The Right Tight

My first job out of college was at a women's magazine. One of the prerequisites for the job was definitely some sort of sense of style. There were certain rules you learned, and adhered to, very quickly. One of them was the no tight rule. All winter we showed off our fashionably bare legs, and froze our toes off.

Thank god the times have changed! Last week in the New York Times there was even an article about how some chic girls are going without even a skirt, and just wearing tights or leggings under long sweaters and shirts. Bless!

One quote that really got me in the article was when some muckety at Wolford declared that women should really only wear expensive tights. Is that true I wondered? He had a good point about the closeness of the material to our delicate skin. But then again, he also had a vested interest.

This weekend I had occasion to road test three pairs of tights. None were as expensive as Wolford tights, (which run in the $40 range,) though I was tempted to go out and buy a pair in the interest of this post. In fact my intention was to find some really expensive ones to road test, but I think what I discovered was more interesting. Here are my findings, in case you are wondering.

Pair #1- Sparkle and Fade Low Rise Tights ($10- Urban Outfitters). I wore these to dinner on Friday night. They were truly awful. They crept up my tummy when I sat down, and immediately rolled down the second I stood up. They itched like poison ivy, and worst of all, when I put them on I realized they weren't just black, they had black spots on them! Grade: F

Pair #2 Hue Opaque Tights with Control Top ($11)- The most comfortable of the bunch. Very smooth fit, and lovely and soft against the skin. I didn't immediately want to rip them off when I got home. I like control top in tights, not just because it makes me feel slim, but also because I think it helps the tights stay in place. The difficult thing is finding the right control top- one that holds you in, but doesn't squeeze you. These were just very nice and simple, but a little too thin to wear as leggings. Grade: B+

Pair #3 Spanx Tight End Tights ($24)- The great thing about these is that they feel impossible to rip. They are strong, comfortable, and well, live up to the name tights. I felt really held together by them, and if you have a long enough sweater, you could wear them in place of leggings, because they are nice and opaque. The only real problem I had with them was that the control top was really long in the thigh, so that every time my skirt fluttered or bunched, you could see them. Also, towards the end of the day the waist band began to fold over. Grade: B

So there it is. Price did not really matter. The classic dorky Hue's win the day. They are availible almost everywhere; I got mine at Bloomingdales, where they were on sale 2 for $17!