Nylons: On Their Toes at 50

Fifty years ago this week, glamorous gams met nylon stockings for the first time, and the hosiery business was born.

When those first customers stood in line to buy their first pair of nylons, at a department store in Wilmington, Del., there were only 12 colors from which to choose. Yet they snapped up the entire supply in only four days.

This fall, there are at least several dozen more options. In fact, nylon stockings have been all but replaced by nylon-blend panty hose. The hot sellers now are opaques, or heavier-weight ribbed tights, made of nylon with Lycra Spandex, wool, or even cashmere. Shades of charcoal, burgundy and black are leading color choices.

Originally, a pair of sheer nylon stockings, made by Du Pont, cost $1.15 a pair. They were more expensive than silk stockings, which averaged 75 cents a pair. But nylon’s durability and improved fit proved strong drawing cards.

Today, sheer hose ranges in price from $1 at the discount stores to as much as $12, for Donna Karan’s label. And colors are so varied that women can find tints to match their shoes, their outfit, or preferably both for a monochrome effect.

Kathy Moskal, Hue Hosiery’s chairwoman and co-owner, predicts that spice colors will be very strong sellers this season. She says that rust, olive and taupe are already proving to be favorites. She also finds that non-textured styles are replacing the textured looks popular in previous seasons.

In December, 1942, just when women were becoming accustomed to nylon hosiery, the government’s wartime demand for the fiber superseded fashion considerations. There was a shortage in the newly popular legwear. So, style mavens desperate to re-create the look of seamed nylon stockings actually painted lines up the backs of their bare legs.

Today’s style mavens have another idea. They want footless tights, notes Hue Hosiery president and co-owner Sandy Chilewich. Younger women who first wore them in the exercise room now find they like to wear them as leggings, topped with big sweaters and T-shirts, or under long skirts. Many styles are made of nylon mixed with Lycra Spandex.

For all the innovations in legwear over the past 50 years, some women are opting for a retro look. They want seamed stockings or panty hose, says Joan Wills, owner of the tony Fogal hosiery store in Beverly Hills. Seams, rendered nearly obsolete with the infusion of seamless styles in the ‘60s, are back with a vengeance.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Wills quips.