Author: tightsfashion

Extreme micro-net tights, sheer to waist with flat body seams and a deep waistband. Made with a fully shaped leg. Smooth and soft to the touch.

Sizes 1-3 has a gusset. Size 4 has a comfort gusset (rear panel). Sized up to 185 cm (6’1”) and 95 kg (200 lb). Length does not look overly generous, but the high Lycra content and net construction provide plenty of stretches. Fit is excellent from hip to toe.

We found that the comfort gusset in the largest size gave a slightly loose fit in brief if you are tall and slim and prefer a more snug fit go for size 3.

The feel on the leg is not soft, but it is softer than the previous version below. The look on the leg is much like 30 denier matt tights with the net effect scarcely noticeable. Great even colour.

Sheer tulle pantyhose made with double covered Lycra. Remarkable fit and feel: invisible from waist to toes, with ultra-soft and ultra-flat waistband, flat seams, cotton gusset. A touch of elegance and refinement for legs.

These tights are, as the name indicates, a very fine micro-net. They are sheer to waist and are made with a shaped heel and a sandal toe.
As one would expect from Max Mara, these tights are made with flat seams. There is a gusset in smaller sizes. The larger sizes have a rear panel for a better fit.

In hand, the feel is quite hard and coarse. Sizing is quite generous so unless you are very tall or very wide XL will be too big. While putting them on, the impression is one of the fishnets, slightly looser than sheers, but once on the feeling is of wearing sheer hosiery. Feel much better on the leg than in hand.

Fit is perfect from hip to toe. Long body and deep waistband prevent rollover and ensure comfort.

For more Max Mara products, click here. For more reviews, click here.

Keen followers of fashion, or even just readers of our regular newsletter, will know that at long last, sheer hosiery, particularly natural shades are very much in fashion. It seems the penny has finally dropped that real women without the assistance of photo retouching need a little help to show their legs off to the best and a real shock to the fashion establishment is that many high profile women have been wearing tights and passing the look off as perfect skin.

This particular style from Max Mara also picks up on a less widely publicised trend in sheer hosiery. The use of microfibre yarns that have until now been reserved largely for soft winter opaques.

Two things you notice at once about such sheer microfibre tights, they feel ever so light and soft, and they look tiny even in the XL size. Of course, there is 44% Lycra in the mix, so we know that the massive stretch will offset the apparent small size.

A sandal toe is a necessity for a summer weight tights, and Max Mara has not let us down; they have then gone that little bit further and added a little shaping at the heel. Sheer to the waist of course with just a narrow reinforced transition to the flat seams and around the cotton-lined gusset. Note that the XL size has the triangular real comfort panel rather than the cotton gusset. A narrow finger band provides a transition to the plain 3 cm deep waistband.

Sizing is accurate, and the fit is perfect from hip to toe. Even the comfort gusset in the XL size works without that slightly “saggy” feeling this detail usually gives in the seat.

We have found it difficult to get even colour with sheer microfibre tights in the past. Although these are among the best of the bunch you may want to stay with the natural shades. Unless you are patient enough to get the black smoothed evenly.

The finish on the leg has a slight sheen from all the Lycra in the fibre. But out of direct light, it is entirely matt. The main competitor to these tights will be the Wolford Individual 10 that we looked at last week. Nothing really to choose between them for the look, feel and quality but these are significantly cheaper.

For more Max Mara Tights, click here. For more reviews, click here.

Well, I got a credit card bill today. But I hope that I have the antidote for this depressing event in the shape of premium tights from Max Mara. The packet is rather short of notes. But you can see from the picture that the main features of these tights are a leaf pattern up the back of each leg and a mock stocking top at mid-thigh. There are 4 sizes, and as far as we can tell just one colour, black.

First impressions are excellent. Indeed, the stocking top detail is not simply a printed on the pattern; it is a band of heavier lace knit of a completely different texture to the lower leg. Above the stocking top design, the sheer material appears ever so slightly sheerer than below.

The lower legs are slightly shaped at the heel and finished with a sandal to detail. The upper leg joins a high leg lace panty. The panty is finished with flat seams and a cotton-lined gusset. The largest size, size 4 (XL), has a comfort gusset rather than the cotton-lined gusset.

Sizing is accurate. The Lycra in the fibre provides both an excellent fit and a bit of extra stretch for taller ladies who prefer the large size with a cotton gusset rather than the XL with comfort gusset.

The design really works, the lace in the panty matches the lace in the stocking top. We love the fact that the mock stocking top even has a mock seam at the back. If we were to be critical, we would say that carrying the leaf pattern on above the stocking top was a mistake.

The pretty lace panty really makes any other underwear superfluous. In fact, anything more than a tight plain string panty would look wrong.
The positioning of the stocking top means that with shorter skirts or knee-length skirts with a split you will be showing it off at least some of the time. But who wants to spend nearly £20 on tights and not turn a few heads?

For more Max Mara products, click here. For more reviews, click here.

Fashion tights are all well and good. But for sheer class and style, nothing really beats a top-quality pair of sheer tights. Regular readers will know that many of our favourite sheer tights are 15 denier styles from German and Italian makers. It is perhaps the most competitive part of the luxury hosiery market. Although of course, recent price hikes from more ordinary makers mean that these “luxury” tights from Max Mara are cheaper than many, if not most, fashion styles.

So what do you get for £12.95? Well, you get sheer to waist tights made with sandal toes, shaped heels, flat seams and in the smallest 3 sizes a lined gusset. In short, pretty much everything we look for in sheer tights.

You also get perfect even colour, great fit on the legs, a soft finish and a general feel of quality.

Some care is needed in choosing the correct size. The four sizes cover a wide range of heights and weights. But a good half of the total range is covered by size 4. With Max Mara, this is an XL size with a comfort rear gusset. The sizing is accurate. But the comfort gusset felt rather loose in the seat and struggled to stay up through a day of wear. As is often the case with Italian tights with a comfort gusset, we would suggest trying a Large size (3) if you can. The stretch of size 4 suggests size 3 should cope with weights up to 80kg (176lb) and heights up to 180cm (5’11”).

Would we put these tights in preference to 15 denier rivals like Falke Seidenglatt 15 or Falke Pure Matt 50? No, but if we couldn’t get the Falke or we wanted a colour that we could only get with Max Mara Madrid tights, we would be 100% content to wear these instead.

For more Max Mara products, click here. For more reviews, click here.

They say that first impressions are the most important. Well, the first impression here is that these tights feel so light even on the card that you wonder if they are there. Luckily you can see them, and they look adorable too, even in the packet you can see the flat seams and lined gusset.

Once out of the packet you are struck by the fineness and softness of sheer to waist material.

Sheer to waist is perhaps not entirely accurate as there are two exciting design features. Firstly the body is made relatively short so that the very narrow waistband can sit at hip level. Secondly, the underside of the feet has non slip appliqué in the form of the MaxMara M.

Leg length does not look overly generous, but the high Lycra content promises good stretch. The heels are shaped.

A lot of very careful smoothing and stretching was needed to get these tights on. Sizing is not overly generous, quite snug in both length and width. Once on though they fit like a second skin. So sheer that the effect is that of a perfectly tanned leg. Very smooth to the touch, and particularly nice when you cross your legs.

The sandal toe and non-slip foot make these tights ideal for summer wear with open-toe shoes or mules. The low waistband will ensure they stay out of sight. Beautiful tights that we have no problem recommending.

For more Max Mara Tights, click here. For more reviews, click here.

We confess to being a little confused by Max Mara packaging as the bottom right of the front says “Premium 13”. We previously took this to be the style name. Still, the sticker with the size and colour also carries the title “Gibus”. As this is the name used by UK Tights and has no other meaning nor reason to be there, we are taking this to be the name.

So to the tights. They are made in four sizes, of which the smallest three have a cotton-lined gusset; our test pair being the largest size (XL) has the comfort gusset detail.

First impressions are excellent. Light and soft with an almost liquid quality as the sheer material flows over your hands. Sheer to waist with just the narrowest of reinforced strips either side of the flat seams in the panty and a narrow finger band giving transition to a plain waistband. Should you ever need to know the size of these tights, there is no label. But feel along the waistband, and you will find several ridges. Count them, and you have your size. The sheer legs are shaped at the heel and finished with a lightly reinforced toe detail.

Sizing is spot on, and we think there is enough stretch to cope with both the maximum height and maximum weight suggested for the XL size. Fit on the legs is excellent, and the colour is perfectly even with a sheer finish. We found that the XL comfort gusset detail made for a slightly uninvolved fit in the seat. Our recommendation is to go for the L size. Unless you need the XL for weight, there should be sufficient stretch in length.

The toe detail is sheer but not entirely invisible in a black pair. That said it is small enough that you could get away with it with strappy evening shoes. There is no stand out details. These are well designed, well made good quality sheers that are on a par with Falke, Kunert, Gerbe etc. Sensibly priced and well worth a try.

For more Max Mara Tights, click here. For more reviews, click here.