Review: SockDreams.com + PRIZE GIVEAWAY OMG! (+ some mini-OOTDs)

Hey, everyone! This is going to be a fun post, as I'm going to review several products sent to me by SockDreams.com! Instead of just writing up a typical review, I decided to put together an outfit to compliment each particular garment I'm reviewing, so in addition to my thoughts on the products themselves you'll get several little OOTDs in this post! Additionally, I've got my very first reader giveway in this post, so be sure to read to the end for all the details on that! Let's get to it!

Just before my birthday last month, I received a message on Tumblr from Sock Dreams. It was a really sweet message, and as it turns out the folks over at SockDreams.com are a fan of this blog and wanted to send me some products to review. Totally awesome! The package arrived lightning fast, which I was pleasantly surprised about, and included this super fun invoice (and assorted awesome stickers)! Astute readers will notice the doodle is actually of one of my pictures from this OOTD, ha!

Before I really get into this review, I do want to state that I'm in no way a paid representative of SockDreams.com or anything like that. I don't get any kickbacks or swag if you purchase there (which is too bad for me, haha, because you should totally buy stuff there!); I'm just a fashion blogger that was offered some free products to try out and review for my readers. It's an awesome opportunity that I'm really excited about, so let's get to the reviews, eh?

Sunglasses: Domino Dollhouse

Jacket: Mrs. Spookshow's closet, ha!

Dress: City Chic Online

Tights (barely showing here): Kunert

Suspender & Over the knee socks: Sockdreams.com

Shoes: Target

The first product to review is from my Birthday OOTD. Specifically, a pair of extraordinary vertical striped cotton OTK socks being held up by a suspender clip industrial garter belt. As I stated in the original OOTD, socks are really a bit out of my comfort zone sartorially speaking. I almost never wear them, as it usually seems a bit redundant when I'm already wearing tights. I was very surprised with these socks, though. They are very soft and insanely comfortable, and the style is a lot of fun. I think these socks are fantastic, and I really recommend that my readers give them a try. I think you're likely to be just as pleasantly surprised as I was when I tried them on.

I didn't do a great job of capturing a photo of it, but I'm wearing the suspender clip industrial garter belt with this outfit. I've got a few garter belts in my drawer, and even though I don't wear any of them often, this one is by far my favorite. It's got a pretty simple design, but it's surprisingly comfortable. There's a very good amount of stretch to it, while still maintaining sufficient tension to hold everything up properly. My only "complaint" about the product is that it has a velcro closure. Honestly, this is actually pretty great for general wear, so I totally get it and approve. However, if you plan to wear the garter over tights like I did here, you'll have to be sure to exercise some caution, as velcro and tights do not get along at all, haha. The velcro closure does work great though (the size range seems totally forgiving with all the stretch and the velcro, which is great for us plus size folks, right?), so it's not really a complaint so much as a word of advice I suppose, haha. It's a really solid and well made product for the price point, however, so if you're looking for a no frills (literally, actually, as it's not lacey or anything like most of the garter belts you can buy tend to be...) garter belt that will really serve you well, I have to highly recommend this Sock Dreams product!

Sheer top: Forever 21+

Undershirt: Forever 21+

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Knee Highs: SockDreams.com

Shoes: Avenue

Alright, so this outfit was insanely fun to put together! Navy, polka dots, argyle, oh my! 

So, this outfit was all about the B.ella alessa argyle trouser socks. I must confess that I've had a long unfulfilled love affair with argyle, ever since I saw a girl back in my high school wearing a killer pair of argyle tights. I've never really managed to find anything argyle that I both liked and was in my size, though, and conversely I've also never worn trouser socks (or knee socks with a skirt, but this is an adventure, ya'll!). Enter Sock Dreams, who just so happened to have these argyle trouser socks available in my size! Even though I had no clue how I would style them, I simply had to give them a try. I'm sure glad I did, as well, because I really love these! The pattern is great, as is the mix of colors. I think they're just the right amount of sheer so as to be a bit sexy, and they feel very comfortable (fabric-wise, these trouser socks have a similar feel to high quality sheer tights). The band on this doesn't dig in, and didn't become uncomfortable during wear, and managed to stay in place very well! I was very impressed with these socks, and as with all of the products so far I can definitely recommend them as a great purchase!

Dress: Target

Fishnets: Forever 21+

Socks: SockDreams.com

Boots: Ros Hommerson

Featured here are the extraordinarily longer striped thigh highs! I'm channeling my gothy roots with this look, and I must confess to being a bit inspired by the always fabulous Torey at Mall-Goth-A-GoGo.

Astute readers will note that these are extraordinarily longer thigh highs, yet I'm only wearing them as over the knee socks in this OOTD. It's a bit of a blunder on my part, as these socks ARE in fact extraordinarily long in actuality (like seriously, these socks go ALL the way up my legs, haha), but I decided to slide them down a bit for this outfit. I think it actually shows the versatility of a product like this, which is a nice plus! Overall, I do really enjoy these socks. They have the same sort of a soft feel as a pair of good quality socks, and they actually stay up on their own on me surprisingly well! A close look at the photo here though will reveal that they are actually a bit more sheer than I would expect, as you can kinda see the fishnet through them. I was a bit surprised about this, but I suspect that likely has to do with the fact that I am stretching them a pretty good deal to wear them, which is sure to cause some loss of opaqueness. Color-wise, these are fantastic! The maroon is that oh so perfect shade, and the grey is a nice dark compliment to it. I do have to report, though, that one of these socks has developed a small hole on one of the stripe seams. I guess I must have done this by being a bit too rough when I pulled them on, but I was a little bit surprised as I assumed these would be very sturdy. I suspect that in truth they actually are, because as I said earlier I'm at the far end of the size range on these, so all of these minor issues are likely due to sizing issues specific to my body. All that said, I still feel that these are pretty fantastic, and I definitely recommend them if you're looking for some cool, super long, stripe socks! And really, who isn't?

Top: Forever 21+

Shorts: Forever 21+

Tights: SockDreams.com

Shoes: Lane Bryant

This was actually the most difficult outfit to figure out, but it was totally self-inflicted, haha. Here I am wearing  Erika microfiber tights in expresso. Long time readers of the blog will know that I honestly tend to prefer tights when it comes to hosiery, so it was only prudent that I give some tights from Sock Dreams a try. Since I already have so many pairs of tights, I decided to take this opportunity to try out a shade I've never worn before, dark brown. These really read a bit more black in this photo than they do in real life, and I honestly had some trouble figuring out how to work dark brown tights with my wardrobe. That's neither here or there, though, so let's get more into a review, eh?

Here we go! So this photo captures the color of these tights perfectly. My entire goal with this outfit was just to show you the most leg possible (this is a tights review, after all), so here they are! Although opaque tights weather is quickly fading here in sunny Florida, I've managed to sneak these in, haha. I don't know what I expected really from these tights, but I was actually very surprised with them. Opaque tights can be really hit or miss with me, as I find sometimes they can be a bit too heavy (Florida, remember!), scratchy feeling, or sometimes even the dye can be a bit uneven. These tights from Sock Dreams, however, have none of those issues! They have just the right weight, so they feel very comfortable and warm without being too oppressive in my warmer spring climate. They've got that nice silky feeling that you usually get with microfiber tights, and the color is very solid throughout. You may remember, readers, that not too long ago I discovered We Love Colors, and have been ordering all of my opaque tights from that company. I was a bit skeptical of how I would feel about these tights in light of that fact, but I've actually got to say that I prefer these Sock Dreams tights. They seem to be a really great quality for the price point, and I could see these tights holding up for many, many wears. The color range is a bit underwhelming, particularly in the XL size, but hopefully Sock Dreams will work on this. Regardless of that, the staple tights colors are there, so it's still a great situation. I'm really impressed with these tights, and I recommend ya'll give them a shot!

So, I mentioned a giveaway waaaay back at the beginning of this post, haha, and I haven't forgotten! Before I get to that, though, here is a quick round up of links to all the products I've reviewed here for your ease:

Extraordinary vertical striped cotton OTK socks

Suspender clip industrial garter belt

B.ella alessa argyle trouser socks

Extraordinarily longer striped thigh highs

Erika microfiber tights

Alright, guys, so as I teased earlier I've got my first contest prize to give to my readers! The reward is a $20.00 gift certificate to SockDreams.com, which is a perfect amount to give any of these awesome products a shot! The rules for the contest are easy, just comment here on this post and tell me which of the outfits in this post was your favorite and why. There is no right answer, I just want to know your opinions! To be eligible for this contest you must post here under some sort of screen name, anonymous posters will not be eligible (sorry!). Anyhow, it's really that simple! This contest will run until Wednesday, March 27th at 12:00am, after which time I will create a pool of all the posters here and randomly select one lucky reader to receive the prize! Please feel free to share this contest with your friends & family (the more the merrier, right?!). There will be only one entry per person, multiple comments will not increase your chances (but feel free to talk to me anyways, ya'll, haha!)

To sum it up:

• Comment on this blog post non-anonymously telling me which of the above outfits was your favorite and why.
• No entries will be accepted later than March 27, 2013.
• One entry per reader.
• ...
• Profit!

The contest has ended. Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I wish that everyone could win, but as with the Highlander, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Congratulations to ..... Shannon Barber! Yay! I will be in contact. For everyone else, thanks again for reading and I hope you'll continue to stick around and keep rockin' with me!

Thanks for reading this super long post, ya'll! Go ahead and comment below and tell me all about what you think about my outfits here!