BEYONCE, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claudia Schiffer and Cheryl Cole are among the celebrities choosing a flawless, "cosmetic" finish - wearing tan tights instead of baring their legs.

A survey for the Charnos hosiery company discovered 81 per cent of the 1,750 British women questioned preferred to wear tan tights in summer.

President Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni hit the headlines in June when she arrived at Downing Street wearing sheer hosiery in stark contrast to Samantha Cameron's bare legs. It highlighted the trend for "cosmetic hosiery" – tights that offer the illusion of perfect pins.

Charnos brand manager Alison Baines said: "In this hot weather women want the instant sun-kissed, polished effect. They don't need to worry about 'faking it' or streaky pins, they can just pull on a pair of tights and go."

A new generation of ladder-resistant, ultra-natural hosiery, featuring "invisible" skin colours and lightweight or cooling fabrics, means the days of thick wrinkled stockings, as worn by Nora Batty in Last Of The Summer Wine, are over.