| Fishnet History |
Fri, 16 May 2008 21:49  |
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Hi all
Does anyone know what year fishnet stockings first appeared in stores? Did they have welts and or seams? Did they come in colors?
Haven't been able to find any vintage ads for fishnets to give clues as to what they were like.
Sure would appreciate any help, especially from the ladies who still wore stockings (and still do) as tights took their ugly stranglehold.
The Yank
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00  |
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first time I noticed fishnets was in 1963
hope that helps you
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Sat, 17 May 2008 01:45 |
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Hi Yank.
An exact date I can not provide though I have seen pics from the time when photos were first made which puts that about 1860ish that had images of women in fishnets. Old "western" movies had the show girls wearing them so I'll assume they were part of at least a part of the "old west" in the USA when the frontier towns were around. The more modern ones, and I'll be a little more specific, about the early 1940's were made of Cotton and Rayon, in the manner of FF's, seamed (complete with keyhole) with (usually) a square Cuban heel and full foot. The welt and foot were generally made of cotton. The prominent color was a dark red brown, occasionally black. These were somewhat popular at this time as WWII put a real crimp in the production of nylon or silk stockings and these took far less precious materials from the war effort. There were many shortages of materials during this time: it became impossible to find rubber gloves (quite more popular for washing dishes and such then), no leather soles for shoes (thick cardboard was used which fell apart in the rain as again there were no rubber boots or rubbers for shoes available) and even elastic in waistbands meant a pair of knickers/panties became a challenge to keep on ones waist, men and women included. Girdles which were of rubber and became a premium item which commanded huge sums to procure.
The fishnets I've seen from this era had a pretty standard welt, about five inches long and they often were named "Victory Lace" though there were other names embellished on the welts. The logo/imprint was in white. These show up on eBay with some regularity and I have a few examples. When I was in the antiques business I sold a few to the curious and donated a few to a museum which unfortunately went up in flames. They were usually boxed six pair at a time, boarded with no paper or tissues and the boxes were pretty plain. I have no idea as to the cost of these items in relation prices relative at the time nor how popular they really were with the general population or if the average sort could even afford them.
Yank, hope this info helps you out a bit.
Best,
Dworkin
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Sat, 17 May 2008 19:05 |
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Thank you wrecker and Dworkin.
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Sun, 18 May 2008 17:19 |
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Dworkin, you obviously know alot more re such than me but I have worn the very dark red/brown type you mention though far later of course than when "in fashion" You are correct in saying foot reinforcing welts etc were fabric, have also seen early fishnets in films photos etc and all I saw were of the cuban heel seamed style. I also recall having a pair of seamed fishnets 1965ish but cannot for life of me recall if they had heels, probably not? Recently I have seen what I can only describe as RHT fishnets, a small mesh type with thick quite large "quarter heels" I think these are a modern stocking
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Sun, 18 May 2008 21:22 |
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Bought a pair for my girlfriend in 1961. Hadn't seen them much before that in real life outside films. Seamed but no heel as far as I recall. Patterned stockings also flourished in that year.
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| Re: Fishnet History |
Mon, 19 May 2008 02:47 |
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Harmonyclubanne and Connoiseur
Thanks for the help and responds
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