We Tried Those Fancy New Tights Everyone Is Talking About

Are Heist worth the hype?

Heist / Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

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It's nearly winter here, in the cold and dark Northern Hemisphere, which means one thing: tights season.

Becky Barnicoat / BuzzFeed

And if you want to wear a skirt during these cold months, you have two choices: brave the cold in nothing but a kilt like a hardy Scot, or squeeze yourself into some nylon tights. The latter normally involves some untangling, some uncomfortable pulling, and finally, a good measure of squatting. The rest of the day will be spent with the crotch of the tights somewhere in the middle of your thighs and your belly cut in half by the waistband.

Despite the suffering, we're still big fans of tights, but want to find a more comfortable alternative this winter.

Gena-mour Barrett / BuzzFeed, Natalya Lobanova / BuzzFeed

We – Gena and Natalya– will be your humble Guinea pigs for this very important experiment.

Enter Heist – a company who claim to make tights that will never dig, never itch, and are generally perfect in every way.

instagram.com

The adverts for their tights have been everywhere recently – our sidebars have been filled with images of women flexing and stretching like cats, all whilst wearing nylon tights. We contacted the press team, told them our dress sizes and they kindly sent us two pairs in the sizes that they thought would fit us best. The tights have a retail price of £22 per pair.

This is how we would put these tights to the test.

1. One day wearing them fresh out of the packaging.

2. One attempt of washing them (Natalya will wash them by hand, as recommended, and Gena will wash them in the machine, which is also permitted).

3. One wear after washing, so see if they maintain their softness.

Test 1: Wearing fresh out of the package

Natalya Lobanova / BuzzFeed

Natalya: The tights come in a cute individual cotton storage bag and feel very soft and thick. I found the sizing of these to be really strange. Normally, you determine your tights size by height and weight, rather than dress size. I am 159cm and between UK dress sizes 4 and 6. The sizing chart on the website says size 4 is XS, and S is 6-8. I was sent a size S, but I think maybe an XS would have been better for me as the waistband felt very loose. About five minutes into wearing them, the band had rolled down and bunched up around my waist. It didn't help that I chose to wear a very fitted, very high-waisted skirt with absolutely no stretch that day. By lunchtime, during my second attempt to unroll the thick roll of nylon digging into my stomach, I managed to break the zip on my skirt. In the picture they're rolled down so you can see the red mark left by the roll, they actually come up to the bottom of my bra except they obviously don't stay up that high. Thankfully, I had a spare outfit with me as I'd spent the previous night at my boyfriends and didn't have to spend the day with half my butt exposed.

Gena-mour Barrett / BuzzFeed

Gena: I must say I was a little put off by the sizing initially. I'm a UK size 14/16/I'm still kind of unsure what size I am, but the sizing chart only offered either a 12-14 (which I was scared would be too small) or a 16-20 (which I was scared would be too big). The fact the bigger sizes seemed to make such a drastic jump after size 14 – offering just a size 16-20 or a 20-24 for plus-size women to choose from – was a little disappointing. In the end, I got a size XL, and to be honest, their promise of the "softest, stretchiest, sleekest yarn" is not a lie. It's definitely soft, I'm wearing a pair right now and stroking my leg, so I can confirm this to be true. However, my doubts about the non-moving waistband were proven correct because having a waistband that reaches just underneath your boobs when pulled up meant of course it rolled down. Perhaps they were too big after all? I suppose I'll see when Heist release their new sizes in winter.

Test 2: Washing

Natalya Lobanova / BuzzFeed

Natalya: I always handwash my tights so this didn't seem like a massive inconvenience to me. I used a powder non-bio detergent and just washed them in the sink. The colour bled a little but they just as dark and soft after washing.

Gena: Unlike my Very Responsible colleague, I would rather do pretty much anything else than handwash my tights. The packaging does recommend handwashing them with warm water, but Heist claim to have designed the tights for the washing machine too – perfect for people like me. I threw them in with my all-black wardrobe at 30°, and they came out fine.

Test 3: Wearing after washing

Gena-mour Barrett / BuzzFeed

Gena: So it turns out it actually wasn't fine. After washing my tights, the material seemed to be a little less soft, but mostly OK...that was, until I found a hole in the foot of my tights. I was gutted because I was starting to enjoy the lil' hug round the waist that the tights give you. Maybe I should have handwashed them after all? I guess my newly exposed toe and I will never know.

Natalya: I reluctantly gave the tights another go, under a looser skirt, and this time they didn't roll down so much. The texture didn't change after the wash, they were just as soft as before. However, they still bunched around the waist and left a bit of a red mark. The band is very soft and thick and doesn't suck you in at all like shaping tights, which sounds great but is actually really unflattering under my thin top as it made my torso look thicker. It was also strangely very well insulated, leaving me with a particularly warm belly?? I'm just not here for the tit-high waistband, lads.

Final thoughts

Natalya: Honestly, I don't see the point. They're soft but they're still tights, so I'd never choose them over jogging bottoms or even jeans if what I'm looking for is comfort. I also found them to be quite unflattering and really impractical. Maybe if I could have tried a smaller size, they wouldn't roll down. It would really help if the sizes were based on height and weight so there is no ambiguity in sizing, too. If you're someone who likes to be toasty and warm, and to wear tights high-up under loose dresses, these might be for you. For me, though, I don't think £22 is worth it for a pair of tights that makes wearing skirts even more of a faff.

Gena: I actually enjoy wearing tights usually, so I like the idea of a pair of tights that will fix all my awkward issues. A pro? The softness of these tights is pretty much unbeatable, and if you're someone who likes all-round waist support, these are wonderful. A con? The waistband still rolls down! However, I'm excited to see what they do with the increase in sizes, and until then, I'll stick to my trusty M&S ones.

The tights were provided by Heist to BuzzFeed free of charge, but we were under no obligation to be positive in our coverage. You can read more about Heist and purchase their products here.