75 years ago nylon stockings were first sold in the USA

In 1940, nylon stockings made from synthetic fiber, invented a year earlier by the chemical company DuPont, appeared in stores in the United States of America for the first time. According to various sources, on some days in the first months of sales, the new product was sold in an amount of from one to four million pairs. The invention of nylon stockings is called one of the main events in the world of fashion and clothing production in the twentieth century.

With the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941, the production of nylon stockings was completely curtailed - the material, which was also used to produce parachutes, aircraft and naval rigging, and much more, was required for the needs of the defense industry. A precious piece of clothing for some women could only be purchased on the “black market.” But even after the end of hostilities, the DuPont company could not satisfy the rush demand for a long time, which several times even led to riots in shopping centers, called “nylon riots.”

A great variety of myths, legends and cults has developed around many fabrics, materials, details of clothing in the history of mankind and fashion, works of fiction are even devoted to them - nylon and nylon stockings are no exception, fashion historian Yulia Demidenko reminds :

— For almost half a century, the image of an elegant woman was inseparable from nylon stockings. 64 million pairs of stockings were sold in the first year they hit the market in 1940.

Actually, nylon became a replacement for silk. Silk stockings were incredibly expensive and not available to everyone, but suddenly this “cheap luxury” appeared.

This may be a myth, but there is some truth in it - that after May 1945, when the armies of the Western Allies were in Europe, the monthly rations of US Army soldiers allegedly included several pairs of nylon stockings, along with chewing gum, cigarettes, American chocolate, etc. In any case, it is known that throughout post-war Western Europe, American soldiers were welcome guests and friends, all girls’ hearts and, apparently, doors opened towards them - largely thanks to these most coveted nylon stockings, says Demidenko.

— By the way, there is another myth - that in the RSFSR (specifically in Russia, and not in the USSR as a whole, because the production of fashion goods during the Soviet Union was mainly concentrated here) nylon stockings of our own production appeared incredibly late. Some write that in the 1950s, others that in the 1960s. In fact, this happened at the same time as in most European countries. If in the USA production began at the turn of 1939-40, then in Europe everywhere - in 1947.

And exactly in the same year, the once famous Leningrad hosiery factory “Red Banner” produced the first batch of nylon stockings - only 100 pieces. Compare this number even with the pre-war scale of American sales... Of course, these 100 pieces were distributed among high-ranking Soviet ladies. And, probably, these stockings were quite good, because we know that even Lilya Brik, maintaining contacts with her sister Elsa Triolet, who lived in France, sent her Soviet nylon stockings in the early 1950s!

In the USSR they were called nylon, but this name should not be misleading - it is the same fiber.

Soviet stockings were very expensive, inaccessible to ordinary working women and ordinary people, but very elegant in their own way. Very quickly, the USSR began to produce multi-colored stockings - red, pink, blue, yellow, green. Nylon stockings were decorated with embroidery, by the way, just like silk stockings used to be.

These were truly elegant things, they were just incredibly expensive in the USSR, and, by the way, in Europe too. Many women who lived through the Soviet years will probably remember that in knitting studios until the end of the 1970s there was such a service: they lifted the loops on tights and stockings. Everyone thinks that this was due to Soviet poverty. Nothing like this! Both France and Great Britain had the same services - exactly until nylon stockings became very, very cheap - Demidenko.