Let's make a bit of history of stockings or hosiery. Since legendary times, men and women have covered their legs and feet to protect them from the cold and the roughness of the ground. They do so with an essential piece of clothing: the stocking or hose, which has also served as a luxury item.
Stockings are a fundamental piece that since antiquity has been used for the protection and warmth of the legs. Cotton, wool, thread, and silk have been the most used materials for their elaboration.
Historical and Technical Evolution
Until 1600 they were knitted by hand in silk, cotton, and wool. In the 16th century, they stopped being made of cloth to pass to those that have reached our days, knitted by artisans with five needles.
In the 17th century, there were already hand-knitted and machine-knitted stockings, but in the 18th century, hand-knitted hose gained popularity, a trend that continued until the 20th century. They were made both for personal use and to increase family income, as a main activity or simply as entertainment, which is why they spread widely among farmers.
They receive different names according to length: half hose if it reaches the knee and hose if it surpasses it.
Manufacturing and Key Inventions
The first knitting frame for stockings began to operate in England in 1589, created by William Lee, an unemployed theologian who wanted to ease the task of his wife, the knitter Mary Pastor. The invention was so advanced that it was perceived as a threat to jobs.
It was not until 1657 when the English republican government granted a license to the Company of Framework Knitters of London and approved measures to prevent its export. It was already late: in 1656 the first stocking frame had been installed in Paris, copied in secret by order of Colbert, minister of the Sun King.
In the 19th century, many stockings were knitted on semi-manual machines. Some were all in one piece, seamless, knitted on a circular machine invented by the American Isaac Lamb in 1864. Others had the seam on the side or back. In 1879 William Shaw presented the first circular machine specific for the manufacture of stockings.
Materials and Styles Over Time
In the 18th century, stockings reached from the feet to below the knees; in the 19th they lengthened above them. Artificial silk (rayon) also appeared, very popular until 1937, when Wallace H. Carothers patented nylon thread. In the late thirties, nylon stockings appeared.
Old designs show openwork side spikes, stripes, dedications (“SOUVENIR OF / MARIA NAVARRO”) or floral motifs embroidered in polychrome silks, gold and silver thread. Plain hose with a knitted strip at the top and examples with embroidered initials abound.
Decoration depended on social position: from a simple sample to profuse embroidery in silver and gold. Coloring played with solids, stripes, and checks to give showiness.
Notarial Documents
In notarial documents, authentic time capsules, we find dozens of references:
“...Furthermore; it was found to fall; three pairs of women's silk stockings and, of different colors, very used, which they appraised to be worth six pounds...”
In the document of partition of goods of Rita Verdú (Monòver, February 16, 1771) it reads:
“...some red stockings with little white squares...”
Raw Materials
Silk
The caterpillar that feeds on the mulberry tree is the only insect whose life depends completely on man. The silkworm (Bombyx mori) has been studied for centuries. In 1977 world production of fresh cocoons was 400,000 tons, with more than half coming from China, Korea, and India.
In Spain, it was only produced in the Canary Islands and Murcia, in reduced quantities destined mainly for medicine and cosmetics. Before the secret of silk escaped from China (2nd century AD), fabrics arrived in the West but not the process of obtaining it.
Obtaining the thread requires drowning the worm inside the cocoon, submerging it in water at 90 °C to soften the sericin and extract the master filament with brushes. From several filaments, the final thread is obtained, whose twist determines the texture and shine of the fabric.
Viscose Rayon
In the 18th century, the Frenchman Réaumur imagined making silk without cocoons. In 1885 Count Hilarie de Chardonnet patented the first artificial silk and presented it at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. He dissolved cellulose nitrate in alcohol and ether to obtain viscose. It is a manufactured fiber from regenerated cellulose, with shorter and less crystalline chains than cotton.
Curiosities
Princes, nobles, and landowners spent fortunes on stockings. At the court of Henry VIII, some nobles wore blue and crimson silk stockings with gold embroidery and precious stones.
Stockings were so appreciated that taxes were levied, manufacturing standards were established, and smuggling was fought. Valencia lived a great splendor in the 18th century making crimson silk stockings destined for European courts.
On days without social life, silk was replaced by linen or wool, and from the second half of the 18th century, cotton gained ground with British imports. For centuries stockings were worn in sight, so it was vital to wear them impeccable.
The ladies surrounding Napoleon wore light tunics that revealed their ankles, and Empress Josephine owned more than a hundred pairs of white stockings. On very rare occasions did women renounce this piece.
Lligacames (Garters)
Lligacames consist of ribbons that hold the stocking at the top, often embroidered with phrases or drawings. According to economic position, they could be simple or surprisingly elaborate.
Bibliography
- Paniagua, Victoria. Brief History of Female Underwear. Madrid, 1978.
- Lombardi, Paolo & Shiaffino, Mariarosa. Oh, the Stockings!. Madrid, 1986.
- Silk in Spain.