Amazing reduction!

by Geraden

Sometimes when I am in town I go and have a look at the Hosiery department in the House of Fraser. I did not expect to see any reductions so near before Christmas, but I yesterday I saw that the sale stands had already been put out. One stand was full of La Perla Innovation tights, which I know to be a quality brand with prices to match. There were 15 denier Complice and ultra sheer Léger tights in all sizes from I (S) to IV (XL). The available colours were mainly black and neutro.

The La Perla tights were originally £13.00. Many of they had been marked down to £6.00, but I found a pair of 15 denier Complice, size IV, in black and a pair of the ultra sheer Léger in neutro – that had both been marked down to £1.00. I had never before tried La Perla, though I had heard that they were good, so I grabbed the two pairs, and headed to the till. My favourite assistant Samantha was on duty serving another customer. I do not know whether she calls herself Samantha or Sam, but for simplicity I will call her Sam. I was pleased to see that Sam was wearing tights herself this time. Normally she is a poor advertisement for hosiery: she has nearly always been wearing trousers when I have seen her.

When she was finished I handed Sam the two pairs of tights. She scanned them and rang them up at £1.00 each. As I paid for them, I remarked that there were some just like those in the stand at £6.00. 'Why were there different prices?' I asked. Sam said that they might have different bar codes, and the only way to tell was to scan them. I said that £1.00 for these was an excellent bargain, to which Sam agreed.

There were no other customers, and Sam offered to go over to the stand to check. I followed her and pulled out several pairs of Complice size IV in neutro, all priced at £6.00. She took them to the till and scanned them: they all came up at £1.00. I said I would take a further 4 pairs. She checked and said 'They are all XL.' I answered 'That's good – because if they weren't XL they would not fit me.' She did not bat an eyelid at this. I think she knows anyway that I buy for myself. I was completely confident and relaxed when talking to her about tights. That is the way to do it. As Mike says, "never show a pair of tights that you are afraid of them!"

As Sam was taking my money and putting the tights into a bag, I remarked that I was surprised to see reductions so early, before Xmas even. She said she had just got them out and she had not finished checking and pricing them. I asked if there would be any different lines in the Sale, and she said yes, but the Sale did not really start until Boxing Day.

I have tried the Complice 15 denier tights. They are lovely quality, sheer to waist with flat seams, a lined gusset (of course) and invisibly reinforced toes. They are fully boarded. The waistband is very narrow and the tights are meant to be low rise (hipsters). I am way outside the size range, even for XL, and these tights do not have as much stretch as other comparable brands that I have tried (Gerbe, Falke and even Wolfords). The result is that they did not really fit me , even with pants to hold them up. The waistband would not stay up on my hips, but rolled down to under my buttocks. I can confidentially reveal that this is not the most comfortable of ways to wear a pair of tights! However for anyone that they fit, particularly someone who actually likes hipsters (which I don't), these have the nicest feel of any tights I have tried recently: fine, smooth and very strokable.

One other criticism that I have of the pair of Complice tights that I tried is that there are weak patches in the knit, something I would not have expected in a quality product. On the upper thigh portion there are rectangular areas about ½ inch wide and 5 inches long. When worn, they are just visible as lighter in density and when the tights are taken off these areas appear thinner. The the material there does not return to shape as much as the surrounding fabric, so it is slightly ruckled. Nevertheless these areas would not normally be visible unless you were wearing an extremely short mini-skirt.

Value for money – well you would think that you cannot go wrong for quality tights for £1.00. Unfortunately I have just proved that you can! 

Now here is a confession! I have committed sacrilege on these lovely tights – I cut the toes off and have been wearing them as sheer leggings! Very nice: they fit to just above my ankles and because the stretch is not great they do not ride up. I still don't like the hipster waistband, but at least it stays where it ought to be now.

I shall not be in a hurry to try the Léger variety, so you may have to wait a long time for the review of those!