My MIL has worn very strong support panty hose for years - she pretty much wears them whenever she is out of bed. I think her doctor has her wearing 2 pairs of regular support hose at once because she needs compression, but not quite as much as from compression panty hose. She does wear Capri pants, so they show from pretty much knees down.
As the other posters mentioned, compression stockings come in various amounts of compression. A pair that is too loose won't do what it needs to. A pair that is too tight will actually cut off blood flow!
So, you will need information from your doctor about how aggressive the compression should be.
Size is also important - they are tighter at the bottom and the weave gets looser as they go up. That helps to keep blood flowing and is also why the measurements other posters mentioned are important. The area of less compression coming in the wrong spot can keep the compression hose from working correctly.
For example, my MIL is barely 5 feet tall. I am over 5 foot 7 with a 34 inch inseam. MIL's knee is about 6 inches lower than mine, so even if we both wore the same weight/compression of stockings, here's would be a much different size.
As was already suggested, your insurance might pay with a prescription from your doctor. It will depend on your policy. Check also into what your copay would be - sometimes the total price paying out of pocket from a discount place that doesn't take insurance may be less than your copay from a place that does.
Many of the companies that make/sell compression stockings actually have instructions or videos that show how to put them on - there are tricks, as uncle duck mentioned - that some recommend.
Even if you have more than one pair, plan that you will be washing out a pair by hand every night. Ivory Snow or Woolite are often recommended for washing them. You should be able to hang them from the pull out line in your bathroom tub or using hangers in your closet.
(The RN in me wants to cover all bases).
