One of my fashion role models is my friend and fashion designer, Amber Clisura. She did not wear pants in 2011 as evidenced by her blog No Pants. We will be hearing from her soon, she just started a clothing line, Salt Clothing, and is showing her first Spring Line in a couple of weeks. She loves tights and wears them often, and she taught me how fun and useful tights are.
I am a pretty standard size 26 -28 or size 4X, I weigh 275 lbs. and I am 5’5″. In addition, my ankles are 9 1/2″, my calves 18 1/2″, my thighs are 27″, my hips 59″ and my waist is 54 1/2″.
So here is a little round-up of what has worked, what has not, and what I am excited to try next:
The Best So Far:
10/9/2016:
Sock Dreams Tights: This just in, I am hearing great things about these Sock Dreams tights in an Extra Plus Size, and come in both 180 denier and 20 denier (thickness of the fabric),
We Love Colors Plus Sized Tights: They carry a variety of plus size tights and leggings, use the charts carefully.I find them pretty true to size with maybe a 25 lb. margin.
We Love Colors striped tights in both the black striped tights and the white striped tight are “one size fits all” plus size tights, and the chart is below. These tights just fit me, and I love them.
May 2014 Update: We Love Color is no longer carrying striped tights. I am heartbroken.
Update: April 2013: I just tried the plus size fishnets and the “one size” 1x – 3x fit perfectly, but I think I am at the top of their range, the size chart says hips to 48 inches, but they are also not very long. Update: May 2013: I just wore the fishnets for the second time today and they looked great when I put them on, and pulled easily above my waist, but within an hour they were falling down and since I was wearing a fairly short dress over them it was concerning. I will probably not buy them again but will stick to striped and solid color tights.
On the other hand We Love Colors has a solid color tight that runs up to 375 lbs., (and maybe even a little higher). I think they are the go-to tight if you are looking for an amazing range of colors, and I love that they last a long time.
Sealed With A Kiss: They have a “One Size” legging that fits me perfectly. I have a 54-55′ waist and I love how good they feel. Just a plain black, stretchy, footless, ankle length, legging that feels good and is wearing well. This is my everyday, throw them on and go sort of legging.
|
Size
|
Length
|
Waist
|
Hips
|
Inseam
|
| One Size 1X-4X |
35 |
28-52 |
32-60 |
22.5 |
Torrid:
I love Torrid but their have been hit and miss for me. I cannot wear Torrid Size 3/4, too small. BUT their footless tights are great on me. I wear a 2 but often the 1 might be better, but might wear out sooner. But I hate baggy tights.
Lane Bryant:
Lane Bryant tights tend to run large. I purchased these Size 26-28 because I loved the studs, but they were way too large, and I have a similar pair that is equally baggy, I am tugging on them in the photo so they will not look too baggy. I am going to wear them at an event in a couple of weeks and I will have to take them in.
Roaman’s: .
I ordered a size 4X leggings from Roaman’s. I did not review their size chart, I did not look at any notes I might have had about sizing for Roaman’s. But guess what, Roaman’s runs VERY large. According to their size chart a 4X is equal to a 34-36, not a 26-28, which is what I usually wear. Good to know! I have this in this capri tight as well as a lace banded capri tight and they both run very large, I look best in a size 1X.
Roaman’s also carries a range of metallic leggings, up to a size 5X. I cannot really recommend metallic leggings in any brand. No matter what size you get they bunch at the knee and the ankle immediately, and I think the bunching looks worse than in other colors.
Cult of California: These are my favorite tights, I wore them recently to a Mad Max sort of party and I wear them with black boots or flats, often. The back is not mesh so they are comfortable and the Size 4X fits me perfectly, and they come to a size 5X. The are pricey, but I love them so, they were my splurge last year.
My Dissappointments:
Berkshire Queen: Silky Sheer Size 5X – 6x, I can just get them on but it is very difficult
Sealed With a Kiss Jeggings: 4X, I cannot get them on, and I am heartbroken.
Excited to Try Soon:
Curvissa: Curvissa, a plus size brand in the UK, has a great range of clothing including a selection of cool and casual leggings. They invited me to have a look at their tights and jeggings and I see several pair I want to try.
These Fair Isle Print Leggings are my favorite and they come to a UK Size 32 which would be a US Size 30 or a Size 28 at the smallest. I love them, they are right on trend with the tribal stripes and would look great with a sundress, and there is also an Aztec version. I also like the lace trim on these. If I get a chance to try them I will let you know how they fit.
Chubby Cartwheels Leggings:
I have always wanted to try her leggings. I love the lace and these polka dots are precious and of course I love that her leggings come to a US size 32. I will let you know if I try a pair.
I would love to hear from you if you find other plus size leggings that fit a Size 4X or higher. The more we share information, the more options we will have and the more the retailers will know what we want and need. Sounds like a win-win for all of us.
Peace…affinity
UPDATE 3/23/2013:
A couple of Affatshionista’s readers, first Tristy, made some useful comments on Facebook that I have added to make this a more complete discussion. I REALLY appreciate it, I love learning from all of you. She begins by outing my legs as smallish so in my description above I have included my measurements.
Per Tristy “I have BIG legs and it makes a huge difference in finding tights and leggings. So I’m looking for any blog reviews of Size 4X+ leggings/tights for the big-legged ladies, in case any of you know of some. And what works for my big legs you (didn’t) ask? We Love Colors tights (only the spandex ones), Re/Dress Online‘s Teggings, and Domino Dollhouse‘s leggings fit my big legs great. Torrid, Lane Bryant, Avenue, Roman’s – not at all. I am LIVING for the CULT of California’s Rapture Leggings, so I might just have to give those a try. Did you find that they had a lot of stretch?” (My response, “The Cult of California legging are pretty true to size, not a lot of stretch)”
(Tristy responds) “It sounds like you and I have somewhat opposite bottom halves I find with this kind of stuff, it’s REALLY helpful to know actual measurements of the person reviewing – my thighs are 33″ around and my calves are 21″ – Hips & tummy are 58″ – so that gives everyone an idea of where I’m coming from – the reason the brands I listed that don’t work for me, don’t work, is because of my legs. Roman’s goes up to really nice, big sizes, but they only give you more in the waist and not in the legs, so I can barely squeeze my legs in them, but am swimming in the waist area.”
Per Amber, “I’m with Tristy. I’m big all over, and I’ve got tree trunk legs. My calves are 27 inches at the widest point. (I love them, don’t get me wrong, but dressing them is difficult!) But, I left a comment on your post about tights that worked great for me!” (That comment is incorporated here) “When it comes to tights, I recommend these from One Stop Shop. They tend to run on the smaller side, I’d size up a size or two, and they seem to have gotten rid of the 8x, which is what fits my 5’7/430lb body. But that means they will fit anyone smaller than I am.”
THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR INFORMATION. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM MORE OF YOU…affinity
The highlight of a wonderful evening…We have just moved to Oakland, CA, to a more working class neighborhood, and I was standing on the street waiting for my sweetie to pull out of the garage and pick me up and some cholo teenagers were coming down the street. I thought “Oh no, they are going to embarrass me, the old fat lady, in a strapless ball gown”… And while they are walking by, one of them turned to me and said, “YOU LOOK LIKE A PRINCESS”. I almost cried it made me so happy, we had a little moment and I smiled and my sweetie pulled up and I responded with, “Oh look, here is my Prince Charming now.” I smiled and he smiled and the whole crew smiled at me. What could make my evening better than that?
Here is a photo with my friend Jennifer Raiser, you can find her account of the evening here (Tom and I even get a little shout out in her fabulous narrative) in her online magazine that keeps up with all the social events in San Francisco, SFWire. My favorite line from her article is “The glee was palpable, one of the few things a scientific instrument wasn’t set up to measure.” And since it is an art and science museum, that amused me. Jennifer is a fairly new friend and I am just finding her to be a delight. We both love connecting with people and have an interest in fashion and writing and Burning Man. That dress Jennifer is wearing is vintage Bill Blass from the early 80’s, matte sequins and aurora beads on silk mesh, purchased from Ricky’s Exceptional Treasures on eBay.
We had a wonderful supper club dinner with our friends Paul and April Buchheit and the rest of our fun dinner partners, and then there was time to explore the art and science exhibits and listen to the bands.
Paul and April’s friend Clare Dibble was here from Colorado for the event and she looked like spring. Her dress was from Dress Barn and it looked great on her. That was especially fun since like many women these days she only wears a dress occasionally. Thanks for posing Clare.
Here is the original photo so you can see more of the detail.
