{"id":1280,"date":"2018-10-09T21:45:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T21:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bettybutch.com\/?p=1280"},"modified":"2019-05-21T21:42:54","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T21:42:54","slug":"review-kixies-sam-black-fishnet-thigh-high-tights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettybutch.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/09\/review-kixies-sam-black-fishnet-thigh-high-tights\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Kix’ies Sam Black Fishnet Thigh High Tights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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[Description: A fat white nonbinary person crouching on a hill. They\u2019re wearing a faux leather jacket, boots, and fishnet tights with four thin black bands at the top.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Fishnets have been a major turn-on for me for the entirety of my post-puberty life. I\u2019ve always associated them with sexual openness, and they\u2019re core to a number of aesthetics that appeal to me. Punk rock babes, emo enbies, goth boys, sluts of all sorts \u2013 fishnets can be regal or they can be trashy, but for me they\u2019ll always flag sexual being<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that \u2018sexual being\u2019 is an attribute rarely associated with fat people in our culture. We don\u2019t really get to put our sexuality on display because sexy clothing \u2013 leather, lingerie, kink gear \u2013 isn\u2019t readily available in plus sizes. Oh, you\u2019re fat and want to look hot for a night out? Hope you feel sexually empowered by blouses that could probably double as nurse smocks.<\/p>\n

But things are<\/em> changing. Slowly. Plus size options are getting better (the expensive ones, anyway) and that includes the racier portion of fashion. It\u2019s no longer impossible<\/em> to find something hot… But it\u2019s still mostly an online guessing game. A retailer might carry your dimensions, but there\u2019s no guarantee it was designed with your<\/em> body in mind. Things roll and tuck and sag and squeeze and you\u2019re still left feeling like sexuality isn\u2019t something for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Soooo here\u2019s the part where I introduce the product I\u2019m reviewing that I think tackles this head-on. You knew it was coming. It\u2019s in the title!<\/p>\n

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[Description: A cropped picture of a person barefoot in a dress, holding a pair of black high heels and wearing fishnet stockings. There’s a tear in the fishnets behind the person’s knee.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Back in July, the superheroes behind SheVibe<\/a> sent me a pair of Kix\u2019ies Sam Black Thigh-High Tights<\/a>. Kix\u2019ies come in a variety of designs<\/a>, but my longtime kink for fishnets could not be denied. (Thanks, SheVibe!)<\/p>\n

Kix\u2019ies Sam Tights come in a thin cardboard slip-cover. I\u2019ve got mixed feelings about the branding\/marketing due to its unnecessary and alienating gendering, but at least it features a picture of an actual person\u2019s legs wearing the stockings (a nice touch considering how often plus size clothes are modeled by thin folks.) More importantly, the back of the packaging has a sizing chart and some brief but body-positive measuring instructions. These are also featured on SheVibe:<\/p>\n

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[Description: Kix’ies sizing chart as featured on SheVibe. Four potential sizes list their height, weight, and thigh width dimensions.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Kix\u2019ies come in four sizes to ensure you get the best fit for your body<\/em>. For plus size folks comfortably within Kix\u2019ies\u2019 range, this is a game changer because we\u2019re so often thwarted by one-size-fits-all tights. The largest size is labeled 35 inches (which is my thigh width) but it has a considerable amount of give, so I think folks outside the advertised range could shimmy into it too.<\/p>\n

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I have a fabric tape measure (which you can nab for cheap on Amazon or in the craft\/fabric section of your local big-box store) so I was able to wrap it around my leg at mid-thigh for easy measurement. I\u2019m 6\u2019 with 35 inch thighs, so I went with D. My parner is almost 5\u20197\u201d with 26 inch thighs, which also made them a D.<\/p>\n

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[Description: A person in a faux leather jacket, leaning forward with their hands in their pockets. The four-banded tops of the Kixies rest just beneath the person’s shorts.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Kix\u2019ies Thigh Highs<\/a> are a majority-nylon and spandex blend, densely woven into a hexagon-based pattern. Inside the attractive banding at the top of the stockings there\u2019s several rings of thin, pliable silicone; this is advertised as the \u201cstrong but gentle\u201d grip that prevents the Kix\u2019ies from rolling or slumping during wear, even on thighs of generous size. The fabric seems denser at the toes, but it\u2019s still plenty translucent to show off your toes. If you\u2019re into that.<\/p>\n

You put Kix\u2019ies on like any other stockings: bunching them up until you can stick your foot in, and gently unrolling\/pulling them up your leg. Because the silicone bands grab at your skin, you have to be mindful of not letting them drag \u2013 but once you\u2019ve pulled the stocking up to the desired height on your thigh, the banding stays in place comfortably and is not at all restrictive feeling.<\/p>\n

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[Description: A close-up of a person sitting in the grass, their stockings-clad bare feet posed beside discarded high heels.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>And that lack of restriction is just one aspect of what sets these fishnets apart. For the first few wears, the Kix\u2019ies Sam Thigh Highs<\/a>\u00a0felt dangerously comfortable: light, fairly breathable, and magically still in place even after a lot of movement. They didn\u2019t squeeze. They didn\u2019t sag. They didn\u2019t tuck or roll. They stayed exactly where you put them, and they don\u2019t pinch or tug at your skin to achieve their mystical immovable state. No garters are necessary\u2026 for awhile.<\/p>\n

To put this magic to the test, the Kix\u2019ies Sam Thigh Highs<\/a> were worn to run errands, out on a date, and into bed, and no amount of activity could shift them more than a quarter of an inch. (And that only happened in bed with a bit of of rolling around directly against a surface.) That is, until they were worn a fifth<\/em> time, to take pictures for this review.<\/p>\n

As mysteriously effective as the grip once was, suddenly it was useless. The fishnets became as slumpy as any normal pair and had to be adjusted constantly. Boo!<\/p>\n

Now, Kix\u2019ies says their tights are \u201cbuilt to last\u201d on the packaging. I\u2019m not so sure how much I agree with that assessment, since after five wears, our Sam pair has gone from sleek perfection to punk rock \u2013 there\u2019s a tear in each leg and some of the silicone strings are pulling free from the banding. The loose strings can be snipped (though perhaps this is part of what contributed to their sagging now) and the tears can be worked into an aesthetic, but not everyone is into a post-moshpit look. So at least for the Sam Fishnet Thigh Highs, be prepared for vigorous but temporary use, or gentler use to extend their life.<\/p>\n

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[Description: A close-up of a person’s legs. There is a small white tag visible inside the banding of the fishnets, and there are two prominent rips in the netting on the person’s calf and behind their knee.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>My partner and I kept waiting for the Kix\u2019ies Fishnets<\/a> to start slumping while out and about \u2013 instinctively pawing the banding to check if it needed adjustments \u2013 but the advertised no-slip grip kept exceeding our expectations… until it didn\u2019t, and the transition was immediate rather than subtly aggravating. And the nylon\/spandex netting stayed soft and breathable even in Florida\u2019s aggressive humidity. Wearing them felt like a prolonged magic trick every time, until abruptly the magic was gone.<\/p>\n[Update 10\/17:<\/strong>\u00a0Kix\u2019ies reached out to let me know this quick erosion of the no-slip grip is unusual, and that you should be able to get about a dozen wears out of their stockings. They\u2019ve offered to send me another pair to try, so I\u2019ll be updating this again in a few weeks to see if ours was a fluke or some inadvertent mistake on my part.<\/p>\n

Kix\u2019ies noted two possible causes, using lotion or not cleaning them properly, but neither applied. But for reference for the rest of you, just keep in mind some lotions will cause slippage, and cleaning can be done with a mild hand soap. \u201cDon\u2019t soak [the] band too long \u2013 just a rinse,\u201d Kix\u2019ies told me on Twitter, \u201cYou can soak the fabric longer.\u201d They also sent along the suggestion of clipping the stockings off the band and repurposing them as headbands, which is brilliant!]\n

At around $20 USD, I actually think the Kix\u2019ies Sam Black Fishnet Thigh High Tights<\/a> are worth the asking price despite not being fit for the long haul. I\u2019ve paid more for ill-fitting, lower-quality fishnets that didn\u2019t have a magical no-slip grip and lasted a single wear. The ability to pull on sexy stockings that are designed to fit my body and not just my dimensions, that make me look hot but don\u2019t require constant babysitting and adjustments (at first), is something so new to me it\u2019s hard to parse a lower price even when faced with the shortcomings.<\/p>\n

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[Description: A person wearing a black dress with lipstick lips on it. Their legs are snugly encased in fishnets.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>I\u2019m a sexual being. My partner is a sexual being. And it\u2019s nice to feel affirmed as such, sauntering around without a care in the world\u2026 since we\u2019re<\/em> fine with a little wear and tear.\u00a0Your mileage may literally vary.<\/p>\n

You can get a pair of\u00a0Kix\u2019ies Sam Black Fishnet Thigh High Tights<\/a> from SheVibe for $21 USD at the time of this posting, but SheVibe carries several other Kix\u2019ies designs<\/a> if fishnets aren\u2019t your thing.<\/p>\n

Thank you, SheVibe<\/a>, for sending me the\u00a0Kix\u2019ies Sam Black Fishnets in exchange for an honest review. Affiliate links were used in this post.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fishnets have been a major turn-on for me for the entirety of my post-puberty life. I’ve always associated them with sexual openness, and they’re core to a number of aesthetics that appeal to me. Punk rock babes, emo enbies, goth boys, sluts of all sorts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[721,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sex-toys","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t