Nylon Stockings

As a young lady growing up in the mid 1960’s, it was a time of hope, expectation, adventure and dreams. Being given my first pair of nylon stockings for a Christmas present from my Mother and Father was their acknowledgment to me that they now considered me old enough to wear nylon stockings and to be considered an eligible young lady. It was so exciting!

I was a ‘bush kid’ which means I was a child raised on a Property in the Australian bush. Nothing unusual in that but what was different was that we were heading off on Boxing Day for our annual Christmas holidays and I had my first pair of nylon stockings to wear to the local dances on the coast.

I spent most of that Christmas Day feeling the texture of the nylon stockings as it ran through my fingers and with each slide, I had dreams of meeting and dancing with a very handsome “Mr. Right” whoever he might be. My dreams were as soft and silky as the nylon stockings. Oh the hopes and dreams of a young Australian girl with her first pair of nylon stockings.

Many people particularly young girls may not be aware but at this time all nylon stockings were worn with garter belts or suspenders. There was no such thing as pantyhose or tights. It was either a full corset or suspender belts to hold nylon stockings up.

Pantyhose or tights didn’t come into existence in Australia until 1968. The first improvement to holding up stockings was the thigh-high glue-elasticized top which cut off circulation and caused many allergic reactions. Weeks later, the first pantyhose were in the shops.

Now that time has moved on and garter belts and nylon stockings are a discarded thing of the past in my life, I can look back and still vividly remember the joy in being given my first pair of nylon stockings and the dreams and hopes I had with them. I cherished them immensely and took great care not to snag or ladder them because I knew it would be some time before I got another pair.

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