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.

[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!

[malkin]

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

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.