On top: Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings. Beneath, from left to right: Lycra Cuban Heel Stockings, Cuban Heel Thigh Highs, Lycra Sheer Cubans with Lace Up Tops, Lycra Cuban Heeled Two Tone Stockings.

Flattering, fancy and just the thing to finish off a dressy outfit, nylons have a fascinating history.  Though our focus here at Sock Dreams is on socks, we do carry and love stockings.  And we’re also big nerds who love to share history and facts.  Today I’ll share a quick overview of the history of nylons, with some helpful facts for folks interested in rocking these classic and classy stockings. If you want more info, there are great, in-depth, histories of stockings all over the place. I’m super partial to the Smithsonian’s Stocking Series.

Nylon stockings were introduced at the 1939 world’s fair by Dupont, who have a great little timeline with some awesome pictures from 1939. They decided against registering “nylon” as a trademark, so that the word would become synonymous with stockings.  Early stockings had back seams and when folks had to give up their nylon stockings for the war effort, they reproduced that backseam with leg makeup (great article at GlamourDaze about it!), creating the illusion that nylons were still covering their legs.  I love this picture we have on our Pinterest from the Library of Congress image archives, showing a barrel of nylons on their way to becoming parachutes and cords.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection. “Here’s where your parachute came from.“

It’s because of this temporary lack of nylon that we have the wide range of cotton stockings and tights we see today.  But that’s a story for another day!  We’re still talking about nylons.  Join us after the jump for comparisons of new nylon stockings to actual mid-century pairs and some helpful tips about these fantastic, feminine stockings.

The original backseamed stockings were fully fashioned, like the Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings.  A fully fashioned stocking is leg-shaped, allowing for a better fit across the curves of a leg when the fabric isn’t very stretchy. You can see the difference between the Ultra Sheer Retros and Lycra Cuban Heels, which augment their fiber blend with spandex. Neither of these stockings has been worn, but one is practically shaped like a leg already, going in a bit at the ankle to keep things sleek! And they’re much longer, since they don’t have it in them to stretch up.

But why? Well, the original nylon stockings didn’t have stretch. Like the Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings, they liked to wrinkle at the ankle and bag at the knees, relying on the springiness of knit and mesh to properly shape to your leg. Even the Two Tone Red Cuban Heel Stockings have a leg shape straight out of the package, and they are 15% spandex! Starting out shaped like a leg helps a stocking live a better-fitting life.

Our tip for keeping the bagginess away is to touch them up by dipping your hands in warm water and rubbing them up your legs, starting at the ankle, for a better fit. The water rejuvenates the fibers and helps sproing them back into shape. In the additional images for this style, you can see how the stockings look at the ankle and the knee when they get stretched out.

By the mid-sixties, more and more innovations to nylon were bringing stretchier, better fitting stockings that are the precursors to the nylon/spandex blends most stockings are today.  Just how do today’s nylon stockings match up to those of yesteryear? Here’s some pretty old package pictures and comparisons to feast your eyes on!

First, let’s look at some old styles. You can’t find these any more, but sharp eyes can often find old stockings in thrift shops. This pair is 100% nylon “run-resist” seamless. The cheap packaging and basic foot (the toe and heel are barely reinforced) means this pair was probably a cheaper, everyday style. How fun is that purple bag, though?

Now this pair is also 100% nylon, but they feel fabulous, like silky clouds. The hard box and excess of tissue paper lets you know these were nice stockings to save up for.

When looking at these fabulous old examples of nylon loveliness, I realised that the Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings were the perfect in-between for these mid-century stockings. Not as rough as one pair, not quite as fantastically fine as the other. And, like those old stockings, they rely on shape more than stretch, they’re as light as a feather and very delicate (I was super worried I’d snag any of these three styles while shooting them!).

Here’s a close up detail of the texture of these stockings. The cheap pair are on the left, the Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings in the middle, with the fancy-pants stockings on the right. Texture-wise, the Ultra Sheer Retro Backseam Stockings have a similar delicacy to the more expensive pair, with a fine texture that helps them blend against your legs.

Other sheer stockings we carry aren’t quite as fine. Stockings like these do require a careful hand in wearing them, because they’re so delicate. But, here’s a fun tip: if you want our finest, sheerest nylon styles, use this search term “These are very sheer and delicate.” Our caution is your code to finding the finest!

If you love old stocking styles, definitely check out our “Socks Through Time” board on our Pinterest! There are some fabulous styles on there that make me want to break out the time machine! And I’m not done talking nylons yet, we’ll have some tips and tricks for you later this month!

Wool and acrylic are especially prone to pilling (though cotton, polyester and nylon like to do it too). Linen and silk are the safest from the perils of pilling. Wool has an advantage, as it is more likely to shed pill build-up. Synthetic fibers are tougher and more stubborn, keeping those pilled bits secure to the fabric. Washing pill-prone items inside out on a short, gentle cycle (or hand washing) helps prevent this kind of wear, but often it is inevitable.

However or whyever there are pills, they’re a problem that you can solve. One of the most common ways is with an electric sweater shaver. Electric sweater shavers are fun and kind of loud (which is also fun). They require batteries and are sort of like a teddy bear’s version of a beard trimmer. A lot of them are even made by the same companies who make electric face razors!

And one of those can bring some freshness back to a tired looking pair of socks or armwarmers, like this pair of Harajuku Arm Warmers. That area between the thumb and fingers gets a lot of wear and shows it.

But all it takes is turning on the sweater shaver and lightly running it over the arm warmer, either while wearing it or laying it flat. The key word here is lightly, just gently brush the shaver across the top. If you’re too rough you could put a hole in whatever you’re sprucing up, particularly if it is a delicate item.

And the pills are gone, turned into easily-disposed of fluff! The softer look of a much loved-and worn item doesn’t disappear, but the pills do. It even does a solid job removing all the pills on the heels of my poor old Extraordinary Thigh Highs, which have had a lot of hard wear.

Electric sweater shavers are definitely rad, but there have to be some non battery powered options out there, right? Tumblr Fairy Zaf prefers the Sweater Stone and I’ll walk you through that technique next. Why don’t you let us know your tips and tricks for removing pills? In looking up information on pilling I saw that some folks use the hook side of Velcro—have you tried it, does that work? I’ve definitely gone the sticky tape route myself.

There isn’t a whole lot of difference and sometimes we do use the phrase “knee sock” when we’re talking about knee highs. But, more often than not, when we call something a “knee sock” we’re talking about a sock that ends somewhere around the knee—sometimes below, sometimes above, sometimes right there in the middle of your knee cap—depending on your leg shape. The Bess Cashmere Slouch Rib Knee Socks are a perfect example of this, you can see how they end at different spots on different models’ legs:

Since we try on all the styles we sell and almost all of the models you see in our pictures are Sock Dreams employees, we get to see how socks act on different leg types. Long legs and fuller calves mean some shorter over the knee styles don’t fairly deserve the name “OTK”. But those same socks can’t properly be called knee highs either because just as many other folks had them go over their knees. So, we started using the phrase “knee sock” to highlight that ambiguity.

It was Sourpuss’ styles that made us first start using the phrase more actively, they’re shorter for over the knee styles and even though Sourpuss called them OTKs, we couldn’t after testing them, even though we love them.

• Octopus Knee Sock •
• Galley Ho Knee Sock •

The DreaM Stockings “knees” styles are another great example of a knee sock. Available in seven variations (with lots of varieties for each!), they can be worn as over the knee socks or knee highs, depending on your legs (or on your personal taste, I prefer them as knee highs, even though I’ve got short legs).

Clockwise, from top: Purple Knees, Pink Knees, Green Knees, White Knees, Orange Knees, Blue Knees. Center: Brown Knees,

A way to find these in-betweeners is also to choose both “knee high” and “OTK” in Advanced Search then click the word “ALL” next to the header for Coverage. This shows you styles we’ve found fall both above or below the knee, depending on your leg. If you’ve got longer legs or fuller calves, you may already know the trick of wearing OTKs as knee highs, cuffing or double-cuffing to take care of any extra length.

A knee sock isn’t a style that couldn’t cut it as an OTK, nor is it just an over-achieving knee high. They straddle both coverage worlds, offering their stylish services to more leg types.

One style Gumball Poodle calls “dress socks.” You can spot ‘em by their contrast heel and toe. Smooth textured and thin enough for snugger shoes, they’re perfect at hiding under office slacks, looking like a plain dress sock at the ankle while secretly being like, a ninja.

The other style is called an “athletic sock.” True to its name, this style is rugged and ready for anything. A terry lined foot cushions and absorbs—in the copy for the athletic styles we even say “Keep in mind that they are SO cushy they bring your shoe size up by half a size, so they’re best for roomier sneaks and boots.” Their lightly ribbed body is a pro at staying up, they’re no sissies.

Beyond just style, the differences between the dress and athletic socks affect the fit. The dress socks don’t stay up as well on some legs as the athletic socks and there is no way the athletic socks are fitting into snug dress shoes. But with over forty words and phrases to choose from we know you’ll find a fit that strikes your fancy and says exactly what you mean.

Sock-wise, all you need is a Crafty Bundle or a (clean!) old sock that lost its mate or got holey in the toes. We like styles that are little longer, especially if you want to make this a sewing-free project. If your sock is open on both ends, make a knot in one end, so you have a closed tube. If you want, you could also sew that end shut.

 For filler, there are a lot of great options: uncooked rice, feed corn, buckwheat hulls, barley, oatmeal, beans! Rice and barley are the most common options. Keep in mind that their grainy smell increases when you heat up the pack, so if you prefer a less hot-cereal scent you might like to add dried herbs and flowers like lavender and rose petals or mint and rosemary. If you decide to add a scent, mix it in with the filler and let them hang out together in a closed container for a while, so the smell gets nicely infused and distributed.

Now, all you’ve got to do is fill the sock with the filler! You want to aim for half to three-quarters full, this leaves enough room for the filler to scootch around and drape comfortably. Sticking the sock in a large glass and cuffing it over the top makes the filling process easier. A funnel is useful too, but so is a heavy piece of paper folded in half to make a sort of slide. Whee!

The second and last (!) thing to do is close it up! Again, a knot works just fine, but you can sew it if you want. Cut off any excess sock.

To heat your pack up, microwave for a minute or two and keep an eye on it for safety’s sake. You might also want to stick a small glass of water in the microwave with the pack while you heat it, the moisture helps heat sink into your muscles and helps ensure nothing catches on fire.

All ready to relax! But, what do you do if you don’t have the leisure to sit still and let the pack do its work? Here’s where a long sock comes in handy. Slip your pack into a long sock and let it fall to about the middle. Then use that long fabric to tie the pack in place! This works particularly well for lower back stuff (tie it like a belt) and shoulders (tie like a sash).

Now you can relax on the go, all thanks to this quickie craft (and socks!).

Even though we love science, none of us are professional scientists (yet!), but luckily the compression brands we carry have plenty of them. Therafirm, Sockwell and CEP are all amazingly designed graduated compression brands, each of them designed for different lifestyle needs. Therafirm’s Preggers styles are graduated compression tights designed to energise and support the tired legs and feet associated with pregnancy. CEP is designed for sports, maximising performance and recovery after competition or working out. Sockwell has socks that maximise fun and health, with gorgeous designs and smartly built socks. Even Dahlgren and Injinji have compression styles with the same smart sports and lifestyle designing that defines their brands.

• CEP •
• Sockwell •
• Therafirm •

There’s a trick to putting compression socks on correctly, though. As you might have noticed, compression socks are tight and can be hard to put on. There’s a reason for that. Just yanking them on won’t distribute that smartly designed sock correctly and will prevent the sock from giving you the benefit of proper graduated compression. Plus, for styles with higher compression, it can be unhealthy, since they are designed to be worn with the fabric evenly distributed up the leg. CEP has a fun little video on YouTube showing the basics of putting on compression socks and Therafirm’s Preggers has some great tips on their website for donning compression styles.

This simple little trick just takes a minute or so extra but is worth every second. For folks who prefer a photo reference, we got you covered after the jump!

First, put your hand inside the sock and grab the heel from the inside. While still holding the heel, turn the body of the sock inside out, to where you’re gripping. The heel area makes kind of a little “ear.”

Now open up the sock and put the foot on, up to the heel.

With the foot in place you can ease the sock up your leg a bit at a time; either by pinching and pulling small sections up, starting at the ankle, or by gathering the body of the sock and gently working it up the leg. The pinch and pull approach lets you deal with just one layer, instead of an entire handful of bunched up sock, allowing you to more properly and easily distribute the fabric of the leg. If you gather the sock, as shown here, you’ll need to go back and make sure that everything is distributed properly.

Now that you’re all en-socked, take a second to check: Is the body of the sock twisted and are the toes straight? CEP’s arcing stripes and the little plus sign on the back of Sockwell compression styles are a guide to proper alignment. A twisted up sock is uncomfortable, imagine how much more uncomfortable a twisted up compression sock would be! Taking a second to check everything now saves you annoyance and discomfort later. Running your hands over the body of the sock, make sure it is evenly distributed. The Sockwell styles  in particular like to bunch at the ankle, so pinch and pull that extra fabric up, distributing it along your leg.

The last thing to do is enjoy the hugging comfort of a perfectly placed compression sock!

So, whether you stand a lot, sit a lot or work out hard, graduated compression socks can help refresh, recover and relax tired legs and feet. Just remember to take that extra minute to put them on so that their benefits can truly benefit you.

Nylon styles can be thin and anybody who regularly wears classic stockings has experienced a ruining snag. With socks you can darn holes or cut ‘em to make arm warmers, or use them as the base of fun crafts. There’s a lot more material involved in a sock than there is in a stocking. Sure, thicker and opaque styles you can turn into arm warmers (like at the end of this DIY post), but what about those classically styled, sheer “nylons”? Dreamer Zaf gave some good tips for dealing with holes recently on the Tumblr, but what about when there’s just no saving them?

Well, conveniently I collect household hint books, and even more conveniently, I’ve got one from the 1960s (reprinted in the 1970s), back when nylon stockings were a staple. Heloise’s Housekeeping Hints is pretty much my favourite household hint resource and between this old version and later versions (she’s even on the web, now!), there are lots of ways to get some last use out of snagged nylons. They’re not that craft-oriented, but they are crafty (as in sneaky and smart!). For all of these tips, use clean nylons and cut off any lace tops (especially if they have silicone grip strips inside).

Lotsa tips after the jump!

Because they’re light and not very textured, nylon stockings can be fantastic gentle scrubbers. Just ball ‘em up and have at whatever needs to be cleaned or dusted with a more careful touch.

They’re also so gentle that thin strips are perfect to tie back plants to stakes or to anchor climbing vines. I would have a picture here, but I don’t grow things (it’s for the best).

Maybe you already know the newspaper trick for washing mirrors (WAY less lint than paper towels!), but nylons work just as well. And even less lint!

Okay, you KNOW you dropped something back there, under the very heavy thing. Just rubber-band a sheer stocking over the open end of your vacuum cleaner hose and try fishing for it. The stocking is open enough that the vacuum still suctions, but isn’t so open that the vacuum eats whatever you were trying to find.

That porousness is great for making bath sachets too. Throw some powdered milk, baking soda, oatmeal and lavender in there (it’s easiest if you stretch the stocking over a cup), tie it off and hang it below the tap in your tub. Nothing gross floating in the bath, but all the benefit of fancy bath times!

And here is a truly crafty crafting option! Craftgrrl has a Cheap Screenprinting Tutorial! Easy and quick screen printing. Just some nylons, non-water based glue and an embroidery hoop.

There’s a lot you can do with socks, too, but whew, I think they’ll need a whole post of their own! Do you have any tips for reusing old nylons?

If you’re a knitter, you’re probably familiar with the ways to get a little more stretch out of a sock. High percentage cotton and wool knits can be manipulated when wet (“blocking”), sneaking out a little more room or tightening up the fibers for a snugger fit. You can’t change the stretch or size of a sock dramatically with blocking, but you can add (or remove) a little extra for a more custom fit.

Whether you’re looking to add some more stretch in the body of the sock or shrink the foot a little, you’ll need a small towel, hot water (Be safe! Wear rubber gloves if you need to and keep the water about the temperature of a hot bath) and a place you can splash a little. And of course you’ll need the socks you’ll be working on. I’ll be showing you the process using O Basics.

If you’re looking to stretch the body of the sock, you’ll also need something to stretch around. Coffee cans are pretty perfect for this, but anything sturdy and round can work. Use a measuring tape and find something that’s just a bit wider around than the sock can stretch now. Or you can go around putting the sock on things to see what just barely fits. That is more fun.

Wet Stretching

Right now there is a lot of variance in the calf stretch of O Basics, so sneaking a little more stretch out of this style is pretty useful. Wet the area you’ll be working on by dunking the body of the sock into your water. Get it thoroughly wet, somewhere between dripping and just damp. I’m mostly concerned with the calf area, so that’s the only part I’m getting wet.

Now gently but firmly stretch the sock over whatever you’ve picked to stretch it over.

Now you just wait a couple of hours (or longer, depending on how humid where you live is). Once your sock is dry, slide it off and check it out.

Before stretching the body of these O Basics stretched to just barely 16 inches. On the can they were stretched to about 16 and a half inches. Now they stretch to 17 inches! How much you can get out of wet stretching depends on the fiber blend, the colour of the sock (some colours just have no stretch, it’s crazy!), a lot of little variables. But you can almost always get a half inch more. Keep in mind that you’ve reduced the elasticity a bit, so your stretched-out sock may not stay up as well as an un-stretched sock.

Shrinking the Foot

This process is more of a try and try again sort of procedure. You’ll notice that for high cotton content styles like the O Basics we recommend that you “Machine or hand wash in cold to cool water, tumble dry low or hang dry.” If you’ve ever had a pair of high cotton or wool content socks sneak into with a load of bathtowels you know why—they shrink in the heat!

Unlike some of the other DreaM Stockings (like any of the striped “knees” styles), the O Basics have a smaller foot, which we recommend for “Women’s shoe size 5-10, maybe even bigger.” But it’s loose on a size 5, so let’s see if we can make them work better. They’re starting off at about 6.5 inches from toe to heel, unstretched (my measuring was a little more accurate than this picture!).

WARNING: doing this is going to shrink the body of the sock a little too, so if you don’t want to lose any calf stretch, you might be better off using this awesome sewing method we linked to on Pinterest from Little Porcelain Princess.

The first step is just getting the foot thoroughly wet in hot water. Just get the foot wet (and the ankle, if it’s too baggy on you), unless you’re trying to shrink the whole sock.

Now throw it in the dryer on medium, with towels or some other bulky stuff. If you can (although it’s a waste of energy and quarters), dry them with things that aren’t wet or damp, so the body of the sock doesn’t get wet and shrink as much as the  foot. As the sock dries the fibers contract. Now the foot is about 6 inches unstretched! Not a huge difference, but it can mean a lot to little toes. We did try getting the foot wet and letting it air dry AND getting the foot wet and putting it in front of a hot air heater, but they didn’t create any noticeable shrinking.

Remember, wet stretching doesn’t totally transform the fit of a sock, it just helps you get that extra perfect fit. Read those Sizing Tips and remember you can always drop us a line for more in-depth sizing info.

Our two house brands, DreaM Stockings and Dreamer Socks are made for us right here in the States, out of recycled and regenerated fibers. They’ve got some beautiful basics,

• O Woolies •
• Extraordinary Thigh Highs •
• OTK Tubes •

And of course, pretty patterns.

•Jacquard Flowering Vine OTK •
• Fast Lane OTK •
• Bamboo OTK •

But far more than our fabulous house brands are made in the USA. Why, did you know that from B.Ella we offer over forty USA-made styles? Only about a third of their styles we carry are made in Italy and the rest of these gorgeous, luxury offerings are home-grown.

• Adie Pima Cotton Ghost Footies •
• Nicolo Rugby Stripe Midcalf •
• Liza Polka Dot Knee Socks •

And ALL of the Gumball Poodle styles are made in the USA. Stretchy and sassy, we even offer two styles that name-check the Pacific Northwest and one that honours our local Roller Derby team!

• Seattle Knee Highs •
• Portland Knee Highs •
• I Love RCR Knee Highs •

Speaking of local, Una arm warmers are made up in Seattle, Washington—and Polonova styles are made right here in Portland, Oregon!

• Geoweb Arm Cozies •
• Polonova Floral Lace Trouser Socks •
• Polonova Longer Velvet Wrist Warmers •

There are so many more made in the USA offerings! Just join me after the jump for a quick list (and links and Advanced Searches for) of USA-made styles.

Here’s a quick reference list of the brands we currently carry who make their products in the USA. I’ve given each one a little line of description and the brand name links to an Advanced Search set up to show you just the styles made in the USA by that brand.

Remember, not all the styles offered by some of these brands are made in the USA. To make sure you’re looking at American-made styles, choose “Made in the USA” from the Category search options.

Ashi Dashi: Playful patterns from food to faux bois.

B.ella: Italian luxury, specialising in wool.

Dahlgren: Probably the most comfortable sock you’ll try, they’re the ultimate in sport socks.

Dream Stockings: One of our wonderful house brands!

Dreamer Socks: Another of our fabulous house brands!

EG Smith: Cozy cottons and the maker of the classic boot sock.

Element Emporium: Anatomically accurate bones and muscles screen printed onto cozy tube socks.

Gumball Poodle: Let your socks do the talking with these wonderfully wordy styles.

Hosiery Mate: Specially designed detergent to keep your dainties lasting longer.

It Stays!: Sock glue!

Look From London: Cozy leggings.

Love Lite Precision Tie Dye: Our house brand styles hand-tie dyed just for us!

Nouvella: Simple and sporty basics, with some space dye thrown in.

Polonova: Hand-silk screened patterns in luxe colourways.

QT Feet: Fantastic fairisle styles in recycled cotton.

Rago: Gorgeous garter belts.

Raygun Robyn: Exclusive tentacle patterned socks!

RocknSocks: Fun stripes in OTK and crew.

Snappy Garters: Lovingly hand-made sock garters.

Sock Dreams: You’ll find our exclusive garter styles here, along with our Dreamer-made t-shirts!

Sweet Marcel: Pretty patterned knee highs.

Texture Clothing: High quality hand warmers made in small batches.

Therafirm: Preggers maternity support tights.

Una: Hand crafted arm cozies in organic cotton and alternative fibers.

How are you rocking International Day of The Sock? Hey internationals, are you rocking USA-made styles today?

With our helpful assistant, Mrs. Half-Mannequin (“Half” is her maiden name) and a pair of Sheer Vertical Striped Pantyhose, I’ll share a couple tricks to help you guide those stripes. The wonderful Dreamer Zaf of our Tumblr took most of these pictures, since I only have so many hands.

In trying to keep those stripes straight, particularly with tights, sometimes the legs get twisted and that makes it awful up in areas that you really don’t want bunching. So here’s the key: keep the pattern straight from the start.

As you gather up the stocking or tights to slide them on, make sure you’re gathering everything evenly. Keep those stripes in line as you gather, starting from the top of the sock or leg of the tights. If you’re dealing with panels or designs, pay attention to what part is made to go in the front or back. What you’re doing is making sure your tights don’t get twisted.

Okay, now you’re ready to get fancy. Ease your little toes in and carefully put the stockings or tights on. It should be a lot easier now that you’ve essentially “prepped” them to keep their stripes straight. You may need to do a bit of adjusting as you go, but it should be pretty minimal.

Now they’re on! You may find that the toes are a little wonky. This is fine! You were focusing on getting things straight. Just adjust the toe seam to your comfort and pickiness—it’s a lot easier to get tights on straight then adjust the toe than make the toes perfect and try to keep the designs straight.

There, you look fabulous! For a twist you can do just that with socks and stockings (as opposed to tights), purposefully twisting them as you put them on for a new spin on vertical stripes. I think the Fast Lane Knee Highs are particularly well-suited to this.

Do you have any tips or tricks for putting on difficult patterns just right?