In The Running -- Pantyhose Testers Stretch The Limits Of Different Brands In Search Of The Perfect Pair
Pantyhose, that garment women love to hate, rang up sales of $2.6 billon last year in the United States alone. Never mind that the industry has whined about flat or sagging sales for several years. Those sales represent 1.2 billion pairs of pantyhose. Think about it! Laid waist-to-toe that's enough pantyhose to wrap around the earth 30 times.
Why do we buy so many pantyhose? Probably because most women are still seeking the perfect pair. And we have lots to choose from: Sixty-nine American companies make women's sheer hosiery sold at prices ranging from as little as a $1 a pair to $20 a pair.
To find out what the differences among them are, we recruited 14 volunteers to test five brands and rate them on such things as style, texture, comfort/size, original color consistency, color after washing and overall acceptability. The brands we selected included two inexpensive 100 percent nylon lines as well as the pricier styles with combinations of nylon and Lycra, or nylon and spandex.
In fact, if you're still wearing hose made from 100 percent nylon, sorry, Ma'am: The world has passed you by. The Sara Lee Corp. of cheesecake fame gobbled up the lead in department store hosiery sales about five years ago by adding Lycra to Hanes. It seems aging Americans, with more curves and love handles to smooth and support, have made Lycra the hottest thing in hose. Or so advertising hype would have us believe.
For the test we chose and purchased:
No nonsense Regular, (under $2).
JC Penney Sheer Toes Nude Heel (under $2).
Hanes Silk Reflections Style 717, with control top and sandaltoe ($5.50).
Nordstrom Style 92, Lycra Sheer Leg Sandaltoe with control top ($5.75).
Donna Karan's Style 265, control top ($12).
Donna Karan was the clear winner. (See adjacent chart for complete ratings.)
"I guess you get what you pay for," said one participant.
Many testers said Donna Karan had the best fit they'd found. Despite some snags, Rhonda Berry got 12 wearings out of Donna Karan, and said the pair was still acceptable after two months of testing. Berry will buy the brand because of comfort and durability.
Among Donna Karan's features is an inch-wide waist band that doesn't bind most wearers; more hose fabric sewn into the waistband so it doesn't separate easily, and a different weave around the crotch that doesn't seem to break down. Participants also liked its silky texture.
One complaint about pantyhose is that most brands have no label in the product. So when you have a problem and want to return the hose, it's hard to know who made them. Three of the brands we tested, Donna Karan, Hanes and JC Penney, have labels.
"When you are willing to put your name in the waistband of the product like Donna Karan, that says something," said panelist Ezraella Bassera.
What would they buy?
When we asked our panelists what they would buy from among the five brands tested, their answers were different from the wear-test results.
"I liked the Donna Karan but I'm not sure I'd ever pay $12 for hose. It would be my luck to have them run on the first/second wearing. You should have seen my daughter's eyes when I casually told her how much the hose I had on cost," said Mary T. Stallworth.
Only two women in our study would buy Donna Karan on a regular basis. Five would buy it for special occasions. One person didn't like the fit.
So considering style, fiber content, price and comfort, what would these women buy?
Four women said they would buy Hanes and four would buy Nordstrom - the mid-priced lines; three said they would buy JC Penney, and one woman said she would buy No nonsense - the least expensive lines tested.
The preference ratings indicated that the participants prefer hose with Lycra for fit, comfort and looks. And the more Lycra, the better.
-- Donna Karan's panty is 80 percent nylon, 20 percent Lycra; the leg is 79 percent nylon, 21 percent Lycra.
-- Hanes' panty is 80 percent nylon, 20 percent spandex; the leg, 85 percent nylon, 15 percent spandex.
-- Nordstrom's panty is 84 percent nylon, 16 percent Lycra; leg, 81 percent nylon, 19 percent Lycra.
-- The No nonsense and JC Penney styles are 100 percent nylon and do not have control tops.
The "buy" ratings indicate that women with an eye on their budget will wear mid-priced lines and even buy products with a texture they don't like for spares or travel convenience.
Rating texture
Nordstrom Style 92 ranked second to Donna Karan in texture evaluations, followed by Hanes, No nonsense and JC Penney. Five women didn't like the texture or the shape of JC Penney's 100 percent nylon product; six said they "hated" the texture. Nonetheless, many women would buy the brand because of its durability and price.
Dotty Rainey, brand development manager for women's hosiery for JC Penney, said we should have tested a Penney brand with Lycra or microfiber, such as Sheer Caress or Supreme Caress, because they would have been comparable to the Donna Karan style.
But we explained the test was to find out whether women would wear and like plain, inexpensive 100 percent nylon as much as they did a more expensive nylon/Lycra combination.
No nonsense also has styles with spandex, similar to Lycra, in its Great Shapes line.
Sara Lee, the Chicago corporation that brought you the Wonderbra, makes both Donna Karan and Hanes hosiery. We found that interesting because our panelists seemed to like the texture of both labels equally well.
But a spokeswoman for Sara Lee pointed out that the corporation makes many different styles using different combinations of yarns, and consumers shouldn't assume two different products have identical materials.
Sara Lee's other hosiery lines include L'Eggs; Just My Size and Fitting Pretty, queen sizes; Color Me Natural, Afrotique and Brown Sugar, ethnic lines.
Not surprisingly Sara Lee holds 56 percent of the dollar share of hosiery sales in food, drug and mass merchandise stores, and 60 percent in department stores because of Hanes' sales.
Overall acceptability
After two months of testing:
- Seven panelists still found Donna Karan acceptable for wearing.
- Seven found JC Penney acceptable.
- Four found No nonsense acceptable.
- Three found Hanes acceptable.
- Three found Nordstrom acceptable.
The cost factor
Retailers and representatives of hosiery manufacturers urge women to divide the cost of hose by the number of wearings when considering price.
But that's not how most women view the purchase. On an average, women buy from 10 to 18 pair of pantyhose a year, so they see dollar signs - not legs - at the hosiery counter.
Shelby Gilje's Troubleshooter column appears Wednesday and Sunday in the Scene section of The Times. Do you have a consumer problem? Write to Times Troubleshooter, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Include copies, not originals, of appropriate documents. Phone, 464-2262, FAX 382-8873.
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Donna Karan
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"I would buy Donna Karan for special occasions and bad hair days. Best-fitting pantyhose I've ever worn. Was like not wearing pantyhose at all. Very comfortable." - Barbara Slife, Lynnwood.
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Hanes
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"OK fit and feel and colors. Price OK. But Hanes never fit just right on me, tends to `slide' down" - Barbara Slife, Lynnwood.
"Very fragile. Has weak spots in surprise places like mid-calf and from tugging to pull on or off. Undependable." - Lydia Justice Edwards, Boise, Idaho.
"For me, fit and comfort are of primary importance; color second and texture third. Price is important also, but I am willing to pay a bit more for a more comfortable fit. Hence Hanes is my first choice, and No nonsense is second." - Caroline G. Perrault, Seattle.
"Nice texture, comfortable, wears well, priced reasonably." - Patricia Harrison, Oak Harbor.
"These looked bad from the start. If I had an enemy, I'd buy these for them." Barb Dillon Pocrnich, Seattle.
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Nordstrom
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"Nordstrom was the longest-wearing and retained shape best, considering price and value." - Frances Underwood, Seattle.
"Felt as though these hose were cruising down my thighs. Seams gave way. Needs work. It, like Hanes, isn't meant to last." - Lydia Justice Edwards, Boise, Idaho.
"If they hadn't torn in the crotch, I could still wear them." - Barbara Slife, Lynnwood.
"I would buy this brand. It feels silky; panty is well made. Would probably get a reinforced toe." - Jan D'Arcy, Bellevue.
"I'd buy these, but I don't like them as much as Anne Taylor's, which are about the same price." - Amy Hevly, Seattle.
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No nonsense
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"I would purchase the No nonsense." - Mary T. Stallworth, Seattle. "Would consider No nonsense a `throwaway' for travel when it may be hard to do hand washing, or as a spare at work." - Frances Underwood, Seattle.
"Yuck." - Amy Hevly, Seattle.
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JC Penney
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"I would and do buy these for everyday wear. Looks are OK, very comfortable." - Barb Dillon Pocrnich, Seattle.
"The pits. Wouldn't wear a second time. Would not purchase. Not comfortable, made my legs look mottled, very unflattering. No shape." - Barbara Slife, Lynnwood.
"Felt like wearing burlap." - Rhonda Berry, Seattle.
"Will buy due to durability and price, although it does not fit; sags at the ankle." - E. Pia Palconit.