Pretty Polly is a British brand of women's tights based in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Nottinghamshire, England.

History

The company began in 1919 when Harry Hibbert and Oswald Buckland built a factory in

Sutton-in-Ashfield Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 48,527 in 2019. It is the largest town in the district of Ashfield, four miles west of Mansfield, two miles from the Derbyshire border and 12 miles nort ...

, near

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

in Nottinghamshire. In 1926 they took over a hosiery wholesaling company that was previously owned by the daughter of a bookmaker who had gained financially from the racehorse ''

Pretty Polly Pretty Polly may refer to: * "Pretty Polly" (ballad) * ''Pretty Polly'' (film) * ''Pretty Polly'' (opera) * Pretty Polly (horse) * Pretty Polly (hosiery) Pretty Polly is a British brand of women's tights based in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, En ...

''. The Pretty Polly trademark had a parrot as a logo, from another use of the word 'polly'. By 1957, the brand was number two in the UK and the company was bought by Thomas Tilling, who also owned much of the Walton Hosiery company in Sutton-in-Ashfield, which owned the ''Ballerina'' hosiery brand. The two companies were merged in 1961 as Pretty Polly Holdings Ltd.

Innovations

In 1959 the company introduced the first non-run seam-free stockings. To update the company's image in 1962, the parrot was replaced with two letter Ps and the phrase ''Pretty Polly for Pretty Legs'' forming a new ew what?. In March 1967,

hold-ups Hold-ups or stay-ups (in the United States also referred to as thigh-high stockings or simply thigh highs) are stockings with an elasticized band at the top, designed to hold the stockings up when worn, without the use of a garter belt or gart ...

were introduced, which avoided the need for

suspender belt A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

s, and were even featured on ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

''. It depended on the invention in 1899 of

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

by Professor

Frederick Kipping Frederic Stanley Kipping FRS (16 August 1863 – 1 May 1949) was an English chemist. He undertook much of the pioneering work on silicon polymers and coined the term silicone. Life He was born in Salford, Lancashire, England, the son of James ...

University College Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

. In the late 1960s, Pretty Polly was the best-selling range of hosiery in the UK, with a market share of 20%. In 1982,

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 ...

(invented in 1959) was introduced.

Expansion

In 1967, an Irish subsidiary was opened at

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

, to keep up with

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

. In August 1991 the company was bought from

BTR BTR may refer to: Companies * BTR Aerospace Group * BTR plc, formerly BTR Industries, one of the predecessor companies of Invensys plc * British Thomson-Houston (former name BTR), a British engineering and heavy industrial company Media, music, ...

by the American

Sara Lee Corporation The Sara Lee Corporation was an American consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois. It had operations in more than 40 countries and sold its products in over 180 countries. Its international operations were headquartered in Utrecht ...

for $187m who merged it with Elbeo in 1993. The company employed around 2,000 workers at this time. In 2005 when the company was owned by Sara Lee Courtaulds, production was moved from ''Unwin Road'' in Sutton in Ashfield to a '

state of the art The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level ...

' factory on ''Bridge Foot'' (A517) in

Belper Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...

. In May 2006, Sara Lee sold all of its lingerie brands to PD Enterprise, as part of a company known as Courtaulds Legwear.

Advertising

Pretty Polly was the first hosiery company to advertise on TV in 1980. In 1994

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey is an American voice actress. She made her anime debut as Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z''. Her other anime credits include Emily / Glitter Lucky in '' Glitter Force'', Tohru Honda in ''Fruits Basket'', Lust i ...

modelled for the company, then in 1998,

Eva Herzigová Eva Herzigová (born 10 March 1973) is a Czech-Italian supermodel and actress. Early life and career Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the daughter of an accountant mother and an electrician father. Growing ...

became the face (and legs) of Pretty Polly advertising.

Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer (née Cox; born 13 December 1974) is an English broadcaster. She presented ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 from 3 April 2000 until 19 December 2003. Since January 2019 she now hosts the BBC Radio 2 drivetime show, Monday ...

also modelled their hosiery. In 1999 the company launched their first bras, known as bbras. In 2003, English singer

Rachel Stevens Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer, television personality, actress and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group S Club 7 between 1999 and 2003. She released her solo debut studio album ''Funky Dory'' in Sep ...

became the face of PP advertising. In September 2014 it was announced that

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

would be the Face and Legs of Pretty Polly.

Honours

In 2005, the company was honoured as a Superbrand by the Superbrands Council.

References

External links

Website

Reviews of legwear products

News items

Sutton in Ashfield factory closes in April 2005
{{lingerie Ashfield District Clothing companies established in 1919 Companies based in Nottinghamshire Hosiery brands 1919 establishments in England