History of Nylon

When the first Nylons went on sale throughout the country in May 15, 1940, Four Million Pairs of Nylons were sold in the first few days. It was called the New Miracle Fiber and Women everywhere were highly motivated to be included in the newest fashion trend. With the outbreak of World War II nylon production for fashion was ceased and was used for the war effort. Women resorted to using makeup to decorate their legs, like drawing fake seams up the back of their legs with eyebrow pencils.

World War II ended in 1945, but the nylon wars were just beginning! Peace slowly brought nylons back into stores. In New York, Macy’s sold out of it’s entire stock of 50,000 pairs of nylons in six hours, leaving a long line of unhappy, bare-legged women. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh a mob of 40,000 women stood all night in a torrential rainstorm to buy nylons from a tiny hosiery shop. By 1948, production of nylon stockings returned to normal.

Hosiery took another giant step ahead with the development of spandex in 1959. This highly elastic fiber has repeatedly revolutionized fashion ever since. Spandex continuously conforms to the body, stretching and then snapping back in place, making saggy, baggy hose a thing of the past.

In the sixties, as hemlines rose, pantyhose fashion became imperative. In the years since, pantyhose have come to dominate women’s hosiery.

Today, the choices are endless. Hosiery is available in a wide array of colors, textures, patterns and fabrics, and is made for everything from hiking to dancing, working to exercising, casual to dressy, for the very tiniest foot to the king and queen size.

Pantyhose are manufactured in a wide range of fabric weights, knits and colors. In general, heavier weight fabrics are stronger and more durable, but are thicker and show less of the natural skin tone. Lighter, sheerer garments look and feel more luxurious but are not as strong as their heavier cousins. Reinforced toes and heels will add to the life of your hosiery, but it’s a fact that the lighter and sheerer the hosiery is, the more delicate it is and the more care it requires. All in all, customers will find that price is not an indicator of durability.

Some of the information was adapted from The Sheer Facts about Hosiery, developed by the National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers (NAHM), which is a voluntary organization of approximately 450 hosiery manufacturers and suppliers.