Fully fashioned stockings: what makes them so special?
A Stocking That Is Shaped, Not Knitted into a Tube
Almost all modern stockings are circular-knitted. A cylindrical machine makes a long tube, and the elastane allows that tube to conform to the leg. Fast, inexpensive, and highly effective.
Fully Fashioned stockings are made differently. They are knitted flat, like a piece of fabric. During knitting, the machine drops stitches in the right places, making the fabric narrower at the ankle and wider at the thigh. The stocking is therefore shaped before there is a leg inside it. The fabric is then sewn closed at the back, creating the seam you see.
Hence the name: fully fashioned, fully shaped.
The Details That Identify Them
The Seam
On a genuine Fully Fashioned stocking, the seam is not decoration but construction. It runs from the heel to the top edge and literally holds the stocking together. On modern stockings with a printed or knitted-in seam, the line is purely visual.
Fashioning Marks
Right beside the seam, you can see small dots or dashes, usually in pairs. These are the places where the machine decreased stitches. They prove that the stocking was knitted flat, and collectors look for them first.
The Heel
The heel reinforcement is a design feature in its own right on these stockings.
- Cuban heel: a rectangular block at the back of the heel, with a clearly straight top edge. The most pronounced style.
- Point heel: tapers to a point above the heel, subtler than the Cuban heel.
- Reinforced heel and toe: both the heel and toe are reinforced, originally to prevent wear.
One Hundred Percent Nylon
Classic Fully Fashioned stockings contain no elastane. This means they do not stretch as much as you may be used to, so the size really has to be right. It also gives them their characteristic sheen and smooth feel.
Why They Are Rare
The machines that make these stockings mostly date from the 1940s and 1950s. They are slow, require an operator, and are no longer being built. While a circular knitting machine can produce dozens of pairs per hour, making a pair of Fully Fashioned stockings takes considerably more time and manual work.
That explains the price, and it explains why there are only a handful of places left worldwide where they are made.
Who Are They For?
For anyone looking for the look of classic hosiery and willing to take a little extra care with it. Without elastane, they are more delicate and require a garter belt, because they will not stay up on their own.
In return, they offer something modern stockings cannot: a seam that visually lengthens the leg, the sheen of pure nylon, and the feeling of wearing something made in the same way as it was eighty years ago.
