~NO NONSENSE, NO NYLONS~
During the ’40s and WWII, stockings were near enough obsolete!
Nylon used in stockings was needed for the war effort too (just like rubber and metal-see ‘40s blogpost )…
But how did ladies go about handling this and still look the part?
~BISTO AND A PAINTBRUSH~
As bare legs were frowned upon and suntanned ones would look uneven in color, women were adamant to have at least the illusion of the perfect stockinged look.
Women would literally paint their legs a nylons-shade of their choice and often draw on the back seams of stockings on the backs of their legs.
They would even go as far as to paint on the top-band of the stockings on their upper legs.
It’s such a creative solution to give the illusion of wearing stockings underneath your beautiful luxury lingerie and gown.
Course you would first shave your legs smooth, exfoliate, and then…
If you were DIY-ing it, you would have gotten the likes of tea and the Bisto out of your kitchen cabinet…Bisto?!
Yes, we’re talking about the gravy powder or granules.
Maybe you would come off smelling like a delish meat dish, but hey, at least your legs looked great!
And yes, of course, there were also lotions that would probably smell a bit better, developed for you to purchase with more staying power than gravy or tea…
~HEAD TO THE BEAUTY PARLOR FOR A PERFECT LIQUID STOCKINGS JOB~
Of course, there was quite a bit of skill involved to get it absolutely right, so beauty parlors were also set up to accommodate the stockings-illusion-need.
It would take about half an hour to paint the liquid stockings on both legs professionally.
Wow! What lengths ladies (in the likes of the UK and occupied France) would go through to get their pins looking beautifully stockinged and absolutely fabulously so!
~*~
Images: Pinterest
