Niqkita's Sock Journal

So with summer here I really cant resist the urge to wear some of my lighter more fruit-a-luscious outfits. Problem is. It’s so hard to find some versatile and yet spunky hosiery and socks to go with my looks!

Overall I am in love with the products..and find them to be a great combo for someone looking for versatility and personality to add to their wardrobe.

Two new lace up thigh highs are in and do they differ!
First is the Lycra Mesh Thigh Highs with Metal Hook Lace Up Backs.
Sheer with a nice wide band at the tops, these are brilliant, and if you have large legs you are sure to agree. But if you have legs anywhere near as thin as mine save your money because they are not going to be as stunning as you want them to be. It’s weird too because the picture on the label shows a thin model with a much wider space between the hooks than we ended up with in the testing and trying on.

I think this is fabulous news for larger legged ladies and cross dressers.
And, like any lace up, you could switch out the ribbons for a much fancier one or simply a different color to liven things up. I don’t think we’ll see the loose eyelet issues we’ve had with other lace up styles either, they look good and sturdy. One word, no, two words of warning though, allow extra time to get these laced up before you plan to wear them because they come unlaced and take awhile. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to have a friend help you with straightening the lace tension and tying the bows.

Next are the “Opaque” Thigh Highs with Lace Up Backs…

Actually they are only semi opaque, but they fit me alot better, showing some skin between their laces all the way down to their V. They were a little tricky to lace up, you might need to look at a picture of them to get it right the first time, and even then we had trouble getting the ribbons through the correct holes at the tops.

P.S. the gloves in the first image are these.

Sock garters come in many forms and anybody can make them with just a little creativity. But not everybody wants to have to make their own so we try to offer at least a few fun and useful styles. We are always dreaming up new ones and sometimes have trouble keeping them in stock for one reason or another.
Our first sock garters were based on the ones our Angora thigh high makers offered. I asked before making ours because stealing other peoples ideas just isn’t nice. They said they didn’t know the origin and that by all means we should go ahead and make them. The latest edition is an even less expensive version that is just for around your knees. You could cuff your knee highs or OTKs to cover these, but I found I really like leaving them showing. It is recommended that you wear these as loosely as is functional because if you tighten them too much you are restricting the flow of blood through your legs and we do not want that do we? No, no we don’t because tingling toes and spider veins can result and that just isn’t good!

We got these new gloves, they’re stretchy lace…
very pretty and very snug.
I, of course, have extremely average sized hands. Most gloves seem to fit me fine, and while I found these a tad snug in the beginning they were actually very comfy.
But I couldn’t resist cutting the fingertips off so I could feel the keys when I type. It works really well, they don’t fray or unravel and if you are crafty you could probably do something creative with the edges, or maybe glue a little flower to the tops of each finger, or bows, or bugs, or…
I feared these may only be comfortable on smaller hands so I made Bsti try them on for me, for the sake of product knowledge. And what do you know? they fit! he said they were comfortable too, so larger hands can fit too, but longer fingers may want to cut off the tips as I did. And, don’t forget to brush up on your glove etiquette ~;)

Oh, how pretty and festive these Stay Up Lace Top Lycra Faux Lace Up Stockings are! The stocking is that thick, more durable type of Leg Avenue hosiery. They’re 80% nylon and 20% spandex. Not exactly silky smooth, but more durable for it. The lace top has those silicone strips on the inside so they really grip your thighs. When I took them off I had very visible marks on my thighs from the seam that connects the stocking and the lace part. That wasn’t an issue for me, but if you have to go show off your bare legs somewhere, keep it in mind. lol. That’s also evidence of how tight they grip as my leg circumfrance at that point was 14 inches. I’m sure they’ll loosen a bit with wear & washings.

Quite logically, I have found from other brands {Victoria’s Secret thigh highs} that you should not put stockings with silicone griper strips in the dryer, or even a hot water wash. That stretches out the silicone and makes it less grabby, and they lose their stay up power. But, I do know you can easily attach these {or other worn out silicone striped styles} to a garter belt and they’ll stay up fine, and look even sexier.

These Stay Up Lace Top Lycra Faux Lace Up Stockings came up about mid thigh on me, and I know if I was to wrangle with them some, I could get them higher too. But I like them mid-thigh range so some lace peeks out from under my skirt. The faux lacing is a kind of woven in material and at close inspection it seems fuzzy, or thready. That doesn’t bother me any, who really looks that close anyway? I’m still hoping it will calm down a bit after a washing.

Because the Stay Up Lace Top Lycra Faux Lace Up Stockings have a tube style foot you can wear the laces going up the front or the back and you won’t get a big bunch of material in front of your ankle. Tube style feets also means they’ll fit all sized feet. They also come in Plus size, so everybody can enjoy these lovelies. I would say that if you’re over 5′4″ and I don’t know, maybe 120 lbs to consider buying the Plus size just because the material is a tight kind of weave and I really had to pull to get them mid thigh on my petite legs. Maybe someone who has the Plus size will share their fit.

About the only thing I don’t like about them is that it really takes some fiddeling around to get the laces all lined up right and put in place. I’m a real perfectionist, so it bothers me that the laces are off my heel in this picture, but I’ll share it anyway:

I really thought I had them all lined up right too. lol. In the end, I think I like the laces in the front because once I moved them to the back, I just felt like I was wearing plain black hose. But, all in all, the Stay Up Lace Top Lycra Faux Lace Up Stockings are flirty and fun stockings.

…that I’m up to No Good!
Now the discerning witch and wizard can get her or his Sorcerer Socks from SockDreams (Only for wizards with small feet though, they fit my 9s perfectly). They can be worn like this, with fishnet thigh highs or tights (these come in many colours too).
As you see they don’t reach to the knees on me, due to my large calves, but I think they look cute where they are and they stay up well.
I really am more of a Ravenclaw, but I like these still. And for a day when I feel less up to No Good I will wear them without the nets, with Mary Janes.
Oh, and when this photo was taken it was 86 degrees outdoors and indoors (we don’t have A/C in private hoems in Sweden) and I’m wearing a grey plaid wool skirt and my winter robes from dark navy wool. What don’t we do for art?

I’ve got some comfy Coolmax toes socks on & Lola’s ready to go running so we’re off…
Happy Friday!!!!!
xox~Much love to all our fellow sock dreamers~xox

It feels like Monday all over again here in our little sock shoppe…
Brigid is humming along to a song while she prints orders, I hear Alicia typing away & I am doing some editing before we all start pulling the many orders that have come in since Monday afternoon. I am wearing a new pair of A Chevrons because we got some really cool new colors. The difference is these new colors have the colors in the chevron pattern, I love them so much I now have several pairs. They are listed as 2-Tone which are mixed in with the rest of the colors so you might have to pick through them to find the new ones, then the last four on the list are the new black versions like my lime pair above. Later today I’ll be adding some new M Squared images & the 2-Tone lilacs which I missed yesterday, after that, more new stuff!