My ideal tights

by Geraden

What do I look for in a pair of tights?
(and I don't just mean a nice pair of female legs!) Some things, like colour and thickness (denier) depend on the season or occasion. But apart from that -

I want them to fit:
My legs are 36" from floor to you-know-where. The tights need to stretch to fit, and not be at the limit of their stretch when they do fit. Then they have to stay up, so control tops have a distinct advantage. I want them to reach at least to my waist, so no hipsters (cheapskate tights!).

I want them to feel nice:
They should have a nice, strokable, silky feeling, smooth to the touch. They should glide well on other fabrics, so that I can wear them under long trousers (or in bed!) They have to feel nice on the inside too. Soft yarn and fine gauge stitches give a real advantage.

I want them to last:
Ah, this is the problem, you can have all the above, especially if you are prepared to pay for it, but I am a man, and I can be rough on clothes. So I want my tights to be tolerant of minor snags. It also helps if they have reinforced toes, because that is the most vulnerable area, where the nylon is trapped between men's hard toenails and men's hard shoes.

I want them to make me feel good:
I want some warmth when I need it, when I stand at draughty bus stops in winter. I want some support in the legs, to reduce aches and cramps, and provide other health benefits.

I want a nice 'hand':
That is the feel of the fabric, which should be nylon / lycra: a minimum of 5 percent lycra, preferably 15 to 20 percent. No cotton, no silk and definitely no wool! However popular it may be, cotton absorbs moisture and that (if you think about it) is not a good idea. A cotton-lined gusset is ok, however. Silk just feels chalky to me, not half as nice as you would think. And wool – did people really use to wear this itchy sheep's-hair?

I don't want to pay over the odds.
Most of my selections are in the mid-price range (brand names) or lower-mid price range (own label). I buy in Sales or at discount stores wherever I can.

So it is essentially a trade off between feel and durability, where feel has the slight advantage. That is because (on the durability scale) as durability increases, feel drops off much more quickly than (on the feel scale) durability drops off as feel increases. Don't worry if you didn't follow that. I am not sure that I do!

The loveliest tights to feel are the quality ones, which use good yarns and fit generously. They tend therefore to be the most resistant, not to rough treatment - no tights will stand up to that - but to minor snagging.

I will tell you which ones I think best meet my criteria another time.