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Men can also wear tights, but you mainly see the garment on women’s legs. And that while the first tights were intended for men. How did the garment originate?
The first tights: from ‘hosen’ to woolen sock
The first ‘tights’ were made of woven fabric, and resembled leggings with feet. These ‘hosen’ (still the German word for pants) were mainly worn by men, under a tunic or puff pants. Wealthy ladies wore long silk stockings, which remained in place thanks to sock holders or suspenders.
From the sixteenth century hosen were worn less by gentlemen. After the invention of the knitting machine, men switched en masse to woolen socks, which were still held up with a suspender or sock holder.
The first pantyhose was for a pregnant woman
It was not until the 1930s that the American chemical company DuPont invented nylon, a strong, thin and stretchable material. This was incorporated into the edges of woolen stockings, so that they remained in place without restraint.
In 1959, the American fabric manufacturer Allen E. Gant invented the tights as we know them today. His pregnant wife Ethel was maddened by the garter belt around her bulging belly. Grant then sewed her stockings to a pair of underpants (panties). Wife was so pleased that Grant took the prototype to a tailor. He tinkered with combinations of wool and nylon until he created stretchy ‘trousers’ with feet. And voilà: the tights as we know them today was born.
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