Seamed Hosiery

 

Seamed hosiery features a seam that runs from the heel of the hosiery all the way up to the edge of the stocking.  Since the seams run up the middle and back of the leg, women had to check themselves in a mirror to see if they were straight or ask their husband or friend to check for straightness before they appeared in public.  Crooked seams were a fashion "no-no."

 





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Seamless Hosiery



Seamless hosiery debuted in Britain in 1952 and the early response was lukewarm.  Hosiery without seams were associated with bare legs and viewed as undignified.  Moreover, women missed the form fitting shape that seamed hosiery provided.  Another early problem that women encountered, with both seamed and seamless hosiery, was the tendency for the hosiery to bag or sag around kneecaps and ankles after hours of wear.  Always aiming to please and keep their cash registers ringing, manufacturers made improvements to correct these issues during the latter half of the '50s.  Women eventually bought-in to the smooth, worry-free look of seamless hosiery.









​Fishnet Hosiery


Fishnet stockings were a fashion accessory worn by dancers in Parisian shows, such as the famed Moulin Rouge.  They made their way to the U.S. in 1908, packed in trunks aboard steam freighters.  By the '50s, fishnet stockings lost their risqué association with burlesque dancers, World War II pin-up girls, and as a hosiery choice worn by "women of the night." Black fishnet stockings became fashionable and acceptable as a hosiery choice for women in the '50s.











 

​Nylons

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By the '50s, nylon stockings dominated the hosiery marketplace, replacing silk as the material of choice. Nylon was first introduced in 1940 by DuPont, which spent considerable brainpower in research and development and money in advertising to persuade women to make the switch from silk to nylon.  The investment paid off.  Women loved nylon, feeling it was much more durable and less prone to run, but it looked like silk.  Initially, DuPont registered the name as "nigh-lon," but it wasn't long before female consumers dubbed the material "nylon."  According to "Science and Corporate Strategy: DuPont D&D, 1902-1980," nylon became the biggest money-maker in DuPont history.