Fully fashioned stockings (FFS), are

stockings Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparen ...

with characteristic reinforcements on the

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

and top, a so-called keyhole at the back of the top, and a stitched back seam in between. They are made to be worn with a garter belt and are today considered a

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

design of

hosiery Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as h ...

after largely having been replaced by seamless stockings and

pantyhose Pantyhose, called sheer tights, or tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Mostly considered to be a garment for women and girls, pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertis ...

from the

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

onwards. Fully fashioned stockings are usually made from

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

and thus have very little stretch compared with modern stockings and pantyhose.

Description

Fully fashioned stockings are usually knitted from sheer nylon

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...

. To support the attachment of

suspenders Suspenders (American English, Canadian English), or braces (British English, Australian English) are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up skirts or trousers. The straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attach ...

, they have a darker section of double fabric at the top, called the welt. This is followed by a lighter transitional section called the shadow welt. The keyhole is visible in the middle of the seam at the back of the welt. The back seam is an integral part of the stocking and not sewn on afterwards. Fully fashioned stockings are sized to the height and

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

size (generally) of the wearer and have little or no stretch in them as they have no

lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The g ...

(spandex) contained within the

. In addition to the distinctive seam they also come in a number of

designs. The most common are the ''French'' or ''Point'' ''Heel'', where the reinforcement ends in a sharp point, and the ''Cuban Heel'', which ends in a truncated point.

Manufacturing

Fully fashioned knitting Fully fashioned knitting machines are those warp knitting knitting machines which can shape a fabric by adding and reducing stitches. This method of shaping improves the fit of an article. Flat knitting machines are those machines which produce ...

means that a garment is shaped by increasing and decreasing the number of stitches in a row. Fully fashioned stockings are made from sections of nylon fabric that are knitted flat from the top down in the shape of a profile view of a leg. These are then sewn together in the back forming the seam. The top is folded and sewn back on itself forming the welt and the shadow welt, with a finishing loop applied, forming the keyhole, to allow the needle sewing the seam to be withdrawn. Additional layers of nylon are added to reinforce the sole and heel. Fully fashioned stockings are becoming increasingly rare; only a handful of

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...

s worldwide now make them regularly.

History

Fully fashioned stockings rose to prominence in the market during the 1940s (peaking in the 1950s) with the introduction of

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

, with over 780,000 pairs sold on the first day and 64 million in the first year of North American sales alone. They remained popular until the introduction of

Lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The g ...

in 1958 and

mini-skirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

s shortly after. Heel styles now vary from the original French (pyramidal) or point heel which was made most famous by the

Aristoc Aristoc, located in Belper in Derbyshire, is a British marketer and manufacturer of hosiery. Aristoc was first registered as a trademark in 1924 by A.E. Allen and Co. Ltd; appearing in advertising for the company from 1926. In 1934 the company w ...

Point Heel design to the Cuban and Havana heels – darkened reinforced heel design finishing in a square top rather than pointed top – the Cuban heel being defined by being much thinner and finishing higher up the

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

than the Havana heel. More recently a number of manufacturers have also started manufacturing different heel styles – most specifically the Manhattan heel which is a cross between the two above and French brand

Gerbe In mathematics, a gerbe (; ) is a construct in homological algebra and topology. Gerbes were introduced by Jean Giraud (mathematician), Jean Giraud following ideas of Alexandre Grothendieck as a tool for non-commutative cohomology in degree 2. Th ...

coming out with some more distinctive

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

s around the heel.

References

{{Hosiery Hosiery