The Recent History of TightsFashion

The nature of TightsFashion has changed considerably since the summer of 2005. 

Up to that point the site existed simply to share information we had gained regarding the tights brands and styles available in the UK.  It had always been run on a “not for profit” basis but it was becoming clear that the costs involved in staying up to date were too high. With more visitors to the site it was no longer sensible to review tights bought as “line ends” at the like of TK Maxx, current styles were required

We were fortunate to come to arrangements with a number of on-line suppliers who have provided samples to review and, through their affiliate programmes, some income to offset the costs of hosting and maintaining the site.

Although now carrying advertising the site is still run as before on a “not for profit basis”. Of course paid adverts, even ones paid for in hosiery, mean a far higher level of professionalism is required in managing the site.   Every single page of the site was updated over a period of weeks, one of our goals being to improve Google ratings in order to attract more visitors.

Google

We can’t claim to have the answer to Google but we now do very well in most searches for tights related topics.  Search for seamless tights, Gerbe tights, Cette tights, Falke tights, Levante tights.... and you will find us in the first few results. These good search ratings, often higher than the manufacturers’ own sites, have meant a steady increase in traffic.

Current Hosiery Lines

Our suppliers and sponsors are very good to us supply us with review samples of most of the current lines.  Some manufacturers have also woken up to the fact that a good review on TightsFashion can be to their benefit, OK so we won’t be selling thousands of pairs a month, but the costs are tiny compared to the potential returns.  The fact is that consumers, particularly on-line consumers like independent reviews.

Advice to Suppliers

An unexpected development has been that a number of retailers, both on line and high street, have been asking our advice regarding brands they are considering selling.   In time we expect that more and more of our review samples will come direct from the manufacturers ensuing our advice is absolutely up to the minute.

The Early Origins of TightsFashion

I am frequently asked what it was that made me decide to set up the “Tights Fashion” web site.  I suspect that this question arises partly because it is quite different to all the other hosiery sites on the web. The fact that TightsFashion was started by a man also raises a few eyebrows.

The paragraphs below set out the early history and how we got to where we are today.

The Background

Tights Fashion is perhaps a fine example of what happens when an Engineer and an Accountant form a partnership.  In this case the partnership was not of the business type, but a marriage.

As anyone in business will be aware the Engineers and Accountants look at things from entirely different perspectives.  The Engineer tends to want the product to be perfect, whether buying or selling.  The Accountant on the other hand wants minimum unit costs when buying, maximum unit prices when selling.  In business the two sides often fail to communicate at all, giving up with “... they just don’t understand...”.

In the case of Tights Fashion the Engineer (the man) noticed that the buying policy of the Accountant (the woman) seemed to have a flaw. Almost every day there were tights in the waste bin laddered, or in engineering terms no longer functioning to specification. Even a simple Engineer could tell that something was going wrong.

So the Engineer decided to raise the question with the Accountant, after all she was both buyer and user.  The reply was surprising, the Accountant it seemed knew that the tights were low specification as well as low price but said “it is OK, they are only cheap tights for work”. As far as the Accountant was concerned this was the end of the matter.

The Engineer in me knew that there must be a price/quality balance point somewhere, and that it was unlikely to be at the cheap end of the market.  So the research began.

Engineers never like to admit there is something technical about which they know nothing.  This Engineer realised he had no idea about what typical costs were, what differentiated good quality from bad, how long a good pair of tights should last.... in fact he knew nothing.

This being the age of the Internet I started the research there. It was certainly far less embarrassing than going to shops and buying tights! What I found was that almost all of the sites that dealt with hosiery did so from the fetish/soft porn angle, they were no help at all in finding out what the tights were like, how they looked, how they lasted or how much they cost.  

The Collection Begins

Gathering up all my courage I set off to buy some tights, my wife having agreed to wear more expensive tights but declining to actually buy them (not daft these Accountants).  What is now the tights fashion collection was born. 

Finding that elusive balance point of price/appearance/durability turned out to be a more complex job than anticipated.  At the beginning I only knew of Charnos, Pretty Polly and Aristoc and had no idea what denier was. The more I learned the more I realised that I still knew almost nothing.   

Tights Fashion Goes Live

It was at this point that I realised from talking to friends that despite my meagre knowledge I already knew more than most men and, more surprisingly, more than most women too.   It struck me then that a small web site to share my new found knowledge may be a help to others doing the same web research that I had tried a few years before.  I knew for a fact that I was not the only Engineer married to an Accountant.

”The End of the Beginning”

By the end of 2005 the site was an established part of the Internet hosiery landscape. No longer researching purely for interest and personal benefit, as the Accountant had long since got into a £7 a pair 13 denier habit, and her bin is generally free of laddered tights. The research and updates to the site became a project in itself.

CJ, Engineer and TightsFashion Webmaster