Sunday 15 May 2016

Reviewed: 'The Fifty' opaque tights by Heist

Tights Reimagined. That is the concept behind Heist, a new hosiery brand that was launched last year.


The press coverage of Heist tights has been extensive with features in blogs, magazines and newspapers such as the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Huffington Post and more.

A lot of the coverage suggest that these are 'perfect' tights.

When we heard that Heist also had plenty of guys buying these tights, it was time to get a pair to try and review them for Hosiery For Men readers to see what all the hype was about.

As far as I am aware this is the first review of Heist tights from a male perspective. In this review I evaluate the 'The Fifty' opaque tights by Heist.



About Heist

Tights Reimagined. That is the concept of Heist, a new hosiery brand that launched last year.

The range of tights developed by Heist were created after an extensive consultation exercise with the aim to develop a perfect and luxurious pair of black tights.



Heist tights have several key and, in some aspects, completely unique features:
  • They are completely seamless.
  • They are made with an exceptional Italian double covered yarn with 5x the spirals of regular tights (5000+).
  • They have a unique waistband which is made separately and then hand-sewn onto each pair of tights.
  • They come in a choice of two waistband heights - low and high.
  • Toe seams are tucked 3mm under the toes to give a streamlined silhouette for the entire foot.

There are three styles of Heist tights that are now available:

'The Thirty' sheer 30 denier tights

'The Fifty' opaque tights

'The Nude' 18 denier invisible tights


Heist tights are designed in their studio in London then knitted and hand sewn in a medieval town in Northern Italy.

This review focuses on 'The Fifty' opaque tights which I trialled in the high waist version.

Packaging
The tights arrived in without doubt the coolest and smartest packaging we have ever seen.





The tights are carefully folded and wrapped in white tissue paper that is sealed with a black 
Heist sticker.

Everything is enclosed in a sturdy, high quality black card box, that is then sealed with a matt paper strip.

Inside the box a card provides further information as well as care and washing instructions.





Material and features

'The Fifty' opaque tights by Heist are 88% Polyamide and 12% Elastane.

Heist describe the yarn used to make these tights as follows:

"The foundation of an extraordinary pair of tights is the yarn.

"What makes great yarn? It’s all about the spiral count, which measures the number of spirals of elastane in every inch — just like thread-count in sheets, the higher the count, the better.

"Our yarn comes from a mill in northern Italy and has a spiral count of up to 5000 spirals per inch. That’s 10x higher than your average pair of high street tights."


The tights are luxuriously soft to touch and feel quite exceptional on the skin.

Opaque coverage is consistent, although at 50 denier they are not completely opaque.

A key feature of the 'revolutionary' design developed by 
Heist is what is termed the 'endless' waistband. I can understand why Heist decided that this would be feature that they wanted to get absolutely right, as a poorly designed waistband will be uncomfortable and mean your tights need to be adjusted and repositioned frequently. In my experience the waistband is a key aspect that denotes quality and care in design and manufacture.

Heist explain that they: "knit a totally seamless loop of waistband on a separate machine, using an Italian fabric normally used in high end sports wear — then hand sew it to the legs of the tights."

As explained above, the waistband is available in two heights: low and high.

The waistband of the high waist version that I tested has a depth of 16cm and is made of a much denser fabric with a very high level of elasticity. The waistband stretched comfortably onto and over my hips and gripped firmly, almost like a control top. However, it wasn't uncomfortable at all.

The waistband is attached to the leg with an expertly engineered flat seam. On the outside of the thigh area, once can see that some additional stitching has also been made to provide further strength.

Inside the waistband is a satin label with the 
Heist logo.




Toes are not reinforced but 
Heist state that "the toe seams tuck three millimetres under the toes to give a streamlined silhouette for the entire foot."

Finally, 'The Fifty' opaque tights come without seams or a gusset. 
Heist describe the gusset in most tights as 'dreaded'. I am not sure why that is so, if the gusset has been well made (as it will be in premium brands such as Wolford and Falke.

However, there is clearly a trend now for manufacturers and designers to create seamless tights, and Heist are not the first to develop this style - Wolford, Falke, Trasparenze, Oroblu and Pierre Mantoux all offer seamless styles.


Heist explain that to get the unique feature of their particular seamless style they:

"abandoned the traditional method of sewing two tubes together and instead knit a single seamless tube, using a special, 3D knitting technique. This gives consistent stretch to the tights and eliminates unsightly rows of knitting lines that normally appear."




There are indeed no knitting lines. At the top of the inside thigh and across the bottom of the crotch area there is additional reinforcement. This is invisible when worn and clearly provides improved strength and durability is an area would normally receive more stretch and movement.

Fit and sizing
'The Fifty' opaque tights by 
Heist are available in three sizes:
  • Small
  • Medium 
  • Large 
I tested the the Large size.



'The Fifty' opaque tights were a superbly comfortable wearing experience. The fabric is amazingly soft on the leg and clings well with no wrinkling or bunching. Opaque coverage is consistent, although when the knees are bent the fabric stretches slightly. A higher opaque version would eliminate this. Perhaps 
Heist will launch 'The Eighty' or 'The One Hundred' versions in the future.

In appearance the tights are almost completely matt with hardly any sheen.

The yarn is quite breathable also. I wore them with shorts on a fairly warm May morning, and as the temperatures rose towards midday, the tights didn't overheat. My legs stayed cool and comfortable.

The high waistband gripped well without any over-tightening or unwanted compression. In the high waist version it sits on the hips and stretches over the waist. For male wearers it is important to note that the waistband sits slightly above the male equipment. I found the most comfortable option was to wear them with briefs underneath.

Colour range
'The Fifty' opaque tights by 
Heist are available in Jet Black only. This is the shade I tested.

Heist explain that the tights are dyed Jet Black (using Pantone 19-0303TPX because it gives the richest colour).



As described by 
Heist, the Jet Black colour is very dark and dense.

Price and availability
'The Fifty' opaque tights by 
Heist retail for £20.00 for the low waist style and £22.00 for the hight waist version.

Shipping across Europe and certain worldwide destinations is free.

If you sign up for the Heist newsletter you receive a £5.00 discount code for your first purchase.

The whole process of purchasing Heist tights was very easy and the (next day) delivery was super fast.

Conclusion
Well after all the publicity in the media and a certain amount of hype, it was good to be able to try these tights and evaluate them properly.

'The Fifty' opaque tights certainly have some great features such as the very innovative and unique waistband.

Having seamless tights is not a huge big deal for me, although I can see that for women wearing tight fitting clothing they may have some aesthetic advantages.

What I am looking for above all is fit and comfort, and 'The Fifty' opaque tights deliver this exceptionally well.

The Large size was a great fit and the leg length was quite generous. Most of all though they are a great wearing experience and the yarn feels wonderful on the leg.

Heist are already gaining male followers who are checking out their tights and I can see that segment of their customer base growing as more of us try them and see how they wear.

As mentioned above, you can get a £5 discount on your first pair which brings the price down to a reasonable £17.00 for the quality on offer. You can get this voucher by signing up to the Heist newsletter here: https://www.heist-studios.com/contact

Hopefully we will get a chance to review 'The Thirty' sheer 30 denier tights and
'The Nude' 18 denier invisible tights as well for Hosiery For Men readers.

You can get in touch with Heist to ask questions or send product feedback here: https://www.heist-studios.com/contact.

7 comments:

  1. These tights look amazing from your review, I will definitely be trying a pair or two. Is it just me or does the model in the photograph at the top of the article look like a man - big feet, narrow hip, wide shoulder?

    Dave

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  2. Really detailed review and such a great read! ❤

    I do really like the 'seamless' trend; as you mentioned during your post other brands have been doing this for a good while now, in particular Wolford.

    If like me, I don't particular enjoy me 'bare legs'...so when I'm wearing a tight bodycon dress/skirt, I don't want people to see the seams. So I could definitely do with a pair of these!!

    Kay Tights and Ladders

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you get to try them Kay. As a leading hosiery blogger you need to!

      Delete
  3. I take my hat off to Heist for making some outstanding tights.. Having a high waist pair of these.... I find them so comfortable.. Finding nothing underneath the most comfortable option..

    Love to try some of them 'The Nude' 18 denier invisible tights" I do like a good pair of nude tights...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great review. The Wolford Fatal opaque has been a favourite of mine for some time - how do these compare? I believe that for men it's actually more comfortable having seamless as the 'support' in that key area is far better than a gusset which is awkwardly placed for male anatomy.

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  5. Where we can but those one in Canada

    ReplyDelete