I have found that buying cycling knee warmers are the best thing that approximate knickers for my 5' 1" height. However, I do have a pair of padded cycling knickers. They come down to just above my ankles. So, there's no thermal lining and they do leave some skin showing. Basically, there's a small window of temperatures I wear them in... between 55 and 65 degrees. I know that others wear knickers in temperatures down to the 40's, but I need the thermal lining of tights below 50-55 or so and at that temperature I also like my rear to be warmer.