1940s Stockings (2024)

FAQs

What stockings were worn in the 1940s? ›

Rayon or cotton stockings were worn, but not fondly, as they tended to sag around the knees and ankles. The rising popularity of slacks helped, but most women resorted to bare legs, often with ankle socks. To simulate the look of nylons, some women used leg makeup from cosmetics companies such as Max Factor.

Right up until the mid 1960s all hosiery had a seam. Seamfree stockings actually started being made in 1949 but they didn't become popular until the mid 1960s. If you are going for a 1940s or 1950s look, seamed stockings are a must!

During World War II, nylon was used extensively for parachutes and other war materials, such as airplane cords and ropes and the supply of nylon consumer goods was curtailed.

From then on, DuPont's production of nylon went to war materials. This set off such a shopping frenzy for stockings that most retailers set a purchase limit of two or three pairs. The price of nylon stockings subsequently rose to $10 a pair or more. No wonder Mom cried.

The first nylon stockings appeared in New York stores on May 15, 1940 and over 780,000 pairs were sold in the first day alone.

Silk and nylon was needed to make parachutes and other war items such as netting and rope. However, in the 1940s it was against the social norm for women to go out bare-legged. Many women took to wearing pants to save their silk stockings for special occasions.

Pantyhose became a wardrobe staple throughout the 1970s and 1980s. From 1995 a steady decline began, leveling off in 2006 with U.S. sales less than half of what they had once been. This decline has been attributed to bare legs in fashion, changes in workplace dress code, and the increased popularity of trousers.

They are made to be worn with a garter belt and are today considered a vintage design of hosiery after largely having been replaced by seamless stockings and pantyhose from the 1960s onwards.

A vintage 1951 Vogue magazine advertisem*nt shows Virginia Maid Stockings Hosiery made with seams and touted as being “sheer loveliness.” A long, long time ago, stockings were made by sewing a piece of fabric together to fit a woman's leg – thus forming the back seam.

When mending old stockings failed, women actually painted dark stripes up the backs of their legs to mimic stocking seams. Gravy browning was a popular paint. This wartime look was termed "Glamor Hose."

What was originally put in stockings? ›

According to tradition, the original Saint Nicholas put gold coins in the stockings of three poor sisters. One night, the girls left their stockings drying over the fireplace. Saint Nicholas knew the family was very poor, so he threw three bags of gold coins down the chimney.

A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that is hung on Saint Nicholas Day or Christmas Eve so that Saint Nicholas (or the related figures of Santa Claus and Father Christmas) can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives.

Pantyhose weren't left-back in yesteryear. Many women enjoy them today, and you don't have have to settle for the squeezed-in corseted feeling of the past. Hipstik provides comfortable low-rise pantyhose with a non-squeeze waistband for women of today.

Top importers of Panty hose, tights, stockings, socks and other hosiery, including stockings for varicose veins and footwear without applied soles, knitted or crocheted in 2022. The world's largest importers of this commodity group in 2022: USA - 21% of the world imports ($2.79 billion) Germany - 10.3% ($1.36 billion)

Unable to procure silk or nylon hose, many women resorted to painting their legs with products such as Leg Silque Liquid Stockings, made in Boston, Mass., by the Langlors Company. Some industrious users even drew black lines down the backs of their legs to simulate the seams.

Most people think of stockings of the 1930s and 1940s in terms of the “cuban heeled” or “fully fashioned” stockings that were sheer and made of rayon, nylon, or silk.

The advent of the fashionable miniskirt, which exposed the legs to well above the knee, made pantyhose a necessity to many women. In 1970, U.S. sales of pantyhose exceeded stockings for the first time, and it has remained so ever since.

Pantyhose became a staple in every teen girl and woman's wardrobe. Sales expanded as more women headed into the workplace. Manufacturers marketed new colors and textures, but the glory days of stockings came to an end in the 1990s. Women were wearing pants with trouser socks, and the casual fashion styles had arrived.