Back in the day, when I had money to spare, I’d spare no expense on things important to me. I’ve had to cast off my extraneous spending and that’s been okay. Fortunately I can keep the hair and nails in budget but here’s something I rediscovered that is every bit as good – no, really – better than its pricier counterpart.
Silken Mist stockings. Sort of a ‘Sheer Energy 2.0’ brand. Updated for the 2000s.
Remember those? Yep, the grocery store “pantyhose” from a lifetime ago when they came packaged in cheap, silver eggs. A la L’eggs.
When I discovered Donna Karan’s most awesome opaque tights in killer black, I wore them for years and years and swear by them still. Despite the cost I can never give them up. Trust me, they will die from washing-and-wearing before something like a run would happen to them. They are a staple in my closet – even my Florida closet.
But stockings are another story. There are times when the opaque look just isn’t right and the occasion calls for sheer. So I did what any other Donna Karan evangelist would do: bought the sheer black stockings, choking down the price of close to $20 (could be more, these days) for a pair of oh-so-sheer, dangerously sheer, black stockings.
I was truly afraid to wear them. These are not rough and tumble, like my beloved tights. These are for grown up dresses and better shoes. But what if they run? They cost $20. Trepidation.
Also, I’m the sort who likes to be prepared: I carry a second pair just in case, or at least, the requisite clear nail polish to salvage a potential tear. At $20 a pair, though, now we’re talking forty dollars for just the stockings! Never mind the right dress and shoes to wear with them. Suddenly it’s all about the stockings and what about the outfit?
So one night in last minute desperation, when I needed stockings for a morning dress-up occasion and the tights would not do, I rode my bike to the neighborhood K mart (oh Target, I’m so sorry, please forgive me), determined to buy whatever cheapo stockings they had, damn the consequences.
I couldn’t believe I was back in the land of L’eggs but there they were, in all the shades I remembered: nude, suntan, black. All priced in the $4 range!! I snapped up two pair of ‘black mist’ thinking how bad could they be? and rode home gleefully.
Friends, I’m here to tell you that L’eggs Silken Mist in Black Mist or Jet Black sheer stockings are a value and a half. They fit like Spanx for the legs, from waist to toe. They are sheer enough for a nice dress and I’m no longer scared to use the ladies room while wearing stockings for fear of snagging or tearing them each time I pull them back up! And black is always chic – be they a Silken Mist L’eggs black or a DKNY black. And while I’ll never give up my opaque Karan tights no matter the cost, you can have your pricey sheer stockings and I’ll stick to black L’eggs Silken Mist stockings.
I haven’t had occasion to try the ‘nude’ stockings yet…but I know this: if I show up in ‘suntan’, please understand that something is seriously wrong, and get me to the doctor at once. I do have my limits in taste and style.
Jeannie, I don’t know where the post went(I read it in bloglines) but her hair is lovely.
Mary