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Nylons |
12 September 2005 |
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How technology has changedÌýfashion
70 years ago in a research laboratory in Delaware, USA, a young scientist made a discovery that was to change the face of fashion forever.
Nylon was the world’s first totally synthetic fibre and it was originally heralded as a 'miracle'. Within a few years nylon was being used in a whole range of products from brush bristles to racquet strings, but it was the launch of nylon stockings that really created a storm.ÌýÌý
Woman’s HourÌýexplores the History of Nylon, and Jenni is joined in the studio by Sue Mossman from the Science Museum and Sandy Black from The London School of Fashion to discuss how technology has changed fashion and what we can expect in the future.ÌýÌý
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From theÌýmessageboard |
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Pat McLean
I was in my first job (short-hand typist £2.10s.0d. per week, very good pay) in the City of London in 1945. Nylons were not freely available. I recall buying my first pair, carrotty orange in colour, several years later. There were little shops, in the windows of which women sat repairing nylons and silk stockings. That illustrates just how available they were, and how precious to the general population of women. I repaired my own for years, usually with a hair from my own head! Your contributor was probably quoting fashionists of the day with money - most of us found coping with shortages, rationing et al, and trying to enjoy ourselves quite enough without searching for nylons.
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Chakoteya
Repairing nylons! My goodness. I remember repairing my horrible stockings as a schoolgirl, because we couldn't afford to keep buying new like most of the other girls there, and I kept the thrifty attitude up for quite a while afterwards. Somehow I don't think many people bother to repair runs these days though.
AA
My granny had a strange mushroom-shaped thing that she used when darning socks. She taught me how to do very neat darning and for years I darned my own socks and my husband's socks. Now, my son and daughter throw the socks away....and I must add, so do I! I recall stopping ladders in nylons with little bits of nail polish! Tights and other items of leg-wear now get thrown when there is any kind of wear or tear. My darning skills still come in handy at times! I have made some brilliant, invisible mends in designer knitwear...my friends bring their precious woollies to my house!
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Taffy8
Nylon is the worst product ever invented. Who can forget bri-nylon sheets where every time you turned over in bed the sparks would fly and for all the wrong reasons!! Even my school uniform had a bri-nylon shirt. Teenagers smell pretty bad at the best of times but bri-nylon did little to ease the distress caused back in the 70s.
Red Squirrel
Nylon nighties, nylon pants and bras, even brushed nylon jumpers. At School, there was a craze for wearing brushed nylon coloured frilly knee-length drawers. Ugh! As a 12 year old, I longed to wear nylons like my older sister. The best Christmas pressie that year was a pack of nylons and a suspender belt! I waved them around in greats glee, much to the amusement of my father and brother.Ìý
Pippi
Ahh good old BRI Nylon - the breakthrough fabric of the 60s/70's. Funny though how crimplene trousers with elasticated waist (especially if they were brown) were always an object of ridicule, yet today almost every garment we buy has some sort of stretch elastic woven into the fabric!!?? |
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