Daily Trivia - Stocking

Daily Trivia - Stocking

Stockings, which are now an essential clothing item in the wardrobe of many women, come in various materials and styles, adding to a woman’s allure or purity.

But did you know that stockings (in their earlier form) were originally worn by men?

The earliest socks were created in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the Spanish began to separate stockings from pants, and began using knitting to weave socks. Long silk stockings were highly admired by French upper-class men, they use it to cover their long leg hair. Interestingly, people at that time preferred colorful stockings.

In the 1930s, the American DuPont company discovered that a mixture of coal tar, air, and water could be melted and stretched into a fine, hard, wear-resistant, and flexible thread, which is nylon. Since then, the price of stockings has dropped to $2. When the first batch of nylon stockings went on sale, 72,000 pairs were sold out in a day.

During World War II, nylon was classified as a military necessity, and the production of nylon stockings came to a halt, with only a limited number available for sale. On the black market, the price of a pair of stockings was once driven up to $4,000 - many women chose to paint fake stockings on their legs.

PS: The modern bra as we know it today was patented much later on November 3, 1914, by Mary Phelps Jacob, who designed a backless, brassiere-like garment to wear under a sheer evening gown.