Origins<\/h2>\n
The stocking was not always considered a sexual symbol. The earliest known example of a knitted sock, flat-cut and seamed at the back, was found in Egypt, where both knitting and weaving are thought to have originated. There is some debate as to whether hand-knitting was introduced to Europe by Christian missionaries, sea traders, or Arabs who, after conquering Egypt in 641\u00a0C.E.<\/small>, made their way to Spain. What is known is that it was widely established throughout Europe as a domestic skill by the thirteenth century. The majority of stockings were made from wool, although silk was commonplace for the aristocratic and landed gentry, and were viewed as a covering for the legs that was particularly practical for the climate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"JustHerbs](\"https:\/\/stylequadrant.com\/in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/JUST-HERBS-YEETI-MAY-728x90-1.jpg\" "\\"JustHerbs")
<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
\n\nMechanical Production<\/h2>\n
It was the development of the first knitting frame, by Reverend William Lee in Nottingham in 1589, that heralded an era of mechanical production that, along with Marc Isambard Brunel\u2019s circular-knitting machine (developed in 1816), was to transform the stocking from practical covering to erotic emblem. Lee\u2019s knitting frame took production out of the home, improved and standardized quality, and stimulated a demand for stockings that were an extension of the fashionable consumer\u2019s wardrobe.<\/p>\n
The introduction of rayon in 1884, a cellulose-fiber material invented in France, changed production in a radical way. Rayon dominated the market for substitute silk stockings, facilitating widespread availability at an affordable price, until the invention of nylon, a more realistic alternative patented by DuPont in 1937. The first nylons were introduced in the United States in May 1940; four million pairs were sold in the first four days.<\/p>\n
By the 1960s, the fully-fashioned, \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d stocking began to outpace the flat-cut, classic seamed stocking, propelled by the introduction in 1958 of stretch Lycra. In addition, Lycra almost completely dispensed with the suspender belt as \u201croll-ons,\u201d early versions of tights, were developed. A British company, Bear Brand, first experimented with tights; by the arrival of the miniskirt in the early 1960s, tights were popular and widely available. Only the introduction of the \u201chold-up,\u201d a stocking with elasticized tops, breathed some life into the stocking market in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFashion from 1400 to 1900<\/h2>\n
Men were the principal innovators in stocking fashions during the first few centuries of their introduction to Europe, bright colors accentuating the calves, with cross-garters tied at the knee and ankles embellished with embroidered \u201cclocks\u201d or motifs. In the early Georgian period, women\u2019s stockings were woven in complex patterns with intricate embroidery. By 1740, formal dress dictated a plainer white stocking that dominated fashionable evening wear until the 1880s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the qualities essential to feminine allure? What is it that attracts and holds the eye of the male? Let me give you a hint. It begins at the tip of the toes and runs to the top of the hose \u2026 legs and feet\u201d (Batters, p. 10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the 1860s, hemlines began to rise and the white stocking was covered in candy-colored riots of spots and stripes; even tartan prints were used to honor Queen Victoria\u2019s passion for Scotland. By 1880, they were emblazoned with swallows, butterflies, flowers, and snakes and dyed in rich reds and pale yellows, although the end of the century saw color give way to practical black as women increasingly joined the workplace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Mechanical Production<\/h2>\n
It was the development of the first knitting frame, by Reverend William Lee in Nottingham in 1589, that heralded an era of mechanical production that, along with Marc Isambard Brunel\u2019s circular-knitting machine (developed in 1816), was to transform the stocking from practical covering to erotic emblem. Lee\u2019s knitting frame took production out of the home, improved and standardized quality, and stimulated a demand for stockings that were an extension of the fashionable consumer\u2019s wardrobe.<\/p>\n
The introduction of rayon in 1884, a cellulose-fiber material invented in France, changed production in a radical way. Rayon dominated the market for substitute silk stockings, facilitating widespread availability at an affordable price, until the invention of nylon, a more realistic alternative patented by DuPont in 1937. The first nylons were introduced in the United States in May 1940; four million pairs were sold in the first four days.<\/p>\n
By the 1960s, the fully-fashioned, \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d stocking began to outpace the flat-cut, classic seamed stocking, propelled by the introduction in 1958 of stretch Lycra. In addition, Lycra almost completely dispensed with the suspender belt as \u201croll-ons,\u201d early versions of tights, were developed. A British company, Bear Brand, first experimented with tights; by the arrival of the miniskirt in the early 1960s, tights were popular and widely available. Only the introduction of the \u201chold-up,\u201d a stocking with elasticized tops, breathed some life into the stocking market in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Fashion from 1400 to 1900<\/h2>\n
Men were the principal innovators in stocking fashions during the first few centuries of their introduction to Europe, bright colors accentuating the calves, with cross-garters tied at the knee and ankles embellished with embroidered \u201cclocks\u201d or motifs. In the early Georgian period, women\u2019s stockings were woven in complex patterns with intricate embroidery. By 1740, formal dress dictated a plainer white stocking that dominated fashionable evening wear until the 1880s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the qualities essential to feminine allure? What is it that attracts and holds the eye of the male? Let me give you a hint. It begins at the tip of the toes and runs to the top of the hose \u2026 legs and feet\u201d (Batters, p. 10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the 1860s, hemlines began to rise and the white stocking was covered in candy-colored riots of spots and stripes; even tartan prints were used to honor Queen Victoria\u2019s passion for Scotland. By 1880, they were emblazoned with swallows, butterflies, flowers, and snakes and dyed in rich reds and pale yellows, although the end of the century saw color give way to practical black as women increasingly joined the workplace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"JustHerbs](\"https:\/\/stylequadrant.com\/in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/JUST-HERBS-YEETI-MAY-500x500-1.jpg\" "\\"JustHerbs")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"JustHerbs](\"https:\/\/stylequadrant.com\/in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/JUST-HERBS-YEETI-MAY-728x90A.jpg\" "\\"JustHerbs")
<\/a><\/p>\n