Tights Review

I know you come here for insightful social commentary, so that is what I aim to deliver. Obviously, this includes a review of discount tights. Considering that I need a size most tights manufacturers consider "too big to wear tights," I am fairly limited in my selection.

I wear skirts to work pretty much every day. I have maybe two pairs of acceptable work pants and they've been in the dry cleaning pile for the past oh, let's say year. So, I wear pantyhose or tights almost every work day. Here's my take on them:

• Spanx tights (bought on sale at TJ Maxx, because holy hell are they expensive) -- they're really, really good. They stand up to anything, fit well without weird color variations, and are pretty comfortable in spite of being control-top. They are pretty expensive, though--on sale at TJ Maxx they were still $14.99. And I had the unfortunate experience of a pair running the first time I wore them, which is weird because I've had another pair for over a year with no visible wear.
• Target tights -- Merona makes some pretty boss colors and patterns. I have some gray, purple, teal, and fuchsia, as well as some nice chevron-patterned and argyle tights. The solid colors last a good long time (going on three successful Winter seasons), but the patterns tend to run like crazy. At $7 a pop, this isn't something I want to have to rebuy every week, so I'm pretty cautious with them.
• Wal*Mart tights -- I just bought my first pairs last week and I'm wearing a pair for the first time today. So far, so good. I can't really vouch for their ability to stand up to multiple washings, but I like the look of them. They are, I believe, "George" brand and they were only $5 each. I am wearing brown ones right now. I don't think they are control top (which I didn't really want anyway) although they claim to be, and they are pretty comfortable. There's no "gap." In some leg coverings, there's more space than is comfortable in the fit, which makes me feel like I'm waddling. The Wal*Mart tights mercifully fit closely.

The ultimate verdict is that I wish Wal*Mart tights came in more festive colors, because I like brightly-colored tights, but don't necessarily need mustard-colored tights to last for 10 years. So, I wouldn't mind spending $5 and knowing that they'll probably only be good until March. That's about what I pay for pantyhose, and I put my thumb through those pretty much every time I put on a pair.

I'd also really, really like to get a whole boat load of bright colors from We Love Colors, but $15 each?! I can't justify that for tights I could only wear with one or two outfits.

Tights, tights, tights. Wasn't this exciting?