Lida Man's Tights from Poland

by Geraden

While I was in the Lake District, I received an offer from Bozeman of Legwear4men.com that I could not refuse. A free pair of tights! Ok, there were strings attached – I had to write a review of the tights for his site, but I could also publish a review on the blog here.

The tights are by a firm called Lida from Poland. Lida have been making quality women's tights for some time, and have decided to branch out into the male market. The firm sent Legwear4men two samples, one of which (in size XL) I got  for review. The tights are called Man's World and are 100 denier opaque, with 18% elastane content. (I must not say Lycra, because Lida uses the rival Dorlastan fibre).

Out of the packet they are very soft to feel, and a very dense opaque material. They have an inset panel from front to back for fit and male comfort. The panel is doubled at the front and offset gaps in the side seams make a fly opening (without fastening). The toes and brief have an element of reinforcement, but the whole garment is so densely opaque that it is barely noticeable. The seams are flattened, which is a plus point.

I was warned by Bozeman that these tights are very warm, and that this hot late summer weather is not perhaps the best time to try them out. But a promise is a promise, and Bozeman wants to sell his stock for the winter season, so here goes.

OK. The tights are warm! The opacity is about the same as Activskin 869s, i.e. a slight show through of skin in the most stretched places. The fit is good – and at 6' 4" I found them to be long enough. They have somewhat less support than A869s. There is plenty of stretch in the waist-high brief so they should be good for men who have put on a bit of weight (who, me? Never! I have lost weight!) Altogether they are a serviceable pair of tights and good in the colder weather. However being made of a matt fabric, they may not glide well under some kinds of trouser material.

I must confess I am not a great fan of flies, and this was my first pair of tights with a fly. Many attempts at producing tights for men, from Bobby Moore's Action Pants (1970s?) to Wolford Waist Socks have incorporated a fly. Some of the Activskin range have fly openings. I may be wrong, but in my opinion, the purpose of a fly in male tights is mainly cosmetic and epideictic – "look, darling, this must be a male garment because it has got a fly!" However the doubling of material to form the fly adds warmth where ideally no warmth should be added. (Male genitalia are outside the body for a reason, you know, and it is not just to make the male physique look messy!) But if you want a fly, these have a good functional one.

My one quibble with the design is that the toe seams are set at 90 degrees to the leg material when it is flattened. This means that in order to get your toes aligned with the seams, the leg fabric has to be ¼ twisted. I really hate twisted leg fabric, and it annoys me that I so often manage to twist the leg fabric of tights when putting them on!! I really don’t need any help in that direction.

The package is multilingual, in Polish, Russian, English and German. Lida needs to get a better English translation if it is serious about marketing over here. The Americans in particular will be surprised to learn that "these tights for men will replace pants". I think there may be some problems with the German too, but I cannot be sure, because I have got a bit rusty in that language since A-Level days. For those who have an interest in languages, the back of the packet can be seen here.

links: technorati