloring extends from the horse's hoof to just above the knee.Today, stockings are primarily worn by women for fashion and aesthetics, usually in association with mid-length skirts.