Niqkita's Sock Journal

Greetings sock lovers! :) I am honored and thrilled to be asked to share my opinions and accompanying photographs with you. I hope you all like my reviews. I am a 41yo petite person who adores any fuzzy, black OTK, or sparkley stocking. Here’s more of my US measurements to help you compare my fit to yours. I have a 6.5 foot, 11″ calf, 15″ from the ground to the back of my knee when bent, 30″ inseam, and 18″ thighs, I weigh around 100 & generally wear size 2. Don’t hate me because I’m tiny, people of all shapes and sizes love sock-dreams & I’m proud to represent the wee folk. Word to the fae. :) OK, my reviews:

First up, if you’re getting a new suspender belt, you should get some Cuban Foot hosiery to go with it! The Lycra Cuban Heeled Two Tone Stocking is very sexy with it’s bright red Cuban feet, toes, welt and four little lines for backseams, these stockings demand attention. They’re just as thick and sturdy as Leg Avenue’s other nylons, but a little tighter weave, so not as stretchy. These are a thicker type of hosiery, so not prone to run as easily as typical nylons.

The strange thing with these is that when I stood flat footed I got wrinkles in front of my ankle. Almost as if there was extra fabric in front. When I put on my heels the hose smoothed out fine. So I would recommend wearing some kind of heel with these. They are 100% nylon and don’t stay up on their own for beans, so they will need that new suspender belt. I could easily hoist these all the way up, so I think even longer legs can enjoy these hot little numbers.

Although the Lycra Cuban Foot Stockings have a similar name and the same vintage-style Cuban Foot, these are totally different stockings. These are more sheer and fragile nylon that seems like it will more easily run. I’m overly carefull when I wear fine nylons, so can’t comment on what it takes to run them, ;) but they do have some amazing stay up power. They did not even budge all evening. You won’t need your suspender belt with these, but it sure would add to the sexy look.

With most styles that stay up on their own they usually have a tighter grip on the thigh which can create a bulge. This happens here too, but it wasn’t too bad when placed as an over the knee or hoisted all the way up my leg. It was only when I placed the band right at my mid-thigh that I had some pudge going on, & that could just be my lack of muscle tone. ;) Higher or lower should help reduce the bulge.

What I really want to point out with these is their different backseam. I think most backseamed hose have a rolled seam, made from the stocking material and rolled, then sewn shut. With these, the material was gathered at the seam and then cut, so the back seam is more rough and fuzzy looking. The advantage is that the backseam is 1/4″ thick! It’s a very noticeable seam.

I love the sheerness that makes my legs look so sexy and the Cuban heel is totally classic. The Cuban foot part is made of a heavier nylon so I didn’t even feel it when walking. Both styles are very sexy and will definitely get your legs some admiration.

Our latest garter belt has mesh & lace with a slider in the back to adjust the fit just a bit. It would slip off the hips of anyone much smaller than me so I listed the minimum at 32 inches and while we found it fit at about 40 inches we decided to keep the max at 38, just to be safe. Of course all the label said was “one size” not even a useless weight/height range. And, so far, no plus size for this style ~:(

The clips are metal so they’ll last more than one wearing and won’t break when you attempt to attach thicker styles. They have pretty ribbons to cover them (do those have a specific name?) The grips are a sturdy rubber, I was able to attach these to M Stripe styles and Super Stripes, but not tubes. Since none of the garter belts that come our way have larger clips I’m thinking about selling those separately, would you buy them that way? I’m not sure how they’d be priced, the idea just came to me last week.
They also come in a very bright neon pink/lime combo that was near impossible to match in a photo (you might notice a difference between the thumbnail & product image, as usual, I blame lighting for this variation~;). That pink is so not my thing, but nearly everyone else that has seen it seems to think it’s pretty hot and already, several have been bought. I did keep a black set for myself though. One final note, the thong, it’s one of those barely there, why bother things, but the rest of the garter is pretty nice as inexpensive garter belts go.

I loved the little ribbon casually sewn through the top and wanted to try them, though I feared I already knew the outcome of their fit on me. Just as I suspected… I need more. More foot room and more length (calf width wise they fit quite comfortably). Though I would imagine these are spectacular for those with more petite feet and shorter (or thinner) legs. On me, they were just okay knee highs with heel seams that landed in my arches. I can pull and tug them up to the top of my knee, even over it a little bit. I can pull and tug the heel seam and make it end up on my heel… But they will not stay there and do not feel/look right pulled into a state of distortion in either of those maneuvers. A bit more foot room and another foot of length in the sock itself and these would be ‘basically’ fantastic! I am reminded of the review I did way back in January of 2005 for the O’pastels. This was the batch that was mistakenly produced a bit longer than normal. For some reason, the feet on those were much bigger than the O’basics pair I have… And with the accidental length they were great! I would still wish for even more length than this though, as it would be lovely to have the top band area actually clearing my knee completely.Aside from the mentioned size problems for me, I really like the O’basics as an inexpensive ‘every day’ kinda sock. I’d love to see them a bit thicker or more opaque too, but would really just be tickled if they came in a true OTK size for those of us with longer pins and larger paws :O)