Silkies - top marks for trying

I have received yet another letter from Silkies inviting me to revive my account with them. That must be the third time this year!

Silkies are an American company, Hosiery Corporation International, Inc, which has a UK branch in Liverpool. They run a pretty good mail order tights service, and seem to have no problem with male customers.

First of all, with one exception, their tights are good quality, nice fitting, lovely to wear. They are medium priced, (generally £3 - £5 a pair to subscribers) and because they last well, they are good value. There is of course postage and packing to pay on top. A typical order for four pairs can come to around £16 to £17 in total.

They send you four pairs every so often (you have a choice of intervals, up to 3 months) the same as your last four pairs, but you can vary your order at any time. You can manage your account online nowadays.

What is the down side? Not so much as it used to be. In the past Silkies had a reputation for sending tights every month whether you wanted them or not, even if you had cancelled your order. They seem to have learned to listen more to their customers now. I would have no hesitation in re-opening my account with them. The only reason I have not done so yet is that I have such a stock of unopened tights already (including quite a few Silkies) that I really do not want any more at present. I do like wearing them though, so I shall probably go back at some stage.

My only other criticisms are:

They have no decent nude/beige colour. Silkies seem to think that they can get away with selling the same colours in the UK as they do in the US. But there are a lot of English complexions and tastes that are not well suited by the American ideas of colour, which tend to be tanny. The silkies 'natural' is a light tan colour, not all that brash, but if they introduced a more subtle beige shade, I think it would go down well on this side of the pond.

They have no very sheer tights (under 10 denier) for summer. Their sheerest, rated as 10 denier appearance seems to me to be closer to 12 denier.

All the Silkies tights I have tried fit me (at 6'4") with their XL size. I can recommend them all with one exception - the cheapest of their range, the 100% sheer to waist style. This is not even sheer to waist by any normal definition of the words. The lack of lycra is very obvious. By all means try any of the others, but avoid that one!

My favourites are:

Control Top – very comfortable and good value at £3.49. Nice to stroke. Sheer toe. 'Natural' colour is rather tanny.

Opaques – Good durable opaque tights with some support for £4.49. They cling to the legs and feel nice on, though a bit rough to the touch from the outside. They also cling to trousers, which is not so good. Colours are generally fairly dense for the denier. Warning: the green is really only semi-opaque and looks a funny colour on legs. I can't think what legs could wear the green ones successfully – Martians maybe, (but of course 7-legged tights are hard to come by). These opaque tights are no longer available, having been superseded by microfibre opaques, which I have not yet tried.

Soft Dimensions – the top of the range, very soft and strokable. Excellent tights for £5.19. There is a control top which I have tried and a high cut panty style which I have not, as it is a bit too feminine for me.

Ultra Control Top (no packet scan) – These are pretty good for £3.99. They are not all that much better than regular control tops though, apart from the natural colour which is less tanny and probably more suited to the British taste. Reinforced toe. These are the ones you usually get as your free pair on promotions.

Ultra Total Leg Control Support (no packet scan) – £4.19. These are the Silkies support tights. Support factor appears to be 6-8. Nice well fitting tights with a sheen, Very similar to Control Top, but without body control. No more support in the legs though. Strokable. Might as well buy the Control Tops instead.

A tip – you can sometimes pick up Silkies tights in original packaging at charity shops.

So, as I said at the beginning, Silkies want me back.

Dear Mr Geraden,

I have been trying to contact you about your cancellation request (have they now? Well, not more than once a month!) It is important that you come back to Silkies today, so you can claim the FREE GIFT you've earned from the Silkies "Made-To-Order" hosiery Service – and get another FREE PAIR of Silkies tights.

So They are prepared to give me a free pair of tights AND a necklace as an incentive! What do I want a necklace with 9 synthetic sparklers for? For male customers another free pair would be a better incentive!

But if you want a regular supply of good quality tights by mail order, Silkies are worth considering.

Update: for details of the Silkies Microfiber Opaques, click here.

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