Fashion leg wear - Research Paper Example

These socks were split-toes, meaning they were suitable for wearing with slippers. The socks were woolen because wool was the material for the earliest hosiery known. The socks were up to ankle-length and were not as long as stockings (Rachel, par.1). People used wool and mixed wool in the production of the earliest forms of hosiery. Originally, stockings worn by men were brighter in color than those belonging to the women were. Men put on decorated stockings under their short to add glamor to their look.

The decoration of socks and shorts was a common practice among boy scouts and soldiers after winning a war. As a show of their pride, when the men returned from war, they ripped their shorts and added colorful stockings to their look. Women, on the other hand, wore dull colored stockings that were invisible for the better part of the 19th century. Women’s stockings were invisible due to the very long skirts worn at the time. The main purpose of stockings during this period was to provide warmth and prevent frostbites (All about shoes 32).

The invention of the machine used for knitting in 1589 was an improvement from hand woven stockings. The device improved both the rate and quality of hosiery made. The machine mainly made stockings from wool and cotton. It is also important to note that men wore most of the earliest forms of hosiery. Therefore, the stockings knitted by the machines were for men. Women were not in the picture up to later in the century (Rachel par. 2). Early into the 20th century, hosiery production shifted from the use of wool to use of cotton.

Knitting machines were very useful in the making of stockings, especially those made from cotton. A type of cotton that was well polished, known as Lisle was also very common in the knitting of stockings. In both the 19th and early 20th century, men and women wore stockings to provide warmth. The