Both men and women would often keep their legs covered with hose, or hosen. These might be stockings with complete feet, or they might be merely tubes that stopped at the ankle. The tubes could also have straps underneath to secure them to the feet without completely covering them. Styles varied according to necessity and personal preference.
Hose were not ordinarily knitted. Instead, each one was sewn from two pieces of woven fabric, most commonly wool, cut against the bias to give it some stretch. (Stockings with feet had an additional piece of fabric for the sole). Hose varied in length from thigh-high to just below the knee. Given their limitations in flexibility, they weren't particularly well-fitted, but in the later Middle Ages, when more luxurious fabrics became available, they could look very good indeed.
Men were known to attach their hose to the bottoms of their braies. In the picture seen here, the laborer has tied up his outer garments to keep them out of his way, and you can see his hose stretching all the way up to his braies. Armored knights were more likely to secure their hose in this manner; their somewhat sturdier stockings were known as chausses and provided some cushioning against the metal armor.
Alternatively, hose could be kept in place with garters, which is how women secured them. A garter could be nothing fancier than a short cord that the wearer tied around his leg, but for more well-off folk, especially women, it could be rather more elaborate, with ribbon, velvet, or lace.
It is generally believed that women's hose only went to the knee, since their garments were long enough that they rarely, if ever, afforded the opportunity to see anything higher. It might also have been difficult to adjust hose that reached higher than the knee when wearing a long dress, which for medieval women was almost all the time.
