Review: Smartwool Footless Tights

[KnottedYet]

I've been wanting a pair since I saw them in the Title 9 catalog.

Oh, boy! Real wool tights, and Smartwool, which is always excellent!

Finally bought a pair. $42.

Wore them once.

Every. Single. Seam. Failed.

I figure I paid $4/hr for the unheralded joy of wearing a rapidly disintegrating pair of tights through my workday. The risque thrills! The gratuitous ventilation!

I am sad.

Word to the wise: tread carefully when choosing this Smartwool investment. I bought the largest size, which according to the size chart was slightly too big for me. You might want to buy 2 sizes too large to avoid a similar fate.

[Eden]

I just bought a bunch of pairs of part merino tights through WarmLegWear.com
They are not all wool - just 45%, but I figure as with socks, if they are too much wool they stretch out and won't stay up....

They have very good reviews on warmth and durability - I'm hoping... I'm taking them on a winter trip, on which I've decided that I'm only going to take 1 pair of jeans.... the rest of my wardrobe will be tights and skirts... I think I'll be OK. Even with my heavy cotton ones I stay warm in 40ish temps here and I'm going to take my winter weight CWX tights and a bunch of wool knee socks to layer underneath/overtop just in case.

Oh - and they aren't as much of as risk as the Smartwools... they are $19.50 - $22.50 depending on the style.

I'll post more after I've actually worn them.

[OakLeaf]

Ugh.

I've never dealt with Title 9 - any chance they might refund your money?

Pricier and still Chinese, but my SW midweight long bottoms wear like tights and they've held up fine so far, although I'm only starting my second season with them. They're much lighter than what I'd call midweight - lighter than my midweight SW tops - so I'd have to guess that their microweight long bottoms must be in the range of pantyhose weight.

The JonesWares running tights I just got are really almost pants - heavyweight wool, with a rougher (but not at all scratchy) feel. I'm really loving them. Unlike the tank, they fit me just perfectly. :)

[jessmarimba]

Slight hijack - Oak, how do the JonesWares fit? I was considering the shorts but I have to be careful with stretchy bottoms with my rotund behind. I don't want them to be see-through in the wrong light!

[OakLeaf]

I bought one size bigger in JonesWares than I wear in Smartwool bottoms, and they're just right. I'm a little curvier below the waist (can't wear Ibex bottoms at all) and both SW and JW fit me nicely.

I wouldn't be concerned about seeing through the JW tights at all - they're very heavyweight. The SW long bottoms might be see through, but honestly for running I wear wool underwear underneath them so I can wear them multiple times without washing, and for day wear they'd be better under a longer top or tunic anyhow just appearance-wise.

[malkin]

Every. Single. Seam. Failed.



Yikes!
You'll be chatting to Smartwool and Title 9 about this, right?

[KnottedYet]

Yikes!
You'll be chatting to Smartwool and Title 9 about this, right?

I suppose I should, but I actually am mortified that the dang things gave up the ghost when faced with the fabulousness of my ample buttocks. Even though I was under the size range, I am experiencing shame.... My butt - destroyer of worlds! Bountiful Buttock Bastions of inBinsability!

Though, if a $5 pair of Target tights can survive my @$$ for more than a year, I expect a $42 pair of Smartwool tights should at least meet that longevity standard. :confused:

[zoom-zoom]

As much as I love Smartwool, their quality can really be hit or miss. I had a sweater that shrunk at least 2 sizes the first time I washed it. I had purchased it from Sierra Trading Post and everyone was having the same gripe. Shame, since it was beautiful.

Myself and others have also found that their running socks don't last NEARLY as long in the last year or so as the ones produced a few years back did. And they don't just gradually wear out. It's almost like one day they just start to disintegrate.

[jessmarimba]

Smartwool was bought by...someone. Some large company with less quality control.

The former owners of Smartwool now run Point6, which are some great socks. No tights yet though.

[zoom-zoom]

Smartwool was bought by...someone. Some large company with less quality control.

The former owners of Smartwool now run Point6, which are some great socks. No tights yet though.

Ahhh...this is good to know!

[jessmarimba]

Here's an article about it, though I heard about the buyout sometime before this when I started chatting with a lady from Steamboat Springs who had brought her kids to Denver for back-to-school shopping last year.

http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2011/jun/13/smartwools-parent-company-bought-vf-corporation/

[KnottedYet]

Well, that explains *that*.

Point6 - http://www.point6.com/

Hey, Susan!.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember reading ages ago that Patty was about to start a big knitwear company, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She changed her focus to only socks to keep it simple while she was undergoing treatment. And thus Smartwool socks were born!

[zoom-zoom]

I may try a pair of Darn Tough socks after looking at them, too. They also have merino blend and a lifetime warranty.

[OakLeaf]

IME Darn Tough socks are rougher and less stretchy, better for hiking than running. Try Teko. So much nicer than SW for running, and mine are holding up fine.

[Crankin]

I bought some Point 6 socks from some on line place about a year ago. They are thin and wool, but feel quite different than Smart Wool or Teko. It may be that the ones I have contain some lycra, but they work. I don't use them for the coldest of riding temperatures, but they are good for low fifties, or high forties with toe covers/booties.

[Blueberry]

Title 9 is a reputable dealer. I wouldn't worry about them (not sure if they are on the list or not - the list wasn't working for me). However, you do bring up a good point about some of the less well known retailers.

I've had issues with smartwool purchased at REI - they definitely are on the list, and the quality was definitely not good.

[Veronica]

Title 9 can be found on the map of local dealers. They are a good company to deal with I have found.

Here's their return policy.

What's Title Nine's 360 Guarantee?
When you buy from us, we want you to love what you get. So, if for any reason or no reason, you are not happy with your T9 purchase, send it round-trip within a year for an exchange or full refund. No questions. No hassles. No kidding.

I wish had TE a similar policy. Sometimes you can't tell if something isn't going to work until you've tried it out. I understand that as a small company, such a policy would be a burden. But it makes me reluctant to try new things from them.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

I'm not sure this latest M&A will affect SW quality anyway. It seems to me if anything would've affected quality, it would've been the 2005 buyout by Timberland :eek: - and that was before I really started on my wool kick, so whether their QC was better before then (and/or whether they were 100% USA-made) I really have no idea.

It does seem like my SW running socks are not long for this world - not wearing out, the way you expect socks to do, but the elastic and/or Lycra fibers aren't well integrated, or something. I'm always finding threads pulling out of them. I haven't yet had a sock come apart on me, but I have to think that's next. (Most of them came from TE, though I might've gotten a pair or two from big box stores like Gander Mountain or REI.)

And, my SW T's aren't cut straight, so the seams are always snaking around my body in weird ways. Pretty much an expected error in mass production, but unfortunate.

[zoom-zoom]

I was actually talking about another company brought up in the thread. Sierra Trading Post. Never a good experience with that place!

I agree the list if not very user-friendly. :(

I wish I could blame the lower quality of the ones I've bought recently on them being knock-offs, but they're all PhD line socks of varying thicknesses and from authorized dealers.

[Becky]

I've always had good experiences with Sierra Trading Post, returns, and their customer service in general. I've played the size game with some items, but I accept that as a possibility when shopping clearance items, some of which may be being liquidated due to known sizing issues.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/lp2/satisfaction-guarantee/

[Trek420]

Another very happy STP shopper. :)

I've always had very good experiences with TE too :) So far I have not had to return anything but then there are always Knott's reviews to read first. So I know what's good. ;)

[jessmarimba]

I have pretty generally good luck with STP - when things don't fit right, its usually because I'm a difficult person to fit. But now I pretty much go to their outlet where I can try stuff on...worth the trip up to Wyoming!

[malkin]

...Even though I was under the size range, I am experiencing shame... :confused:

Bummer that you're feeling shame about your size and shape.

BUT you followed the size chart!!! They set you up!!! It's not like you were pretending to be Callista Flockhart trying to squeeze into Twiggy's knickers; the size chart even indicated that a larger person might wear these tights!!!

(Malkin editorial comments follow:
Shame sucks; it is sh|++y and useless. Outrage is way better. Especially for people who can write like you do.)

[Crankin]

I have found that size charts routinely do not mean what they say.
Many times, the waist measurement for the size I wear is 1-2 inches smaller than my waist. But the things fit me. If I got a bigger size, they would be too big.
I don't like ordering from STP. The orders take a long time to get here. I have returned stuff, no issue, but sometimes it's taken so long for stuff to arrive, I almost have forgotten that I placed an order. Plus, they have that religious stuff on their site. I try to ignore it, but really. What would people think if I put Judaism symbols on a web site? I am sure I would hear about it.