Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Opening New Vistas in Men's Legwear

ActivSkin Style A2019 in TanFormerly, as an ActivSkin customer, I had my favorite style: A569, which is a full support style with a well-designed male-comfort front panel. In my new capacity as marketing director, I now have not only the opportunity, but--dare I say it--the responsibility, to try the other styles we offer so I'm familiar with them. Yes, it sounds like I'm about to say something like, "it's a dirty job, but SOMEBODY'S gotta do it." Or, "I'm a DOCTOR, Jim--not a pantyhose tester!" (...apologies to all the Star Trek fans out there).

Anyways, I must say the experience is teaching me something about how easy it is for us to get into patterns of thinking (ruts) that are hard to break out of. As new styles were added, I was always happy to keep gravitating to the old standby, A569. They've been a very good style, but are being phased out as we sell the remaining stock. But, in the process of sampling the various other styles we offer, I've had my eyes opened about what I had been missing by not at least trying out some of these other styles.

For instance, today I have on a pair of the A582s, which are very comfortable indeed. They're a full-support micro-fabric. product that does very well for someone is looking for a fair amount of leg compression without giving up comfort. I've had them on most of the day already and my legs are not feeling at all achy, tired or sluggish.

Yesterday, I had on a pair of A2019, which are also a full-support, microfabric product. These have 36% Spandex, compared to the 24% Spandex found in the A582s. If you are looking for some serious leg support, these are definitely the ones for you. Although we don't bill them as 'graduated compression', they feel like it to me. You can actually feel the leg getting snugger as you pull them up over your arm (i.e., sticking your hand down into the foot to bunch them up and pull on), and so to me they seem to provide a 'graduated compression' fit when I wear them.

Being made of such a high Spandex content, they are not what you could call 'stealthy' if you are looking to wear them with shorts and not have anyone realize you're wearing them. For me, that's not a problem since I make it my job to be seen wearing legwear just about wherever I go. The pair that I wore yesterday were tan color, and I thought they looked pretty good on my legs, but that's a decision everyone has to make for himself. The A582 is more sheer and if the color is a decent match to your skintone you may be able to wear them with shorts and not attract much, if any, attention.

Of course, these are but a couple of examples of ActivSkin styles I've recently worn and thought to myself, "Wow. I've been missing out. I've gotta start wearing these more often!" So, if you're reading this and are thinking about placing an order, just remember that ActivSkin's generous return policy takes the risk out of trying a style you're not positive you'll like. We offer full refund or replacement with another style within 10 days of receiving your order. If you decide to try the A2019s because Steve said 'they'll rejuvenate your legs like nobodies business' and you find they're too tight through the brief to suit you, all you have to do is send them back and ask for a refund. It doesn't get much easier than that.


  1. Hi Steve,

    I came across an article on the issue of homophobia on the youth ( and then I thought about the idea of making it possible for teenage guys to wear pantyhose as a means of reducing homophobia in the schools. Interestingly, the idea is well-liked. Check out my posts there and their responses. Does your store sell tights for teenage boys by any chance or is it for adult men only?

    P.S.: In the first video, the teenage guy who was speaking was coming close to the girl in pantyhose. I don't really care if someone's homosexual or heterosexual but I often think that both sides engaging in protests especially at school can be completely disruptive as kids need to learn if they're going to stop losing their jobs to outsourcing anyway.

  2. Give them names not just numbers! A582... A2019... sounds like prototype nuclear missiles, not pairs of tights! Or was that the idea, because you couldn't come up with names that made them sound more masculine??? Please forgive me, I don't mean to sound flippant, I'm a male tights wearer and I really appreciate what you are doing. I will be following this blog with interest and wish you and fellow tights wearers across the world my best wishes and the best of luck.

  3. I want wear pantyhose but i can`t find in istanbul turkey for men models please do something
    GOD bless you Mr Newman

  4. Let me address the easy question first: ActivSkin sells legwear based on size, not age. Thus, anyone who fits a certain size can wear it, regardless of age. For that matter, women can wear them as well if they choose to. There would be nothing preventing teenage boys from wearing pantyhose to school for whatever reasons they choose--as long as they didn't run afoul of school policy.

    That being said, I'm not at all eager to wade into this whole issue as part of legwear advocacy. I see too many people unfairly tagged with the 'homophobic' label simply because they don't believe it is right. There is a vast difference between that, and advocating violence or discrimination. Unfortunately, if you believe the former, you get identified as being the latter.

    I know I may be opening myself up to a good deal of ire because of what I've written above, but I hope that readers will clearly see the distinction.

    For instance, let's apply it to men's legwear (which is what this blog is about anyways). There are probably still a great many people who think pantyhose for men is a crazy idea and they would never dream of trying it. OK, fine. Maybe there are also quite a few that think it's just plain wrong. Again... fine. I have the prerogative to continue my work here trying to persuade others that this really IS a fine idea, and they should at least give it a try. That is my right as an American.

    But, as soon as I try to paint those who doggedly stick to their opinion as hatemongers and hose-aphobics (pretty silly-sounding word, I know), then I've veered away from reality, and I'm trying to unfairly attack their character. They may be fine, loving people--but just think men wearing hose is wrong, not for them, etc. So, they have that right.

    Of course, if people are going about beating up guys who wear hose, or denying them the opportunity to make a living--well that's definitely wrong. Every State in the Union has laws on the books against assault, murder, etc. and that's what anyone who does that should be charged with and penalized for.

    So, Jennifer, not to rain on your parade, but if someone wants to make use of ActivSkin legwear while making a point of some sort, that's fine, but I'm not going to get involved with it.

  5. BTW, Jennifer, I watched the video, but to be honest I don't get what you're referring to about the guy speaking getting near the girl in the pantyhose???

  6. Harry, we have had comments on the style names before. It's hard to decide what is the best way to go with it. Names (as opposed to letter/number combos) can have some pitfalls, too. The Gerbe brand that we carry uses names, but they don't always translate well to another language. For instance, the 'Drain-up' style name sounds somewhat awkward to our English-speaking ears. In French, it refers to the graduated compression that helps blood circulation up and out of our legs.

    Steve Katz is going to be out of town this week, but maybe if he checks in and has time to give some input, maybe he can also share some background on our style naming conventions. Knowing the background sometimes help to keep the names straight.

  7. As for Istanbul, I'm afraid that's a little beyond my reach. Sorry I can't provide any more than moral support for you there.


    I was referring to the girl wearing green shorts. It could be a shadow effect on her legs making it look like she's wearing hose.

    I forgot to ask one question on the compression part of the tights you mentioned. Do these tights compress just the lower parts of the legs, upper mainly, or is the compression uniform? My thighs even more than my ankles could sure use better compression.

  9. Jennifer, I know which girl you're referring to in the video, and yes, she may be wearing pantyhose--but I don't get what point you were making about the guy who was speaking getting near to her?

    As for the tights, technically speaking none of ActivSkin's tights are 'graduated compression' hosiery--meaning that they have uniform leg compression from top to bottom. What I referred to is that on the A2019s that I tried on, when I ran my arm up into the leg prior to getting ready to put them on, I could feel that the lower leg part was a bit tighter than the upper leg part, which is the way graduated compression hose feel. In other words, even though we don't market them as graduated compression, the A2019s have the 'feel' of a graduated compression hosiery.

  10. The dark brown nearly matches my leg color surprisingly. Come to think of it, I can perfectly cover up up skin imperfections on my legs and not be afraid to wear my shorts anymore. Plus, I'm slowly remembering my good old days when I used to be part of the soccer team wearing those long and thick socks.


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