Who invented fishnet tights

This influence can still be seen today, as people continue to associate fishnets with prostitutes and hookers. The sexy stockings established their place in mainstream fashion in the s, when centerfolds Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe would casually don short dresses and fishnets. These stars popularized what people saw as a means to emphasize curves and femininity. From there, the rest is history. In , fishnets have made a comeback in a way that opens up their one-trick ability to accentuate femininity.

People wear fishnet-patterned shirts, or pull jeans over their stockings so that the netting peeks out only above the waistline or below mid-calves. Celebrities like Kate Moss and Kendall Jenner have popularized this trend, though I would by no means credit them for this use of fishnets. Proenza Schouler invented fishnets under ankle-length coats, while many Europeans wear fishnets under jeans or loose pants.

Get our weekly exclusive emails and behind the scenes video and photographs from your favorite creators. Narrative Documentary Music How To. It is not percent sure were fishnet tights originally come from. What we do know, though, is that they were invented around in France and got very popular during this time thanks to the cancan. From Paris, they took over Europe and even North America. Since fishnet tights not only were worn by cancan dancers, but also by prostitutes, they had a quite seedy reputation.

Reputable women would have never worn fishnets back then! When Marlene Dietrich , who also made trousers for women popular , wore fishnet tights in the s in several movies, they got even more popular. In the s , even Marilyn Monroe and other Hollywood Divas wore fishnets, which gave them a slightly more glamorous image. Beside glitter, feathers, long gloves, high heels, garters, and robes, fishnets are a basic equipment for every show girl in this genre.

Fishnet tights are a great fashion accessory and are even able to make very plain looks more thrilling. As always, experimenting makes sense. Here are some tips and ideas:. For my look this time, I got inspired by the s. Every depiction we've found of the can-can dancers of this era points to opaque black stockings as the uniform du jour.

Others claim it was the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet who traded in their opaque tights for fishnets. Again, backing up this claim has proven to be a feat beyond our humble research skills. Spandex Fishnet Pantyhose in the two most classic fishnet colors: beige and black. What we did find is what appears to be the earliest reference to wearing fishnet -- the kind used for catching actual fish. In the Brothers Grimm released the second edition of their collection of Children's and Household Tales now better known as Grimms' Fairy Tales which included a newly collected tale, that of The Peasant's Wise Daughter.

This story remained in subsequent versions of the book, with the last being published in While the first few editions had been criticized for being inappropriate for children, with some changes to the stories including, for some reason, the addition of even more violence following editions grew in popularity. In the story, a king is holding the titular peasant captive, only to be released if his daughter is able to answer his riddle: to appear before him neither naked nor clothed, neither walking nor riding, neither on the road nor off it.

Now this might sound like the kind of riddle that would appear in the soothsayings of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters, resolving in some perfectly logical explanation, albeit with tragically too-late timing.

I might sound like that kind of riddle, but it's not. The wise daughter shows up wrapped in a fishing net, and makes her entrance being dragged behind a mule with only one toe touching the ground. Of course this is exactly the ridiculous solution to the riddle that the king had in mind.

Topless Thigh High Fishnets are an authentically retro look, which happen to fit a great variety of people. Now, while these fairytales were gaining in circulation and popularity, Victorian fashions had women's legs hidden away, which resulted in the phenomenon of stockings becoming fetishized in Victorian society.

Our suspicion is that the Brothers Grimm planted the idea of wearing fishnet into the collective subconscious of this stocking-obsessed society, resulting in the creation of the fishnet stocking, which, being full of holes, are the perfect juxtaposition of there, but not there; skin-covering, but skin-baring.

In the early 's, fishnet made its way from Paris presumably to the USA. There it was picked up by dancers, actresses, and sex workers. In this era, hemlines rose as young women pushed fashion and gender boundaries, culminating in the flapper style of the 's.

Of course, it was a fairly small sect of women who fully indulged in the flapper look and lifestyle, and there were many who judged them for it. Fishnet's popularity with Hollywood actresses at this time began the push from fringe to mainstream fashion, though it would still be many decades before it would overcome its bawdy origins to be accepted as regular street wear.

By the midth century, pin-ups were being mass-produced, and while they had started as promotional materials for burlesque dancers in the 's, by now they had evolved into a stand-alone form of erotica, featuring skimpily clad women, and occasionally men. Fishnet stockings were and continue to be a wardrobe staple of the pin-up world.

As pin-ups became associated with patriotic wartime propaganda, the form was further advanced into the mainstream of American society, aided by more and more "America's sweetheart" styled Hollywood starlets who were regularly featured in pin-ups.

By the 's, mainstream icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were posing for pin-ups, and the art form was no longer considered to be strictly erotica -- many of these pin-ups were now promotional materials for movies.

Celebrities with their roots in ballet, such Bridgette Bardot, could be found posing for pin-ups in ballet-styled outfits, including fishnet tights, alluding to their alleged origins.

Spandex Fishnet Pantyhose in two brighter options. The 's were the first time we really saw fishnet as regular street wear, though as some of our mother's can attest, they still garnered unwanted commentary.

Fishnets began to be produced in bright colors which complimented mod fashions of the day, and though the style remained controversial, in the era of the miniskirt they actually offered more coverage than going bare-legged, while being comfortably ventilated in warm weather.

So, what happens when a fashion item with a Reputation becomes accepted into mainstream fashion? Why, it must be subverted, of course!

In the 's, the punk movement got ahold of the now-acceptable fishnets, and did their best to make them as counter-culture as possible. Though snags are inevitable for some styles of net but not the nearly-indestructable Professional Fishnets we carry! The look was adopted into gothic fashion soon after, as an antithesis to the ubiquitous disco fashions of the time. This era also saw the rise of larger-gauge options, such as fence net and industrial net.