No, they were definitely pantyhose--like stockings but attached to,
well, stocking panties. Nobody could tell we weren't bare-legged.
--Ruth Anne
On Jan 9, 2008, at 4:56 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
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
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