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A History of Hosiery
- 1589: Queen Elizabeth received her first pair of silk stockings.
- 1935: Dr. Wallace Carothers of Du Pont synthesizes a "superpolymer"
that can be formed into fibers. His invention, "Fiber 66," was renamed
nylon three years later.
- 1938: Nylon was introduced to the pubic at a forum on "Current
Problems" at the New York World's Fair.
- 1940: Nylon stockings are put on public sale for the first time. The
supply is exhausted after only four days.
- 1942: Nylon stockings disappear as the entire output of nylon goes to
war. Women find cotton and rayon stockings poor substitutes, and some resort to
painting stockings on their legs with brown makeup, including eyebrow-pencil
seams.
- 1946: Women mob the streets during postwar hosiery shortages.
- 1967: The miniskirt is the rage. Hosiery in psychedelic colors, fancy
lace patterns and fishnet stockings over opaques complete the look.
- 1970: Pantyhose revolutionize the hosiery industry. After only a few
years, pantyhose earn a 70 percent market share.
- 1988: 50th anniversary of nylon.
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