We hope that your next two weeks are wonderful! With the holidays ahead of us, we will be posting erratically, if at all.

I have an extra celebration ahead of me–I turn 50 on December 27. What a year it’s been leading up to this! This fall I went through a couple of months of mourning my mortality; then a few weeks ago I woke up and realized that I’m thankful to be having this birthday. Plus, with a lot of scrambling at the gym and calorie counting, I’m going to reach the only goal that I set for this milestone: to be the same weight when I turn 50 that I was when I turned 49. It was close, but I’ve done it!

They always say that mid-life causes people to question their purpose, and it’s certainly done that for me. So it was a special gift to receive a Facebook message from a former student of mine. She’d written it on November 12, but I didn’t find it until yesterday. I’d given her the first C she’d ever received on a writing assignment, and because of me, she now asks her own daughters’ teachers to be sure to challenge them. You can believe I was on a cloud for the rest of the day! For a student to take the time to thank me, and for it to reach me six days before my 50th birthday, was the most affirming possible experience I could have asked for.

I don’t want to be an English teacher again, but realizing the pleasure of making a difference in others’ lives reminded me of my purpose today. There are still so many women who need the information that we write about on Hourglassy. And I’ve finally mastered the sewing skills necessary to produce my own shirts! It is such a joyful feeling to fold a shirt that I’ve carefully crafted and send it to a woman who is going to feel amazing in it because of how it fits and feels.

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Speaking of fit and feel, I couldn’t believe the timing of Leah’s Commando review on Friday because I had just bought my own pair of Commando dig-free nylons! In my case, I purchased the Keeper Sheer with control top, and I wore them for the first time on Sunday.

At 136 pounds and 5’3″, I fall firmly with their medium size range, which fit me perfectly. No sagging crotch or bunching at the ankles. Unfortunately, however, the dig-free waistband wasn’t the same success for me that it was for Leah. It began rolling almost immediately, and I couldn’t find a discreet way to unroll it.

I specifically wanted these nylons to wear beneath my Paige dress from Bitter Lollipop. However, for the smoothest look, my Fraulein Annie cinching panty will continue to be my go-to solution. In the top row below, I’m wearing my regular Ralph Lauren tights. In the bottom row, I’m wearing my Commando Keeper Sheers. I don’t think there’s enough of a difference to justify the $32 price tag.

commando tights comparison 2Leah felt that the rolling problem could be fixed if the waistband was a double layer of fabric that was folded in half at the waist. My preference would be a ribbon of silicone around the waist to keep it up.

Perhaps the control top feature of my nylons played a part in the rolling. The waist of Leah’s tights are 72% nylon and 28% spandex, and the waist of my sheers is 68% nylon 32% spandex. Can 4% more spandex really make that much of a difference? My shorter waist is probably a bigger factor.

Besides needing sheers (I bought them the same day I found the polka dot set I showed you last week), I couldn’t resist the claim on the front of the packaging that they have “run resistant technology for staying power”. This was the only pair I could find with such a claim. If anything, I’m always a fan of reinforced toes, and I could easily get away with these toes with sandals. I’ve only worn the nylons for a morning so far, but there was no snagging beneath my ankle, which is always a vulnerable spot. If these can last without runs for 4-6 months, then I’ll take back what I said about the price not being worth it!

commando sheer reinforced toes