Tights Fashion

We don’t usually review one style in two colours. But Pretty Polly market this style and the similar Superstar Gold separately because there are differences beyond the different colours. £15.00 does seem a lot for one size tights from Pretty Polly, even if Henry Holland designs them. But we have seen from other styles in the range that there is some justification.

Extract the bag from the square House of Holland packet and then pause to read the instructions on putting your new purchase on. If you ripped the instructions tearing the packet open, you would read our advice on putting tights on before proceeding. We include this advice as more than one of our readers has ruined their new House of Holland tights before having the joy of wearing them. The issue is not of fragility, but inexperience as the House of Holland range introduces more young women into the delights of sheer hosiery.

Pretty Polly doesn’t declare the denier of these tights, but we estimate it to be 15. The fabric has quite a soft feel to it. We like the flat seams in the panty, but the lack of a gusset is a slight disappointment. Reinforced toes increase durability but should preclude you from wearing open-toe shoes.
5’10 is quite a generous maximum height for one size tights, and our tests showed that you could be a pretty leggy 5’10” (35” inseam and slim to athletic legs) and not have any length issues. The hip measurement is a genuine maximum, do not consider buying these tights if your hips are bigger than 42”.

The lack of a gusset becomes evident once you are dressed. The largest star in the design is strategically placed where the gusset would go. This large opaque star improves durability and protects your modesty. Fortunately, the flat seams and good quality construction combine to remove fit issues the lack of gusset could have caused.

As for the finish, this is where the difference between the black and gold versions is apparent. In the gold version, the stars are Lurex. In the black version, the stars are dark and have a matt finish, the sheer base material has some sheen to it, but you would need strong direct lighting to get the look pictured above. Worth £15? Yes, because these are well-made tights that give you a unique look.

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It is tempting to dismiss these tights as yet another design trying to look like stockings and suspenders. An old idea that has been resurrected by many hosiery brands this season and last. However, the use of nude material on the upper thigh and the highly stylised opaque stocking design suggest that these may be different.

Again we must commend Pretty Polly for putting instructions on how to wear them on the label of the inner packet. There is no way to get at the tights without seeing these notes even if you don’t read them. The only problem is the label gets ripped opening the packet, an easy-peel and reseal label would have been fantastic.

Pretty Polly has used the latest knitting techniques to combine opaque legs, suspender straps and brief with sheer upper leg panels. In simple terms, this over knits the opaque parts onto the sheer tights. The legs are straight, around 60 denier and finished with an unreinforced toe detail. The brief is the same weight and matt finish as the legs and features flat seams but curiously no gusset; a design decision that may compromise the fit.

One size tights are always a bit of a worry. In essence, they are size medium, potentially limiting a style to ladies of average height and build. Well, we need not worry, at least not for those taller than 5’10”. Our test comfortable stretched to accommodate a 34” leg and 44” hips were no problem either. Some care is needed putting these suspender style tights on, the matt opaque lower leg is strong and will take rough treatment but use the exact rough handling on the slightly glossy upper leg, and you could get tears (in both senses of that word). The panty is also durable and sufficiently opaque to negate the need for any other underwear.

The Henry Holland Collection from Pretty Polly is all about the look, and these tights look great on. An impression of stockings and suspenders rather than a copy of every detail has far more of the stockings and suspenders allure. The stocking top is low enough on the leg to show it off with a very short skirt. But high enough for you to give a glimpse with a skirt of a more modest length. Leaving out the gusset means a fine narrower strip of dark material between the legs and more of a look of panties than tights trying to look like them.

The lack of gusset does not compromise comfort. Our only issues around comfort and fit are related to the foot and ankle, where things are only average. Well worth the £12.00 asking price and our pick of the Henry Holland collection to date.

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Whether it is Mark Fast for Jonathan Aston or Henry Holland for Pretty Polly, a lot of the hype around hosiery at present concerns everyday brands adding cachet by using celebrity designers. The House of Holland range leans heavily on the technique of combining different deniers and colours in a single pair of tights.

Here the combination is of 60 denier and 20 denier material, all of one colour. The 60 denier is in the panty and the lower leg. The 20 denier in the upper thigh and the circles on the lower leg. Aside from the mix of deniers, construction is pretty straightforward. With unshaped legs finished with a reinforced toe detail and a high leg panty finished with flat seams and a cotton-lined gusset. There are no complaints about the detailing. But £12.00 for size tights, even ones with good quality detailing, is a bit steep.

There is plenty of stretch, but you need to be super careful putting these tights on. In the past, we had issues with laddering tights from this range when putting them on, even though everyone here is well-practised at putting tights on. This time we had no fears; there is a great sense of strength and quality to the 60 denier material. To cut a long story short, this was our undoing. The slightly uneven colour of the 20 denier upper leg distracted us while looking for a slight extra stretch, and a finger griping the 60 denier material found a 20 denier dot and rip – tights ruined.

A great pity as the look and feel was very promising. The only issue being the dots putting slightly out of round if you stretched the tights too much. Paired with a skirt that covers most of the sheer portion, the look is fun and effective, and being essentially 60 denier tights, these are pretty warm.

Henry Holland comes up with some exciting designs, but we are not sure that they all translate to great tights. Whether the designs are themselves flawed or whether Pretty Polly are somehow lacking in executing them, we can’t say. But we have had more failures putting on House of Holland tights than any others. The current season is far better than the past. But the fact remains we failed to get one wear for £12.

If you are very careful and prepared to chance £12, this tights style gives you a unique look. We will be looking elsewhere for our Christmas party tights.

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We must confess to starting this review with a degree of prejudice… £12 for one size, Pretty Polly tights seems a bit much. On the upside, they are “Made in England”, not just designed here. One size incidentally means no more than a 42” hip and no taller than 5’10”.

The tights come in the standard “House of Holland” square box. The inner packet is sealed with a label that carries instructions on how to put them on. We like the instructions on the sticker as you are almost forced to read them. Unlike instructions on the inner card that can be discarded in your rush to get dressed.

Instructions are needed as we are in a period of growing hosiery wear and there are still many girls of all ages wearing tights for the first time. If we were going to be picky, we could say that referring to “the toe area” in the instructions is confusing with footless tights.

The tights are nicely made, the lace pattern extends from the very light cuff detail to the slightly deeper waistband. The waistband is the turnover and seam type, not quite what we would hope for at £12 a pair. The flat seams and cotton lined gusset are well designed and finished.

For once, I think we can forgive “one size” sizing. These strong tights with masses of stretch, too, so they really should fit all shapes and sizes. A 34” leg is accommodated with ease even when combined with hips right on the size limit.

The fit is very comfortable. The cuff holds the bottom of the leg in place with no hint of pressure, and the lace material follows all your curves. Again being picky, we could not get the seams in the body to sit perfectly straight. All in all, we like these tights a lot, but we can’t help feeling just a little short on quality detailing for £12.

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The Pretty Polly House of Holland range of tights has been one of the fashion highlights of the last twelve months. Perhaps doing more through its use of celebrity placements to get young women into hosiery than any other range. Star of the range, if you will excuse the pun, is the Superstar Tights which are excellent in black and sublime in gold. That style is covered in stars. This one has a star on each knee, so is less truly more?

We still have a bit of an issue paying £12.00 for one size tights from Pretty Polly. But designer exclusivity seldom comes cheaply. In keeping with the rest of the range, the almost square cardboard packet is big on House of Holland branding with Pretty Polly much less in evidence. The inner plastic bag is sealed with a paper label that carries instructions on handling and putting on the tights; it is a great idea when so many wearers will be trying their first sheers, but an easy-peel label would be better to rip to get at the tights.

Lurex panties! That is the first impression. The entire high leg styled panty part of these tights is Lurex. How many of you would buy Lurex panties? On the upside, they are pretty opaque, so you may not need other underwear to retain modesty, and the seam is flat. On the downside, there is no gusset, and the fabric feels quite harsh.

The legs, in contrast to the panty, are light, smooth and soft. There is just a lightly reinforced toe detail and, of course, a large Lurex star halfway up each straight leg. Will the star sit at the knee regardless of leg length and foot size?

The answer to that question appears to be yes! 22% Lycra gives a tremendous amount of stretch. So you should be able to get a perfect fit regardless of where you are in the size range. You would need to be a very leggy 5’10” to make use of all of it. A gusset would be nice, particularly for a perfect fit on the more full-figured woman. But even without it, the fit is good, and the roughness of the Lurex is not evident on the inside once you have the tights on.

Slightly more subtle than the Superstar Gold Tights and more versatile too. The single star is something a stylish young woman could carry off with shorts or a short skirt in the daytime, whereas the more famous design is perhaps more for parties. The sheerlegs themselves are a delight. We would love to know if Pretty Polly make a basic sheer of the same weight and finish.

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Henry Holland has designed this cutting edge collection of legwear by mixing sheer and opaque fabrics with some lovely House of Holland twists. Developed and made in England by Pretty Polly. One size fits up to hip 42″ (107cm) height up to 5’10” (178cm).

We have seen a fair number of dogtooth and houndstooth designs over the years, almost all in the traditional black and white. All that has varied has been the size of the pattern and its quality and definition. As you can see here, Henry Holland has dropped white in favour of navy blue and added a lime green “stocking top” into the design.

As is typical with Pretty Polly fashions at present, these are one size tights to fit up to 5’10 (178 cm) tall, a weight up to 160lb (72kg) and hips up to 42″ (107cm). Pretty Polly has put some quality into the panty with both flat seams and a gusset. The panty is plain with the houndstooth pattern starting on the leg just below gusset level. The legs are straight and finished with a simple reinforced toe detail.

Knitting in the houndstooth pattern gives an almost fleecy feel to the inside of the legs. A plain panty is very sensible to prevent the texture of the pattern from showing through tight clothes. Only once you have these tights on do, you appreciate them. The legs are sheer and shiny, with the matt houndstooth pattern applied over the top, contrasting colour and weight and texture.

The plain panty portion is opaque and “big pants” style. The panty styling is comfortable to wear, gives a smooth silhouette and removes the need for any other underwear. Sizing is surprisingly generous, and the stretch from 12% Lycra also provides for a good fit.

If we have any reservations, it is the green band above the knee. It limits both when you can wear these tights and with what. Such is the feeling of quality in these tights. It is hard to believe they are Pretty Polly one size. Once you have them on, you may not want to take them off.

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The House of Holland range is very much “in fashion” at present. We had hoped to include photos of one of our ladies in these tights, but she declined based on poor experiences with the brand’s quality in the past, so you will have to make do with words.

The tights come in the standard House of Holland square box. The inner packet is sealed with a label that includes instructions as to how to put them on. The instructions are a good idea, but they also hint at worries about laddering.

OK… £12 for one size tights. They must be joking! One size is up to 5’10” (178cm) tall and 42″ (107cm) hips, by the way. Detailing is quite bare. Straight legs with a reinforced toe, sheer to waist with flat seams in the panty and a cotton-lined gusset. The waistband is quite deep at nearly 4 cm, but there is no finger band.

The sizing looks very small at, but you can feel the capacity of the material to stretch. We chose a model with long legs to see just what the tights can stretch to, as is our habit. Well, a 34″ long leg was no problem. There is plenty of stretch, and once on, the fit is good too. The colour is perfectly even, and the finish is a matt, a combination that does an outstanding job of emphasising the curves of your legs.

The house design is a matter of taste. From our point of view, we can’t see that adding beige houses to black tights do anything other than telling people you bought this brand. The design seems to introduce weakness too, despite applying even more care than usual, our test pair developed a run starting at the corner of one of the houses on the hip; in this case, out of sight, the tights are still wearable. Would we buy these tights? Most certainly not, £12 for tights that you may not even get to wear once, and after one wearing the novelty will have worn off anyway, is just far too much.

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These tights are supplied in the open packet often used for opaques, so you may find that you need to wash them before you wear them. The packet doesn’t tell you very much. All the size and style information is stuck on the bar code label.

The picture above is very carefully posed. The pattern must stop mere fractions of an inch above the hem of that skirt. Although the colour of our test pair is described as Mulberry (as pictured above), that is the colour of the legs only. The plain panty is black. While on the subject of the panty it has a very well made seam. But it is not flat, and it is very heavy/ So it may show through any very tight or close-fitting shorts or skirts.

The legs are straight tubes, and the toes are un-reinforced. The toe seam is well finished. Some thought has gone into the design of the legs. Although described as 60 denier, the look and feel are far lighter. The stretched material gives the effect of semi-opaque flowers on a fine checked background. You would almost swear that you could see through, yet every skin blemish is completely concealed. A very effective look that will add that extra touch of style to an outfit.

Fit on the legs is pretty good, and the sizing is accurate in that you won’t find they are too small if you are within the “one size” limits. Fit is the panty is somewhat below par. The lack of a gusset is a serious omission. The heavy seam in the panty flattened quite a lot under tension, so it was not as much of a problem as we feared. But please look in the mirror before going out wearing these tights under tight clothing.

While loving the design, we can’t help feeling that Pretty Polly cut just too many corners. At £6.25, we don’t expect the earth, but we would have liked to see a gusset and the pattern to the waist, flat seams, and a choice of sizes would have been nice but are perhaps too much to expect from PP at this price. A great look for your legs could have been great tights, but too many compromises in the design for us.

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The first thing we noticed about these tights from the leading British brand Pretty Polly. Based in the heart of the traditional hosiery producing area of Derbyshire, there was that the small back label said in tiny print under the fibre composition “Made in Turkey”.

I don’t suppose we can be too critical of Pretty Polly for this. Many brands have no factories of their own, instead of contracting out batches of production or even the entire range to factories in Italy, China, and Turkey. It would, though, be nice to see prices coming down to reflect production in low wage economies rather than going up in response to increased raw material costs.

Previous tights styles we have seen from Turkish factories have been pretty good, so perhaps time to end the rant and look at the tights. Almost at once, we are back to griping… £10 for a pair of tights made in just one size! That one size is designed to fit up to a height of 5’10” (158cm) and hips up to 42” (107cm). Weight is mentioned too but is instead a redundant number given height and hip information.

First impressions of the tights are excellent. Soft to the touch and folded so that the gorgeous satin bow that will sit on your calf is on show. Take care unfolding, though. On our test pair, a rough edge on the bow had snagged the sheer material of the leg. A meticulous extraction was required to avoid damage. Raised seams and an unlined gusset in the panty, straight unshaped legs finished with non-reinforced toes. Quite a basic detailing but adequate.

A broad stripe seam in the contrasting thread from just behind the toe seam to the bow (about 40% of the way from toe seam to gusset). Pretty Polly is selling these tights short with the suggested sizing. You could easily get away with a couple of extra inches on the hips. A 34” leg (measured gusset to heel) was accommodated with ease. Even stretched beyond the suggested maximum size, colour density easily met the expectations of 30 denier and was perfectly even over the leg.

The panty incidentally is a different knit to the leg. The transition around 1” (2.5cm) below the gusset is quite apparent so take care wearing short skirts/shorts. Fit is excellent. The matt finish material follows the curve of the leg perfectly.

The seam runs perfectly straight with no problems at all, a great highlight to draw the eye to your calves. The satin bows are a lovely touch and make these natural fun party tights. The bow is positioned perfectly to sit just at the top of the calf, even on a long leg. Wear these tights for a few minutes, and all the minor grumbles and even the bigger grumbles melt away.

Warm, comfortable, stylish, flattering and fun, these are tights that you can fall in love with. Sure, there are areas where they could be improved. But we would pay £10 for them quite happily in the final analysis, and your wardrobe will be lacking without them.

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There are two descriptions to ascribe to these tights, fun fashion and one size. They are fun fashion, pretty evident from the picture, although what is not apparent is that it is pretty hard to get all those big dots to be round on your leg. Look carefully, and you will see that some are somewhat oval even in the carefully posed packet shot.

The lace features quite heavily in the design. Not only are the dots filled with a lace pattern, but the high leg panty is lacy too. The panty also features flat seams and a cotton-lined gusset. The only darker portion that is plain is the reinforced toe. The toes incidentally come a long way up the foot.

One size tights fill us with dread here they suggest a height range of 5’0-5’10 (152-178cm), a weight range of 44-72kg and a maximum hip size of 42” (107cm). For once, we had no problems with one size being too small, these tights will easily stretch to fit 44” hips and a 34” legs which is a lot of leg at 5’10. The fit was not great even when stretched beyond the suggested maximum. So if you are petite, you may find this style of tights too big for you.

For once, we have no quibble with Pretty Polly’s pricing. They put a lot of quality features into their Lace Spot Tights. Slightly more attention to sizing would have been excellent, but otherwise, these are great fun tights for the larger or taller lady.

I nearly forgot. These tights are made in England. At least our review pair was. Rather a shame that with a famous British brand like Pretty Polly, this is worth noting.

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