These Leg Avenue "Sheer Lace Top Stockings with Woven Bows and Floral Pattern" thigh highs arrive in the typical stocking/pantyhose packaging. The stockings are folded on a thin piece of cardboard surrounded by a thin cardboard folder and inserted in a clear plastic bag. On both sides there is a clear and accurate picture of what to expect inside.

Please follow Leg Avenues' washing instructions which is to hand wash in warm water, no chlorine bleach, drip dry and do not iron (does anyone out there iron stockings?). The material is 100% nylon, exclusive of decoration, which I interpret to mean the velvety embroidered design. The design material remains a mystery. I am not one to do much hand washing, so I put the stockings in a lingerie bag and washed them with dark colors in cold water. I did not machine dry, but placed them on a towel to air dry. They came out fine but I am probably shortening their usable life span.

Before handling these delicate stockings I recommend filing your nails, checking your cuticles and massaging some hand cream into your hands. I always do this and find the rate of snags greatly decreases. These stockings are too sexy and too pretty to ruin with snags and runs. Snags really are not sexy.

On each dark, but sheer, stocking, starting just above the ankle bone, there is a velvety, delicately embroidered floral design. It is tiny flowers running off a vine like design that scrolls up to almost the knee. Right in the middle of the design is a bow with a small rhinestone like gem. This detail adds a bit of glamor and is really an eye catcher. The bow, which is the widest point, measures about 3" across when I am wearing them. Measurements of anything with stretch are very subjective and will vary from person to person because each person's body is shaped differently--even if you weigh, measure and wear the same size, stretchy items will still vary by your body. These stockings are sized in the infamous "one size fits most", which is almost always misleading. For me, I was able to easily pull them up my legs (with the rolling method most women use) without much stretching. There was a moderate amount of stretch left. Even without using much stretch, there was no bagging or sagging at the knees or ankles.

The beautiful lace at the top is a nice scroll and flower design. Right from the package, the lace measures 3.5" X 8.25". There is no tight, gripper lining that is found on stockings designed to stay up on their own so you should know (before you order) that garters (or velcro--but definitely not sexy or comfortable!) will be necessary. At 8" above the top of my knee, my thigh measures 22", which sounds like a fat leg, but really my legs are pretty slim (unlike my waist, but that's another story...). These stockings easily reach to that point and are very comfortable. As I said, they do require garters to hold them up. When wearing garters, be sure not to pull the stockings too taunt because there needs to be some give so that the garters will not rip or otherwise damage the stockings. For reference purposes, I am 5'3" tall with a 28--29" inseam and I weigh 140 and wear a size 7 shoe.

These stockings are beautiful, sexy and comfortable. They do need to be handled carefully when putting them on to be sure the design sits properly on your legs and while hand washing to prevent snags/runs. I went to a wedding wearing my go to little black dress (LBD) with these stockings. I held them up with a garter panty. I wore black shoes with a low heel (I don't do 6" heels) and silver jewelery. I can not tell you how many comments I received on the stockings!! Not many people said anything about my dress, but everyone seemed to notice the stockings. They commented on the beauty and how unique they are. No one had ever seen anything like them. I referred everyone to EF!

I don't just like these stockings, I love them. They are really sexy but in a way that you can wear them in public and just know that every eye is focused on you. They are very delicate and don't have a long life span, but when something looks this good, who cares?