Fishnet stocking
Fishnet stockings , also known as ajour stockings , were originally woven or knitted goods made of cotton , from coarse hole or fish net patterns to very fine crocheted looks, which are made by special leno weaves and the shifting of a stitch to the next needle.
Properties and composition
The first fishnet stockings were black and embroidered with ajour . The classic ajour technique is an embroidery in which loosely woven fabric threads are pulled together with a thread, creating openings. The edges for taping (the end collar) do not have to be serged, as the openings can only be reached by pulling the threads together; In addition, a top degree is incorporated. Different types of perforations can be achieved with different stitch variations, which can then be filled with further lace stitches .
Nowadays, fishnets be mechanically and fully automatically from strong spandex - or polyamide filaments or durable natural fiber such as 10 to 20 denier - precious silk or Schur and cotton produced (while nylon stockings from gossamer Micro fibers as nylon , polyester and acrylic are made). The different fibers, including microfibres, can be mixed together. Modern fishnet stockings are available with or without a decorative seam on the back of the leg (in 1950s nostalgic optics, possibly with rhinestones), with a reinforced (high) heel (the so-called "Cuba heel"), sole and toe in all imaginable - also very extravagant ones - colors made. They are usually elastic, preformed (perfectly matched to the anatomy of the legs), thigh-length, stay-up and have a non-slip lace finish. Fishnet stockings vary in all lengths between socks up to the base of the legs and with integrated straps (instead of suspenders ) down to the waist - or with (mostly opaque) panty parts and "crotchless" tights . The coarse stretch web (the so-called chanson diamond pattern), the refined spider web pattern and the diagonal striped design are popular . Fishnet stockings in the narrower sense - similar to nylon stockings -, in contrast to tights, do not cover the buttocks.
History of the fishnet stocking
Fishnet stockings were invented in France around 1890 . The exact origin is unclear, the Cancan in Paris made them world famous. It was short, black stockings, often with a red bow at the hem and / or ankle ( garter belt ), which caused a sensation under the dancers' white petticoats. Forerunners were the Petinet stockings, stockings with a breakthrough pattern , which were first made on hand-operated flat knitting machines and then, from around 1880 on, semi-automatically on cotton machines . Not only the dancers in Paris wore the fishnet stockings, also the cocottes . It was therefore not only pride but also suppressed fear that played a role when the history books noted that the first pair of fishnet stockings from Paris arrived in the USA in 1908 .
For a long time it was not appropriate to show off fishnet stockings in public - unless at carnival , when the civil conventions are overridden.
Fishnet stockings are also related to the net veil that society ladies wore in front of their faces in the Belle Epoque .
Cultural dissemination
Fishnet stockings are still an indispensable utensil in cabaret shows and music-hall - revues - besides Glitter jewelry, feather boas, long gloves, high heels , gold panties, garter belts and robes. When Marlene Dietrich sang her world success I am set to love from head to toe , watch out for blonde women and other chansons that are known to this day, she wore fishnet stockings on stage. In the famous film The Blue Angel , she also exhibited them more often. There are test shots of Marilyn Monroe for the film Blondes preferred from 1953, where she poses in a kind of full-body fishnet stocking ( bodystocking ): only the pelvis and breasts are covered with rhinestones , the rest are mesh and seams. Blondes preferred is a true metaphor network - the film is about how Monroe as Lorelei and Jane Russell look for rich husbands on a luxury ship heading for France, in other words: they should go online. Nevertheless, the Monroe costume was discarded as too daring. A year later, in the Western River of No Return , she is lying in a corset on a saloon piano, her skirt is up and Marilyn Monroe's legs in fishnet stockings stretch out towards the viewer. It's not just the cowboys in the saloon that get big eyes - the film is set in the Northwest of the USA in 1875. With the river of no return , fishnet stockings were finally discovered for the cinema as well.
One of the icons of the transvestites and the gay movement - Frank N. Furter - wears fishnet stockings with suspenders in The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Just like Helmut Berger , who parodies Marlene Dietrich as “Lola” in Visconti's Die Verdammten and sings the song Eine Mann, eine Real Mann .
In the 1960s , the thin model Twiggy wore thigh- high fishnet stockings in Europe - as did the other style-defining model figure Barbie in the USA . The Groovy Sixties Barbie with henna red hair, mini skirt and white fishnet stockings is one of the most sought after dolls today .
In the 1970s the established meaning of fishnet stockings was redefined. From Vivienne Westwood's London boutique "Sex" reached Fetish mode to the new subculture of punk . From 1976 the girls tore their fishnet stockings and held them together with safety pins and elastic bands. That seemed more than wicked to good citizens: They reacted in shock - as before. Even in the Gothic scene, black fishnet stockings (partly torn) are still preferred as a fashion element. They got there through punk and wave fashion of the late 1970s and 1980s.
In the 1990s , Madonna brought the fishnet stockings back to the glamorous surface of pop . The singer defined bras , corsages and lingerie as women's outerwear. Her appearance is again about physicality and aggressive sex. On the poster for In Bed with Madonna she is lying there in fishnet stockings, with bleached hair, as a Monroe quote.
The fishnet stocking industry received its last boost to date from Nicole Kidman in 2001. Her film Moulin Rouge brought lingerie, absinthe and stockings back into fashion.
Function of the network
Fishnet stockings are often used in the sex industry as well as in the broad context of eroticism and are part of the workwear of half-world women. They have an erotic effect on men and are an attractive eye-catcher, especially in combination with a mini skirt and high heels . They are not limited to the beauty and eroticism as well as the smell of the sexual stimulant : they are also functional because they are extremely breathable and climate-regulating, which prevents perspiration and makes them comfortable to wear. Nylon stockings are z. B. felt almost unbearable in high heat.
