I have seen these cute socks in Japanese magazine street snaps for awhile now and never could find the brand that sold them. Finally I found the brand name listed and as luck would have it they are an US company. They offer mix and match prints and styles for custom tights, thigh highs, leggings and socks of all types. I was very excited to order these and now that I have them here is a review!
Celeste Stein ‘first kiss’ print opaque thigh highs. http://celestestein.com/
Ordering: The website is quite easy to navigate and has nice clear pictures of the prints offered. But nowhere does it specify if the prints are repeating or only appear once on the socks. If I hadn’t seen these socks in worn pictures I most likely would have skipped this cute design. Another little gripe is that the shipping cost is not shown until you have already entered your payment info; shipping for one pair was 7.95… a bit steep for a tiny item shipped one state over. They use flat rate shipping (for up to how many items I don’t know) if I had known this in advance I might have considered buying multiple pairs. After paying I received a conformation email letting me know that each order is custom printed and would be shipped 3-10 days after the order was placed. This was not stated on the website, the wait time doesn’t bother me but I can imagine some people might be ordering with an event or deadline and have a problem with this.
Shipping:
They were shipped Aug. 15th and arrived Aug. 18th actual postage was $4.75 shipped USPS priority mail. The socks were not wrapped in anything just placed in a large (very much larger that the item) cardboard envelope. The fact they weren’t in plastic doesn’t bother me but in areas with more rain it could be a bit of a problem.
The sock themselves:
I knew I was going to love the design after seeing them so many times :) the print is vibrant and detailed in person. They are thick enough to stay opaque when worn (even over my skin tone) and the pattern is not visibly distorted by my leg size. They stay up very well and I didn’t notice any slipping when worn. There is no ‘foot’ part of the thigh highs they look like tube sock. The fit of the sock is a bit off though…first off here are my leg measurements (I think my legs are fairly average sized but I do have slightly thick thighs ;P)
Ankle: 7inches
Widest part of calf: 11 inches
Thigh where sock ends: 15 inches
Inseam: 37 inches O_0
Mainstream brand socks (target, forever 21, etc.) fit me well save for the length issue.
The thigh highs are true to length as listed on the website. The really nice thing is they have socks in many lengths so girls of all height s can find something fitting!
The fit issues start for me with the fact one is slightly tighter than the other one and the reinforced band at the top is slightly wider. I think the tightness issue will resolve itself after a few wears but the band problem is visible. The other issue is bagging at the ankle, the socks don’t conform to my ankle very much, with most Lolita shoes this isn’t too obvious but it is unflattering.
For fit recommendations I’m not sure I’d recommend (at least this style) for anyone with too much larger of legs. I do think is pattern, the once repeating type, is very forgiving to stretch much more so then the all over repeating style of some of the prints offered. I tried sliding my arm into the socks and stretching them to see at what size they distorted at, a few inches more at each measurement would be all I’d recommend, again the stretch-ability of the other styles offered might be different.
Over all I really love these socks, much more for the cute design then the fit or service. If I didn’t like the print these would have been a total bust for me. Chances are I will be buying another pair or two. The issues I mentioned with shipping cost surprises and wait times aren’t really an issue, they just were an unwelcome surprise for a first time buyer and won’t bother me in future purchases. I will be checking retailers and eBay auctions that have her socks for better deals. I have seen the more popular designs resold often, at time at lower price (especially when you include shipping).
Pros:
Cute vibrant design
True to size listed
Cons:
Fit issues
Unclear shipping policies
I can't wait to coordinate with these :D
Thanks for reading, hope this was helpful!
