50% at Itsocks and Adieu!

Hi Creative and Fashionable people!

I have both good and sad news to share, I shall start with the bad one first.. UK Hosiery retailer itsocks is bidding farewell to everyone, the business owner Anne wrote to me an email explaining to me that the recession has made the business totally unprofitable. But on the other hand the good news is, for the next few days up till the 31st of March, there will be a 50% off all Itsocks products. Just enter in the code "socks50" at checkout.

I personally will be stocking up some of the Gatta tights that itsocks still have!

I have ordered 3 pairs, 1 black and 1 dark grey sized L Gatta 100 den Rosalia and a pair of  Gatta 100 den Black Sheer Opaque Florence Tights. 

Quickly grab them as it will be the last chance to buy them at such a good price! At the same time we are also helping Anna to clear whatever stocks she has and lessen her business loss. Legwear Fashion For Men salutes and bids farewell to itsocks that has been serving us for the good many years! We wish and give our prayers to Anna and to her future endeavours!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Weekly Vibe #20

Hi Creative and Fashionable people!

Welcome to the 20th edition of Weekly Vibe! This week has been full of ups and downs for me, mostly the downs, but thank God I'm looking at the bright side of things! I'm really glad I finally started the LFFM Digest early this week, I actually took a month or so to write the first one actually, the reason why I took that long was that I needed a lot of research and relevant pictures and of course not to mention.. the "disease" of procrastination. But I hope you guys actually enjoy reading the 1st LFFM Digest! 

In the recent news, there has been buzz about  Mantyhose in New York, you could read all about it here. So far the reactions are quite mixed. Well I feel that Mantyhose is a very niche fashion item, not every man will dare to wear them or get caught wearing them with shorts. I had an interesting experience myself last evening, I had on one of the Charnos Navy Blue Opaques with cargo length shorts and when I boarded the train bound home, I noticed 2 Caucasian women looking at me and giggling. Hahahahaha! I really could care less personally. I'm sure if I wore a Ushanka, I will most likely get the same reaction. It is a common trend for artists to be dressed differently, just look at fashion designers, photographers, painters & anyone in the art scene, we stand out! Why be normal and be someone else? We want to be ourselves and people.. just be yourself because everyone else is taken! 

Chan Kraemer, one of the pioneers and the driving force and also my personal inspiration has revamped the Mantyhose.net site. It looks pretty neat right now! I really liked one of the articles he wrote about "Pantyhose For Men / Mantyhose: Not unisex fashion.":

"It’s an old question: are mantyhose just rebranded women’s pantyhose? Are these guys wearing ladies’ garment at the end? Chan Kraemer, founder of mantyhose.net (formerly: e-MANcipate.net) says he doesn’t want to see mantyhose as some kind of crossdressing issue.

“Its genuine male fashion, intented for everyday men” he says. “It’s no way about the weakening of the male idea. Men have strong, muscular legs. Show your mantyhose-decorated legs and you’re saying: here are my legs, they are strong enough to carry me, and I am carrying the whole world – my family, my job, and all the others who rely on me.”

“Its not a surprise that men used to show their legs for centuries, if not for millenia, as a symbol of their strength and manhood. And yes, ladies do find the male legs sexy.”

My salute and hat's off to Chan! I would really love to meet and talk to him in person! For the men out there who have hosiery as part of their fashion wardrobe, Chan has got to be the best inspiration!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

LFFM Digest I: Getting the right size!

Hi Creative and Fashionable friends!

Today's Legwear Fashion For Men (LFFM) Digest will be on the topic of "Getting the right size!" I will be sharing this from my own experience. 

Some might ask.. "So what size hosiery will fit me?" 

I know that there are both men and women who read this blog and yes obviously both men and women do have legs, hence this question bothers both genders. So how?

1) Get to know what is your height and your weight in both Metric and Imperial units of measurement. Why? Because some vendors may use metric or imperial standards for their product size charts.

2) Find out as much information as you want on the hosiery product you are about to buy. Why? The more you know the better it is. And on what information I'm referring to.. Aha.. It's about ratings from customers who have bought and tried it on before. The best I would recommend is reading it in detail from bloggers who do detailed reviews on the hosiery product, as they mostly provide the most information on fit and comfort. I will be providing links to them at the end of this.

3) For the men out there, since we are the much larger built individuals, we most likely be looking at the plus and the extra tall sizes especially for hosiery product marketed for women. Most men can find themselves fitting easily into smaller sizes for hosiery that are made specially for men. 


How do you know if you got the right size?

Well it is pretty simple, putting them on would be a breeze and you will feel comfortable all around, if they were opaques, opacity should be even throughout the legs,(however do take note that some opaque tights, especially when your legs bend regardless of how good the fit is will still show some stretch)if they were sheers you wouldn't see too much stretching all over and uneven colour on the legs. Fit so well you probably forgot you had them on in the first place!

Then it comes to the topic.. How to know whether you got a wrong size? 

#Smaller Sizes

Photo from http://mylifemysonmyway.blogspot.com

There are many tell-tale signs especially when you put it on, for sizes that are smaller some of the signs are pretty obvious like tighter fit(tights with no support qualities) other signs are if there are reinforced briefs, brief lines will appear to be lower than usual riding down your lower thighs, as a rough gauge they usually should just appear about 1 to 2cm or lesser measuring below your crotch.(yes I know some the guys find the reinforced brief showing on girls to be pretty hot but to be honest with you, it's very unsightly for a girl) If you wore undersized opaque tights, you may end up looking like wearing semi opaques due to over stretching of the fabric and not to mention, you find yourself struggling to put them on and no to mention potentially ruining them. And girls I really recommend wearing sheer to waist tights if you are intending on wearing those hot pants, unless you really want unwanted attention... 

#Bigger Sizes

Photo from http://splars.blogspot.com/

You probably may think wearing something bigger might work out.. Well.. yes and no but usually it won't work out too well. Depending on the content of Lycra in the tights, higher meaning better stretchability and leg hugging ability and of course better durability. Larger tights will cause sagging around the back of the knee cap area which is pretty uncomfortable and unsightly, pulling your tights could probably work for a bit but you gotta remember that with the oversized tights you got, the waistband is already pretty high.. Or unless you could fold the waistband outwards and down. And if you don't pull up your tights.. you may end up probably looking like her on top.

#One Size

I haven't really tried these but for the one sized women's hosiery, they actually do have a limit to what size they would fit up to, the guys out there could take the risk and try... Also I realised that  hosiery that just go one size are usually manufactured by mediocre hosiery brands. Premium and good hosiery brands usually have more sizes that will fit right for different individuals. 

#Tall Size

For individuals with longer legs, you aren't left behind! Many premium brands like Fogal, Kunert, Cecilia de Rafael, Gerbe, Aristoc, Hudson, Activskin, Levante, Trasparenze, Charnos, Miss Oroblu & the list goes on provide for customers with longer legs. You may have a slender body with long legs, I do not recommend buying larger XLs because what might just happen will happen to you in what I have written in the #Bigger Sizes point. Always look out for reviews on what you're about to buy, ordering online from tightsplease and UK Tights offer choices of filtering your searches hence making your product search hassle free. 


Conclusion:

You could trial and error for sizes if what you're buying is affordable or cut that cost and refer to point no. 2)

I have compiled a list of hosiery bloggers who review hosiery from a male perspective:

Hosiery For Men
Tights For Men
Le Collant Selon Arnaud (French)
Legwear Fashion For Men

Female perspective:
Fashion My Legs 
Fantasy Stockings
Pantyhose Pantyhose

Next topic on LFFM Digest will be on "How to put them on!" Do keep a look out for it!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Final interview questions with Hosiery Advocate

Hi Creative and Fashionable people!

My interview with +Eugene Wong aka Hosiery Advocate has reached its conclusion! I'm really thankful for the interview Eugene did for me, it is only right that I direct the link of the interview to his blog here I really enjoyed my time getting interviewed by him! He also has put up links to the other interviews we had in that blog post. Do support Eugene's Hosiery Advocate blog and his store. 

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Weekly Vibe #19

Hi Creative and Fashionable friends!

Welcome to the end of the week and it's LFFM's 19th Weekly Vibe! This week was a pretty rough one for me at work but then again I'm really grateful that I have found favour in the sight of my customers and my employers. My customers who because of their feedback motivated my employer to give me a salary increment for the coming months! Today at church I served helping out to shoot some family portraits with their babies who were getting ready for dedication to the Lord, I was wearing my Gatta 100den Rosalia for the 2nd time for reviewing purposes with my cargo pants. Many of the parents were very delighted from the shots I helped to take. 

I'm growing a little concerned with the hosiery which Knittex has already sent me as it hasn't arrived for about a month already, my conjecture is that they might sent it for surface shipping instead of airmail hence it might take up to 2 to 3 months for my samples to arrive. If you guys are a little impatient to want to get them before I review them, you could order them here first hahaha! Currently they just have 3 varieties on sale and from an inside news from them, they will be releasing some patterned ones too! Do keep a look out for them! 

I was spending a lot of time during the week writing a "LFFM Digest" post on "Getting the right sized hosiery" It will be up soon during the coming week! Do keep a look out!

That is all I have for you this week! Have a great weekend and a coming week!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Weekly Vibe #18

Hi Creative and Fashionable individuals

Once again it's the end of the week which means it's Weekly Vibe!! This week was pretty long for me but I really enjoyed my weekends! I went shopping around town and I got myself some stuff from H&M and a new tote bag from ZINC. I also brought mum out for a Japanese buffet dinner at Kiseki... and boy was it awesome!! They had so much varieties and man! I didn't even got the chance to taste every single thing they offered and it was affordable too! 

Images copyrighted to Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant

And obviously when I shop I do wear have legwear on as usual, this time I wore the Gatta 100 den Rosalia Opaque Tights, I will get down to the review on that in the weeks to come. Earlier today after church service we had a little fun at lunch, for the funnier part, my cellgroup members thought I looked like Psy.. the Gangnam Style guy with the shades and hairstyle I wore and did this rather entertaining photo of me.. Hahaha!

Hahaha I suppose I do look a little like him but probably the younger version... :P Today before dinner at home I had a little fun with my niece and shot a little photo of her! Boy did she look adorable with the new shades my sister got for her! :)

As for hosiery news, as you all might have read that Knittex is sending me samples of their men's hosiery to me for reviews! It's my first time actually receiving free hosiery other than the twitter competition I won with Tightsplease and got a pair of Aristoc 120 den tights. I personally look forward to providing all of you readers high quality blog posts for the coming times!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Knittex samples

Hi Creative and Fashionable people!
Knittex has written back to me a few days ago and has told me that they have already sent me samples of their mens line of hosiery to me, I really can't wait to get them! I'm really thankful that they are actually supporting legwear fashion bloggers and at the same time promoting their products! 

I look forward to receiving and doing a review on them soon!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Just Arrived: Gatta Rosalia 100 den Opaque Tights

Hi Creative and Fashionable people!

I ordered the Gatta 100 den Rosalia on a previous Saturday and they just arrived. I purchased them from ITSOCKS

Do keep a lookout for a review that I will be doing for these tights!

Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh

Weekly Vibe #17

Hi Fashionable and Creative people!

Once again welcome to LFFM's Weekly Vibe!! This week would be the 17th edition! I had quite a week actually. My friend Vanessa brought me out to celebrate my birthday and guess who I saw at ION Orchard? We saw Jackie Chan!! Yes THE Jackie Chan!! Well I totally lost the nerve to take any photos of him and so sad to say... No photos.. but I was glad I did get to see him for real as I probably wouldn't ever see him that up close during his own personal shopping time with his friends and family.

I caught a pretty bad cold this week as well and I'm still in the process right now of recovery. I did try something new last night though, I slipped on my A866 Full support opaques and wore them to sleep. I realised that the heat retention was really great on the lower part of my body, as if I didn't think I needed my blanket at all. 

I'm currently also working on an article series on hosiery.. do keep a look out for it! 


Thanks for reading!
Andreas Lucius Loh