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Sep 30, 2024 · Fast forward to more recent years and stars such as Zoë Kravitz, Olivia Rodrigo, Precious Lee, Karlie Kloss and Emily Ratajkowski have all opted for barely-there styles. Here, we chart some of the...
- 5 min
- Garters and Girdles
- 1940s Stockings – Not Enough Elastic
- New Materials For Seamed Nylons
- Stockings Become A Luxury Item
- 1940s Stockings-If We Can’T Buy Them We’Ll Make Them
- Cosmetic Industry Gets in on The Act
- Want An Authentic Blitz Look?
1940s Stockings came up to the thigh and would be held together with that exotic and glamorous invention – the garter. The garter would often come attached to a corset or a girdle. A corset naturally sounds a lot more interesting and feminine than the latter, the girdle sounds like something your grandmother would have worn. However, it was simply ...
Naturally, silk wasn’t particularly elastic and wasn’t easy to hold up, so without the garter, your stockings would be round your knees by mid-morning. They were shaped specifically to the silhouette of the leg and the size was determined by the foot size.
Rayon and Nylon seamed stockings soon replaced silk and were a lot lighter. Although they had the sheen they were meant to last longer. 1940s vintage seamed stockings were usually in a flesh colour and the best bit was the thick seam up the back of the leg, which you can still buy today. Seamless stockings came next, but they didn’t catch on for a ...
Of course the war changed everything and precious materials needed for the war effort meant that many materials that had been previously used for fashion items, were now used to create military products. Materials used for stockings such as nylon, rayon and silk was used for parachutes and tents, which made stockings a rare luxury for most women. A...
Women used their ingenuity and imagination and came up with the idea of staining their legs with gravy browning, or coffee and drawing a line up the back of the leg to make it look like they were wearing stockings. Cosmetic companies soon caught on to this idea and they came up with a product that would colour the legs – and that was the very first...
Big cosmetic companies such as Max Factor muscled in on this new phenomena. Of course for fashion conscious girls, the stocking coloured leg wasn’t enough, they had to take it one step further to complete the look, they would draw a seam up the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil, whoever drew it on had to have a steady hand. After the war of cours...
If you want to emulate a true forties girl, or if you’re into the Blitz parties and you want to create a truly authentic look, then you need to buy yourself a pair of stockings, preferably seamed stockings with the back seams, they’re still available and can help create a truly vintage 1940s look. On the other hand, you could be really true to the ...
Feb 6, 2023 · Getty Images. Naked dresses remain among the most impressive of all red carpet feats. While we've now grown used to spotting barely-there designs and expertly-placed material on nearly every...
Jul 24, 2018 · In the 1950s, glamour was what women wanted most. They had been deprived in the war and they had seen the Hollywood stars that had curves, nipped waists and breast uplift that almost reached their necks.
Nov 30, 2014 · Here, LIFE.com pays tribute to nylon stockings — and hosiery in general — with a series of classic photos that capture something of the fashion staple’s allure, and the quite evident reasons for...
Oct 27, 2019 · In George Rodger’s photos of female shoppers on Oxford Street in 1940, we see the context to this time period where consumers were suddenly consigned to Utility stockings: typically made from less comfortable fabrics like wool and rayon. It was an unwelcome change.
Sep 20, 2019 · By wearing tights and adopting a childish wardrobe, women created their new reality. Ann Tucker, a 19-year-old secretary in the U.K., told Parade in 1966: “A girl looks around at her Mum to see...
