I was fairly excited about these stockings because I thought, "What could be better than having stockings that come already attached to a garter belt and for half of the price of buying them separately?" As I quickly discovered, having everything in one piece is not always a good thing when it comes to hosiery, nor is going for the cheapest option always the most advisable route.

The stockings are made of 100% nylon according to the package (which likely includes the lace in the garter belt) and are not footed to start off with (more on that below). The opaqueness of the black nylon makes it slightly see through while remaining dark enough to conceal leg hair, making this a good stocking for those like myself who do not shave on a regular basis. A big plus is that while many types of stockings can make one scratch their legs constantly, these are not noticeably itchy.

Despite this, however, the cons outweigh the pros to the point where I had to give this two stars. The main downfall being the integrity of the stocking material. When I first tried them on they fit well enough and appeared to have a decent amount of flexibility. The garter belt stayed in place around my hips and even when I pulled it a bit higher up towards my waist. However, since I am a petite person, I had to pull the stockings a good way up my thigh so the garter straps could do their job.

Then I wore these a second time to a formal event to see how they would hold up outside the bedroom. Unlike other pantyhose and stockings I have owned, these had remained stretched out after the first wearing to were even the foot was still visible. They were easier to put on, but then after sitting in a car for about thirty minutes, I got out of the car and stood up only to have the stockings start drooping towards the ankles. If I had not worn boyshorts beneath my skirt and over the garter, the entire thing might have fallen down completely. Raising the garter belt up to my waist only did so much and I kept having to fix and pull at my stockings all evening.

Additionally, having the garter attached to the tights (with no way to detach them) can make it difficult to put on at first. Even after having worn these at least twice, it still takes several minutes and multiple attempts at times to get it on correctly. The trick is to make sure the sides of the garter belt are on the outsides of the legs before sticking your foot into the stocking and pulling it up. But it can still be a puzzle because of the way the lace can twist on itself. Nonetheless, I would rather have to deal with such confusion in a dress or other outer garment than a wardrobe staple.

I've worn these once more since the initial review and they still remain stretched out and saggy. The garter belt seems silly now since it's basically a band of lace that is permanently attached by four more bands of lace to droopy stockings. I'm going to wait and invest in a big-girl garter belt.