brand/style # of tights

[froggy]

Hi hope you all had a lovely turkey-day. It's pretty cold at my rink and I'm looking into a good pair of tights to keep warm (prefer footed under footless). Which brand and style number works best for you?? I know this has been discussed before but only brands were mentioned not style numbers, while looking at websites I see many styles for each brand and my head is spinning with all the choices.

Thanks in advance for your input! Happy skating to all!! :o)

[TashaKat]

I love the Danskin 73 tights. They're footed and matt, I HATE the sausage skin look :) Oh, and they last forever. I like any Danskin, Capezio less so, but the 73's are great.

[samba]

For me:

Danskin over the boot tights for competition, because I like the lovely natural smooth non-shiny look they give, cant remember the style though, think its 73.

Mondor stirup tights for practise, because they are thick and warm, can't make holes in the feet if they are not there and as I am very light on my boots and am a solo skater, I dont have to worry about marks too much, but Danskin also do them with feet in the same thick and warm materials.

Cheers
Grace

[NickiT]

I'm a Danskin 73 girl too, though I tend to wear the Danskin OTB tights for competition.

Nicki

[Mel On Ice]

danskin 69

[skaternum]

Danskin 73s for footed tights. When I wear an over-the-boot tight, I go with Capezio 1812.

[Skate@Delaware]

I usually wear footless. I like the Mondor brand, they also make a footed:

Mondor Opaque Plus Footed tights #3371 Suntan

which are thicker than the microfiber (which are silky).

My legs don't usually get cold, just my chest....

[jenlyon60]

I like the danskin heavyweight "skating" footed tights

and the Mondor microfiber OTB tights (with the hooks).

Recently tried the Main Street Dancewear footed microfiber tights. LOVE THEM. They have the most comfortable waistband of any brand/style of tights I've tried over the years.

[mikawendy]

Recently tried the Main Street Dancewear footed microfiber tights. LOVE THEM. They have the most comfortable waistband of any brand/style of tights I've tried over the years.

I just tried a pair of these, too. They are great! And the microfiber is so thin-weight but durable and soft that I'm contemplating wearing these to work. (I HATE pantyhose with a passion and usually wear black or cream colored tights to work in the winter.)

Another brand that has a rolled waistband instead of a sewn-in elastic waistband is Prima-Soft. I've never bought a suntan colored pair of Prima-Soft, though. I've bought black and european pink (which fades over time to a strange beige color) to wear under other pairs of tights. (I always wear 2 pair, and if at least one has a rolled waistband, then I don't get "elastic buildup" lol! :D ) Prima-Soft comes in footed, footless, and convertible foot versions.

[Skate@Delaware]

I have a pair of the Main Street tights....(they were in my camera bag where I put them from HC :oops: ) so I guess I will have to try them.....

I HATE how some tights are really nice fitting then the waistband is TIGHT! I'm not big but I buy ladies XL (i have a long inseam) and some have been soooo tight I've taken to cutting the waist elastic :evil:

[aussieskater]

Skate@Delaware, you're a sewer so you might like my solution to the tight waistband problem: I cut the waistband off the tights at about a third of the way down the briefs section, then use the trusty old sewing machine to stitch on a replacement band, about 5-6 cm (2 - 2.5 inches) finished width, made of flesh-coloured cotton lycra.

I find that my Bernina will do the job nicely using a stitch of about number 2 (out of 5) width and 2.5 (out of 5) length. For the whole exercise, you must make sure you sew everything overlapping flat if you don't want a thick seam around your middle.

Cut the band about 12 cm wide and the appropriate length to fit the waist reasonably firmly without creating lines, plus about a 1-cm overlap (experiment with this before you sew the band to the tights. You'll know once you get the measurement right.) Then sew the short ends of the band together to make a "round".

Then mark the quarters on the tights and the band with an erasable pen or similar, and pin one free edge of the round to the outside of the cut edge of the tights "overlapping flat", and matching the quartering marks. Stitch, making sure the cut edge is opened out and stretching the tights to match the lycra. Then fold the lycra in half lengthways (so the band is double thickness), and do the same to the other raw open edge of the lycra on the inside of the tights, again stretching carefully as you go.

All done in 10 minutes, they are the most comfortable tights to wear, there are absolutely no elastic lines under skating dresses (not one! I promise!), they stay up, and they wash and wear like tights (I haven't had one come loose since I started this - the tights wear out first). The only disadvantage (apart from the effort of doing it in the first place) is that the waistband of the tights will take longer to dry. But they do go through a dryer if needed in a lingerie bag.

Just a suggestion. It worked for me.

[jenlyon60]

I have a pair of the Main Street tights....(they were in my camera bag where I put them from HC :oops: ) so I guess I will have to try them.....

I HATE how some tights are really nice fitting then the waistband is TIGHT! I'm not big but I buy ladies XL (i have a long inseam) and some have been soooo tight I've taken to cutting the waist elastic :evil:

I am anything but svelt and the Main Street tights size C fit comfortably. No pinching or anything.

[samba]

I HATE how some tights are really nice fitting then the waistband is TIGHT! I'm not big but I buy ladies XL (i have a long inseam) and some have been soooo tight I've taken to cutting the waist elastic :evil:

What a great idea, I have the same problem, dispite being quite light, I have no waist so the waisband cuts in and with a costume on I get over-hang showing over the top of it ugh!!

Thanks for the tip Skate@Delaware.

Cheers
Grace

[mikawendy]

Another option if you dislike waistbands are some of the "body stockings" offered by dancewear companies such as Danskin and Capezio. I've never tried them, but they are like a pair of tights with a longer waist/torso part (but are meant to be worn under something, not as a unitard on its own). I don't know whether they're similar in weight to microfibre tights or not. Some people find them useful for providing an extra underlayer when the leotard or dress bodice they have is very thin or sheer.