Ruth Anne asked if anyone had personal experience with pantyhose before 1962 and Lauren listed Wikipedia's history. In 1962 I was 9-10 and still wearing white socks to church. However, my understanding is that Ann Miller - the dancer/actor/singer with the incredible legs - held the patent for the first pantyhose as pantyhose. If you've ever seen her dance in her many movies, she always lifts her skirts so you can see how fast she's tapping and lifts them as high as possible; she really did have amazingly beautiful, long legs into her 70s. Anyway, she found a need for stockings that were higher than the usual stockings and went from there. She was very big starting in the mid-late 1950s, right?
Time for me to watch "On the Town" and "Kiss Me Kate" again... LynnD On 1/10/08, Ruth Anne Baumgartner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 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 > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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
