Our Review

Just over a year on from our last look at Aristoc Ultimate 10 there is an updated version, still 10 denier, still ladder resistant but with a new packet, modified fibre mix and a very different price.  

One warning as regards pricing.  One of our our partner suppliers appears to be offering the new tights at the old price, even using the new packet on the product page but the material description suggests these are the older design as reviewed last year... They are great tights so maybe you should buy up the old stock.

So how does the new design stand up to inspection?

Well good news on sizing to start off with... no fewer than 4 sizes to choose from covering heights from 5’0” to 6’0” and hip measurements from 34” to 54”. For those of you of a metric disposition that is heights of 152-183cm and hips from 86-137cm. There is guidance on weight too but hip and height are more useful measures. There is some overlap as regards the heights each size will cope with but the hip measurements are in clear steps.  To get the last 2” or 5cm of height you need the biggest hip size, a pity for tall slender girls if the sizing is accurate.

£12 for a 10 denier sheer tight and no inner bag! Plus the card the tights are on carries a picture from the old packaging.   Not a great first impression.

In detail these tights are made with unshaped legs and a genuine unreinforced sandal toe.  The panty features flat seams and a cotton lined gusset; for strength there is T-band reinforcement either side of the seam and below the waistband.

All in all a very significant change from the past version and far better detailing.

We tested the large size as this was the one correctly sized for our model’s hips, although for height extra large would have been appropriate.  The soft sheer material has masses of stretch and length was no problem, our recommendation is to buy based entirely on hip size for optimum fit.

Soft and sheer these tights may be but you never feel there is any danger of them ripping or holing. In terms of fit, feel and overall impression of quality we would have to liken them to the very best seamless tights.

Aristoc have excelled themselves with this design, they feel sublime and they look as good as they feel, perfect even colour from hip to toe.

Will they resist runs? Well we are not prepared to hole a pair to find out, they are just too nice.  But they feel robust. The Lycra fusion technology seems to have overcome the past problem where run resisting tights just never looked or felt as good a regular tights.

If 10 denier is your thing you should buy these tights in bulk. We can’t wait to try the 5 denier Ultimate Sheer!

17 April 2012

Our Review

Ultimate is something new from Aristoc, we have become accustomed to Ultra as a name for their sheer tights.  Something else new about these tights is that they are the first we have seen from Aristoc that claim to be run resisting... topical as we have seen other makers releasing similar styles and one of our team recently starting having a lot of problems with ladders.

Not be confused with Ultra Matte (later Ultra Natural) which was a 15 denier style Ultimate Matt is pretty much as sheer as tights go these days at 10 denier. At first these tights don’t look so sheer but then you realise that straight from the packet even the large size looks quite small so that huge proportion of Lycra in the yarn will be doing a lot of stretching. Stretched over your hand you can appreciate their lightness, stretch and strength.

As far as detailing goes we can just about let Aristoc get away with claiming sheer toes, they are in fact reinforced but the reinforced part is only about 12 denier appearance and quite small. At the panty end there is a cotton lined gusset and a reinforced area in the form of a very brief plain panty that provides strength around the gusset and seams and a transition to the plain waistband.  The seams in the panty are raised but well finished.

We are delighted to see Aristoc offer these tights in 3 sizes, the 2 size scheme these have used for some styles in the past tended to disappoint. The sizing is accurate with enough stretch to take a few liberties if you are bigger than the suggested sizes on the size chart.  One small issue though is that the panty is very long so the waistband is likely to sit above your waist, not tights to wear with hispster skirts or trousers.  You may want to go down a size if you are near the size boundary.

The sheer material has a perfectly even matt finish and fits like a second skin and although not a satin smooth finish it is smoother and softer than other run resist tights we have seen.

We can’t comment on the run resist technology as to date we have not had a small hole that could run, and these tights look and feel too nice to deliberately damage them. 

Excellent tights that deserve a place in your wardrobe for everyday wear.

21 February 2011

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