Welcome to Pompea

Nothing feels more rewarding than making a new find. I've been at this long enough that sometimes I think I know all there is to know. When it comes to certain brands of tights, I can spout intricacies of the top of my head as if I had designed them myself. For many of these brands, I know how much they cost, how long they'll last, how they'll look, how they'll feel, all before even removing them from the package. Trust me...I know I sound like a complete and utter loser talking about tights like this. But this blog is a few short months away from its third birthday. And I've spent a lot of posts talking about tights...what can I say?

While I know so much about the brands I'm familiar with, there is a lot left out there to explore. Much like shopping in stores, shopping online, while still having a lot more variety, often brings you to the same brands as you go from website to website. As such, I had never heard of Pompea until recently. In this case, you could most definitely say better late than never.

Pompea has been around since 1996, when started in Italy by Adriano Rodella (hmmm...ever notice how many hosiery designers are men?). Their story reads like hundreds of case studies I did in grad school, they grew (and continue to grow) through a slow and steady stream of mergers and acquisitions (I'll leave it at that and not bore you with the details). Still, they are a relatively small brand outside of Italy. Their mission is to create hosiery with attention to technology, fashion, and price.

Their collection is worth checking out, as they certainly have a ton of different styles. Today I am looking at Pompea Sheer 20. As you can probably tell from the name, its your basic sheer to waist tight. As you probably guessed from the name, these tights are 20 denier. 20 is quickly becoming my favorite denier count. At 20, it's still sheer enough that, if you match it closely enough to your skin tone, it can look like your natural skin, whereas it isn't so sheer that you feel like you're going to tear a hole in it the second you move.

These tights have a slight but not overpowering shine to them. They are very very soft and comfortable as well as smooth on the legs. They're equally as good at formal wear as they are with casual. They can definitely work with a variety of different looks. It has a soft but wide waistband and a sheer, but slightly visible reinforced toe with a flat seam. These tights are fully boarded, which I explained here, if you are unfamiliar with that term.

They are made from a blend of 92% nylon and 8% elastane. In terms of cost...think: drugstore brand...only with a level of quality that doesn't compare at all. I bought these from a Canadian website for $8.99 CAD which is about the same in USD these days. For that price, its looks like I've found yet another go-to value brand. And what's more rewarding than that?

**photo courtesy of Shapings.com