1589 An English clergyman, Reverend William Lee invents the knitting machine, and as such machine-made hose appear for the first time. The hose are silk, wool or cotton, and are generally worn by men, and by women who have the means for afford expensive undergarments.
1920s
It becomes socially acceptable for women to show their legs, so the market in undergarments expands. Silk stockings worn with garters and suspenders are the number one choice. But they’re still expensive.
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1935
Nylons are invented. The story beings with chemists at DuPont – Julian Hill and Wallace Carothers, and researchers at Oxford. They work on a process of mixing coal tar, water and alcohol, and the result is the creation of a new fibre – it’s sheer and attractive, and has the feel of silk.
1937
DuPont patents the process. Two years later in 1939, DuPont exhibits the new fibre at the World Trade Fair in New York – from where the fibre is said to have gained its name: NY-Lon (London=Oxford). The buzz is immense as women sample the new synthetic fibre. Fashioned into stockings, nylon has the same effect as silk and comes at much lower price tag.
1940
May 15. Seamed nylon stockings go on sale in New York stores to an elbow-barging rush of women. At this stage nylon has no stretch, so the stockings are fully fashioned – shaped to the leg: two pieces of nylon stitched together to make a single hose. Hence the seam. 780,000 pairs are sold on the first day, 64 million pairs in first year. ‘Nylons’ become the generic term for all stocking and hosiery ware.
1940s
Nylons vanish from stores as Nylon production switches from stockings to parachutes to support the war effort. Nylon stockings become scarce, expensive and a useful means of exchange. In absence of the real thing, women rub make-up on their legs and paint lines on the back to make it look like they’re wearing stockings.
1950s
Nylons gain their stretch. A new heat process invented by manufacturers makes nylon ultra-flexible and easier to tailor. Seamless stockings go on sale.
1959
DuPont invents Lycra©. It can stretch up to seven times its original length without breaking, and spring back to its former shape. Lycra stockings go on sale to a hungry market, and fully fashioned stockings quickly fade from view.
1960s
Mini-skirts are in fashion. Stockings and suspenders are not suitable for high hemlines, so the invention of tights or pantyhose in 1959 comes in very handy. Within two years tights gain 70% of the market, and to this day, tights continue to dominate as the hosiery ware of choice.
2008
In the UK the recent trend is for footless, patterned and fishnet tights, and for contouring tights which control, tone or moisturize. Hold-ups have a solid place in the market (around 20%), while stockings and suspenders are generally reserved for kinky statements and bedrooms.
For more info see:
* A history of Pantyhose
* A history of Nylons
