Creating a 1950s Look with Seamed Stockings

When it comes to 1940s and 1950s fashion, it’s the little details that make the difference. After all, basic clothing hasn’t changed that much over the years, but the addition of a frame handbag, red lipstick and seamed hosiery change a knee length black dress from ‘any’ era to perfectly retro.

If you're new to retro style hosiery, or hosiery of any kind, then the terminology can be confusing - but help is at hand!

Check out our guide to hosiery and all will be revealed.

Right up until the mid 1960s all hosiery had a seam. Seamfree stockings actually started being made in 1949 but they didn’t become popular until the mid 1960s. If you are going for a 1940s or 1950s look, seamed stockings are a must!

If you are going to a daytime vintage event such as the Goodwood Revival then ‘nude’ seams are the most period correct. Most women would have worn some kind of skintone hosiery, possibly grey or a darker skintone than their natural leg colour. Black seamed stockings would have been reserved for evening wear. Although an all black ensemble can look very striking, possibly in very early 1960s beatnik style, wearing black seamed stockings with a floral dress wouldn’t have been done in the 1950s.

At What Katie Did, our most popular seamed stockings are our champagne with black seam nylons. Contrast black seamed nylons (or silk/rayon stockings) were made in the 1940s and 1950s. Although they weren’t as common as the plain skintone versions, Katie has several vintage contrast black seamed stockings in her collection.

At shows such as the Goodwood Revival, Twinwood and Dapper Day, the most popular style we sell is champagne with a black seam. This is also a favourite of film and TV studios as the seam shows up on screen (keep any eye out for our seams in Peaky Blinders and Downton Abbey).

Are more colourful seams period correct? They were actually made in the 1940s and 1950s and Katie shows you a few pairs in this video so yes, they were available but very rare. Really, unless you wear top to toe vintage every day, complete with a hat and gloves, there’s nothing wrong at all with wearing a colourful seamed stocking. In the era of 1950s, technicolor they really can add a pop of authentic colour.

What we’ve left unsaid so far, is that at What Katie Did we do actually have a small range of seamed

tights, so if you aren’t a fan of stockings you can get the look without the suspenders.

You actually have the people of the Goodwood Revival to thank for the tights, as for the first few years of having a pop up shop there we were overwhelmed with people requesting seamed tights. After a couple of years of telling everyone they weren’t period correct, we caved in! Our range of seamed tights is a lot smaller than our colour choice for seamed stocking as away from vintage events, we do sell a lot more stockings than tights.