My two cents: 1) My late brother used to wear men's large Danskin ballet tights as long underwear under his (fashionably tight) jeans. I mention the male-dancer's tights as they might fit Bjarne better -- tights or pantyhose that are too small get uncomfortable pretty fast, either pulling on your kneecaps or creeping down until the crotch is between your knees. Which will be particularly uncomfy in 18th-century breeches!
2) Wikipedia says panty hose were first manufactured in 1965, but prior to that, there were little girls' and dancers' tights -- I remember having them as a toddler at least as early as 1960. Wikipedia attributes the full-body "leotard" (which went to the ankles) to, ahem, Jules Leotard, who died in 1870. (The first recorded use of "leotard" to describe a dancer's or acrobat's costume in English is 1886, according to Wikipedia again.) The tights from my childhood weren't sheer like pantyhose -- indeed some of them were waffle-weave, like thermals -- but they came in flesh-tone colors (like "ballet pink", a slightly peachy pale pink) and might be what you remember wearing under your marching band skirt. They would have been warmer than pantyhose; living in upstate New York, with its cold winters, I remember continuing to prefer tights to pantyhose for winter wear through the mid-70s. Actually, I prefer them today; they last far longer and usually fit better. -------------- Original message -------------- From: Ruth Anne Baumgartner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > As a former marching-band member, I'd like to second (belatedly) the > recommendation of pantyhose (or tights) to layer with Bjarne's period > stockings. > > > On a costume-history note: interestingly, I keep hearing that > pantyhose were invented in the late 'sixties, and certainly I didn't > routinely buy them for ordinary wear until '68 or so; but my friends > Connie, Joyce, another Joyce, Patty, Marilyn, Rita, and Marcia would > join me in testifying that our mothers found them, bought them, and > saved our musical knees with them as early as 1962. Can anyone else > pinpoint an earliest-available date, from her own experience? > > --Ruth Anne Baumgartner > scholar gypsy and amateur costumer > > On Jan 4, 2008, at 1:08 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > In a message dated 1/4/2008 10:40:35 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > The best bet may be to layer stockings. > > > > > > ************* > > > > This is what I was thinking too. > > > > Unless you want a more rustic look with the wool, I'd get a pair of > > pantyhose or tights. They are very warm in themselves, but put your > > silk stockings > > over them and you should be quite warm....unless it's like way > > below freezing. > > The modern super-stretchy tights would be very smooth and more > > than likely > > undetectable under your correct period stockings. > > > > Even if you do get some fine wool stockings, layering may be needed > > to keep > > you warm. Are there not depictions of men in layers of different > > colored > > stockings...some rolled down a bit to show the layers underneath? > > Or is that too > > early? Too dandy? > > > > > > > > **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. > > http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489 > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
