Spotlight on UK Tights: Part 2

We are now publishing Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Dawn Barber, the managing director of UK Tights.



You can still read Part 1 of the interview.

In Part 2, Dawn discusses men's tights and some of the styles that can be purchased at UK Tights.

UK Tights used to sell the highly regarded Gerbe tights for men and the WoMan unisex range from Levee. Why are these no longer available?
Much to our disgust, Gerbe stopped making them. We loved them but sadly they are no longer available.

UK Tights recently developed the new Maximus range of tights for men. Can you say a bit more about this brand? How did you go about developing a new style of men's tights?
We had our contacts in Italy help us to bring this brand to our customer base. We asked for tights that would give more in the crotch area and be slightly larger around the thighs. We wanted a good quality, opaque tight that men could rely on. We think we achieved this with Maximux.

What feedback have you had so far on the Maximus range? 
Guys seem to love them. We have not had any negative feedback at all and they sell on a regular basis.





UK Tights are also now selling men's tights from the Activskin range. Are they selling well? 
They do sell well yes. They are a certain kind of animal all by themselves and we don’t think they are there to compete with any other brand. They own their very own piece of the action and seem to fit in very well with our male customers requirements.

Are you planning to develop your range of men's tights further, perhaps adding further new brands?
Of course we are always happy to look towards other brands that help us fill our customers needs. If we have enough people request a brand that we don’t sell then we’ll go right ahead and stock it. It’s that simple.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Spotlight on Shapings: Part 2

Shapings, an online hosiery business based in Ontario, Canada, stock an extensive range of tights and pantyhose for men.

I recently published the first part of my interview with Robert Safko, the director of Shapings.



In Part 2, Robert discusses if tights for men are becoming more acceptable, the demise of the Gerbe men's tights range and the Levee Woman unisex tights, and plans for the future at Shapings.

Do you feel that tights are becoming more acceptable for men, both for practical reasons as well as for style and fashion? 
For practical reasons for sure. Support pantyhose is very important and should not be offered to women only. Men have venous issues and for a full waist garment to help with the pain should be available for both sexes.

For fashion, I don’t think so, unless you are within a city that is fashion forward. A man in tights, especially fashion tights with shorts will always draw attention from passers by. The same outfit on a woman will not. If a man was to wear a sheer, they would most likely be seen as weird and most people would not ask if they were a man’s pantyhose, they would just see nylons on him. Hopefully, men’s fashion will be advanced to include over the knee hosiery and we are seeing some designers showing this on the runway but again, the outfit would have to be fashion forward as well to make it work.



Some of the brands of men's tights you stock are no longer easily available, such as Levee Woman and Gerbe. It appears that they have both been discontinued which is a disappointment as in my experience they were both excellent products. Can you comment on these developments?
The male market is smaller than we think. Men wearing pantyhose may be large but it is hard to tell as we search for support groups about this subject so we think it is large just by monitoring an already sourced out group. A site like E-Mancipate is about one man’s vision on men’s fashion options with tights. It has grown to be source for a fashion that may not even be real, but news writers see this site and think it is a trend.

So companies like Gerbe, who in my opinion is one of the best manufacturers of hose, to make a man’s product was huge for the fashion. A full line from product development to marketing and packaging was a great boost for this market. It was I who suggested to them to make the Sun Satin 8 for men, and they did. They asked me what man would wear such a sheer. I talked them into it and it became their most popular style.



The price was their demise. Yet, we expect women to wear good hose to be happy in them and to look good so it seems that this company still survives on women spending the money on this brand. It is very disappointing that men did not step up and support this brand. We still have stock of the Gerbe for men and once they are gone, they are gone and every pair will be a collector’s item never to be seen again and will mark a segment in time when a quality hose maker stepped out for a market that in society’s view as just not proper. It is a shame.

As for Levee, it was a a matter of them going out of business and another company taking over. The Levee brand is no longer.



Are you planning to stock any new brands of men's tights in the future? What can Shapings customers look forward to?
We are in negotiations with Knittex of Poland. If their quality and design are up to our standards we will carry them. Samples are on their way and we will see what makes them a man’s product. Having a man posing on the package will not suffice unless it is truly made for the male anatomy.


Knittex Men's Active Tights

Many thanks for speaking to Hosiery For Men. I hope readers will agree that it has been a very interesting and informative feature. I hope readers will check out Shapings if they have not done so already. Mainstream hosiery retailers that show a commitment to stocking men's hosiery deserve our support.

Spotlight on Shapings: Part 1

Shapings is an online hosiery business based in Ontario, Canada. They are one of the very few mainstream hosiery retailers that stock an extensive range of tights and pantyhose for men. A look at their website will confirm that they put a great deal of care and attention to this side of the business, including organising their own photo shoots that showcase men's hosiery brands.

I was very pleased to be able to interview Robert Safko, the director of Shapings. The interview will be published in two parts on Hosiery For Men. In Part 1, Robert discusses the background to Shapings  the decision to offer men's hosiery products and some of the advantages of tights for men.

Can you tell Hosiery For Men readers something about Shapings?
Shapings was born from an idea back in 1995 when Nicole Safko could not find a proper bustier to go under her wedding gown. The first store opened in August 1995 and in 2000 the internet store made its first appearance selling many different items from the shop.

Unlike most mainstream hosiery retailers, Shapings stocks a very wide range of men's pantyhose and tights. Why did you decide to develop this part of the business?
The idea to sell many different items on the site branches from the store’s selection. However, our bra business is strictly for the stores as it is very hard to maintain our policy of perfectly fitting women into this very important garment. We found that the hosiery was the main focus with our customers and building on this market was the logical direction.

As manufacturers were starting to roll out men’s products we felt that it was important to offer both genders a choice for a product that in our eyes should be a unisex garment.


Lida Men's 100 Denier Tights

Can you say something further about why you consider tights to be a unisex garment?
Seeing that men and women both have legs and feet, this garment is useful to women other than just making their legs look good. Ask any woman if they have ever worn tights under pants and most would say yes. This is my go to question when women ask me why a man would wear pantyhose or tights. She wears the tights for warmth and bulk free comfort with a pair of microfibre tights so why not a man? Men are forced to wear layers, a brief, long johns and a pair of socks. Stand back and he looks like he is wearing tights so why not just put on a single pieced garment. Functionality is the main reason for tights being unisex. 

Support pantyhose is a prime example: as venous problems do not discriminate between men and women why is it that women have all the options to help with aching legs while men are limited to a garment that does not go above the knees? As soon as a support garment rises over the knee it becomes a feminine product. Why is the knee the border between sexes? It's like crossing into Russia and getting asked for your papers.

What do you feel are some of the advantages of tights designed and made specifically for men?
The main advantage is the panty design. You can’t have a true male pantyhose without a modified panty. Men and women are anatomically different in this area and having a pantyhose just longer and larger doesn’t cut it. There are large women out there that would benefit from a large pair of hose but having a pouch or open fly design makes the hose strictly a man’s.

You stock Comfort4Men men's tights at Shapings. I have reviewed and featured several of their styles at Hosiery For Men and they are a product that are specifically made to address the needs of men. What are the features of this brand that made you decide to stock them at Shapings?
Being a sufferer of varicose veins I have worn compression waist high hosiery for over two decades. Until Comfort4Men came along you could not find a medical grade compression tight that was anatomically correct for men. The design is quite ingenious and the cost is justified. Compression hosiery is not inexpensive and to have it modified perfectly for men to wear comfortably is quite special. You can easily get two months of wear from a single pair so the cost per wear ratio makes for a comfortable therapy at minimal cost per wear. Any man suffering from aching legs will certainly find relief and for the $55 spent for this relief is money well spent. You can spend $100 on a bottle of Scotch, you drink it, it's gone, a pair of Comfort4Men can help you perform better throughout the day without having to sit down.



Of the brands that you stock, which ones have been particularly popular with your male customers? 
It is across the board, just like our women’s brands.

Hosiery is such a personal item and offering many types makes for a wide range of personal tastes to suit. The benefits of pantyhose for men is support, warmth, sheer pant liners and comfort and with all these different needs it makes for a wide spread of personal requirements in a pantyhose.



Shapings based in Canada. Do you get enquiries about tights for men from other parts of the world? 
We receive orders from around the globe. There are men in every country that like to wear tights.

Although you stock tights for men, have you found that men are also buying women's tights? Which styles and brands are popular? 
Of course, the selection of women’s hose on our site is extensive and the choice of yarns is the key. There is not enough men’s products out there that offer the many yarn options that women have. Again, the brands that sell the most is hard to say as we can’t interview each male client as to whom the hose will be worn by. Many men buy for their wives. There are many men that love pantyhose on women and have the need to buy and be knowledgeable about about hose.

Regarding the tights for women that you sell, are there any brands and styles that might work well for men in terms of the yarn, size choices and depth of panty/brief? The Cecilia de Rafael Coral tights, for example, work well for me and are superb quality.
Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason for what works well for men. Men come in all different sizes and shapes and tastes for yarns. Some like 40 denier, some like 8 denier, some like high waist, some low. Men have different reasons for wearing them as do women. 

The Coral tight by CDR is a fine tight but if you were to review any of our selection of tights you will be impressed with the quality for the money. A higher priced tight, better the yarn and finish. Our prices reflect this and if it does not pass our test for quality it doesn't get posted and we don't buy them. 

This is why our men's selections are limited to what is presently showcased as some products made for men just don't cut it. Sticking a man on the package doesn't do it either. We are plagued with $5 products in a $50 package. If a man finds a tight that works well for them, then I say keep buying it. 

What I do know is that men are more inclined to buy up many different styles as possible, yet they have multiples of the same pair of underwear in their drawer. It becomes almost like a curiosity of what else is out there instead of just stocking up with what works.

Part 2 of this interview will appear shortly. Stay tuned.