While once us girls were limited to trouser suits when it came to office outfits, there is now so much choice that we can actually look fashionable as well as smart.

This is according to Company magazine’s Oonagh Brennan, who said that there is now a wealth of options available, whether you want a boyish look or a more strong feminine feel.

"It’s not just boring, bog standard, school uniform type of stuff," she insisted, suggesting that a white shirt with a waistcoat could be a good look for 2010, as could tailored bodycon dresses.

A recent report by Mintel found that a quarter of women don’t mind paying more for good quality work clothes, while one in ten girls has bought smarter workwear in the past 12 months to get ahead.

For a stylish yet fashionable look, you could pair your office clothes with some elegant opaque or sheer tights from MyTights.com.

We love Trasparenze Amleto Tights, which have a smart diamond net pattern and would look fantastic with a knee-length pencil skirt.

Although leggings are great as a practical accessory for under your dresses, you should choose embellished and textured styles if you want to keep your finger on the fashion pulse.

This is the advice of Models Direct, which acknowledged that it was basic styles which made us fall back in love with leggings a few years ago, but said that it is the new types which have allowed the romance to continue.

It recommended choosing leather, sequined, denim and embellished varieties of leggings to add maximum style to your outfits.

For example, a rock chick ensemble of a batwing-sleeved t-shirt dress and short boots will look good with plain black or grey leggings, but it will look great with wet look leggings!

If you want to add a wintry feel to your dresses at present, you could opt for velvet leggings such as those from Jonathan Aston at MyTights.com.

However, when it comes to a wardrobe staple for going out, we love MbyM’s Wet Look Leggings, which are super-shiny and will really turn heads.

At this time of year, we love looking forward to what is arriving in the stores for the first months of spring.

However, all this snow has left us in something of a style rut - we’re living in woolly jumpers at home and layering up as many tops as we can for work.

As usual though, you can cleverly get ahead and wear next season’s trends if you apply layering and complementary hosiery.

Olivia fisher of My Fashion Life points out that a huge trend is set to be nautical chic in the spring, but you can fast forward it to now by swapping shorts and bare legs for grey opaque tights.

She said that grey is the perfect partner to vests and longline cardigans with blue or white piping and gold buttons, plus tights will keep your legs warm and let you wear your winter boots too.

We agree - grey tights suit most skin tones and also look fab when paired with bright colours. You could go for wool tights now, then lower the denier as it (hopefully) warms up.

Levante’s 50D Suede Matte Opaque Tights will be perfect for that period just before summer when you don’t quite dare get your legs out!

If you want to liven up your outfits for a fun look this winter, you should try some patterned tights.

Melissa Magsaysay of the Los Angeles Times, writing for the Olympian, said they will add a playful quality to anything you wear, which could cheer you up if you’ve got the January blues.

"Patterned tights play well this time of year, breathing new life into existing pieces and adding a pop of unexpected texture," she enthused, recommending anything lacy, striped or dotty to fashionistas.

However, Melissa also said there is plenty of room for single-coloured tights, with grey or white great for pairing with a vintage dress and lace-up ankle boots and black fab for slimming the legs.

When it comes to dotty tights, you still can’t beat Gerbe’s Plumetis style, which is a Vogue favourite too.

For nice thick white hosiery however, we love Falke’s Elegance Cashmere Blend Tights.