Run-proof Stockings With Guarantee

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30153, 10 June 1963, Page 2

Run-proof Stockings With Guarantee

[From a Reuter Correspondent} LONDON. Laddered stockings can become a nightmare of the past. At least one British manufacturer is giving a run-proof guarantee with every pair of run-resistant stockings sold.

Most manufacturers, however, still prefer to use the term run-resi»tant rather than run-proof, though if ladders do appear in these specially constructed stockings, most promise to replace them. Thfey do also add the warning that no stocking yet made is indestructible. If ladders are virtually eliminated, holes are not, especially in the very sheer ranges. But, run-proof or run-resistant, the non-ladder construction now extends to seamfree and fully fashioned ranges alike, and even to crepe stretch stockings.

That its popularity is going up by leaps and bounds is shown by the fact that the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers’ stocking associate member is now featuring no less than four different lines of runresistant stockings, three 15denier and one 30-denier stretch with a matt surface.

Another firm is using the run-proof construction for the sheerest-of-sheer evening stockings, and the highly snag-resistant knit is being complemented with a runproof ladder-lock stitch. Increasingly popular, in a less conventional style, are some new "French lace” stockings The 3-denier backing which bolds first the pattern of these 15-denier stockings also makes them particularly sturdy.

Teen-agers, too, are getting more and more consideration from stocking manufacturers Many are now making special seamfree lines for girls designed to fill their demand for more pairs at less cost One reflection of this is a “twin pairs” pack which

contains four guaranteed, matching stockings sold at a slight reduction on the price of two separate pairs. Mrs Ann Ford, London’s only woman stocking fashion director and designer, taking note of the “snagging” problems of the youngest stocking wearers, has gone even further down the age ladder. She has designed scaleddown "dolls” in small and medium foot Sizes to fit the slim legs and ankles of 10-year-old wearers. Non-Twist Seams

This venture follows the launching of a long-line stocking without shadow welts or heel splice to wear with the new sling-back shoes. These stockings have specially constructed seams which defeat the criticism of the seamfree supporters. These seams will not twist. The battle between the seams and seam-free stockings still rages. The feeling seems to be that seams are gaining ground among sophisticated women, while seam-free stockings are on the increase among young women.