Date: c. 1960s
Origin: Norway
Fabric: Nylon blend
Brand: Eva Farve
These 1960s forest green tights, size 36/44, are from Norway, from the brand Eva Farve. They are a nylon blend, and (translated into English) the packaging advertises them as being “smooth knitted in 100% high-elastic crepe. Re-enforced gusset and toes. 20 denier on the legs. 40 denier in the briefs.” The pink copy on the package that reads “Hand wash gently in tepid water … REX, CORAL, SUNLIGHT sepe” is probably listing popular soap brands at the time which would be appropriate for washing. The packaging, featuring colorful silhouettes of legs, states that the garments are imported, but the manufacturer is not listed.
As hemlines rose for women of all ages during the 1960s, greater emphasis was put on fashion for hosiery. Colorful tights were staple accessories in fashionable wardrobes of the 1960s, seen in countless fashion advertisements and editorials, such as a February 1967 article in Vogue titled “News for Legs and Feet–Colour Gets Off the Ground.” A Harper’s Bazaar article from April 1967 titled “Stunning New Steps in Colour,” dictates that “legs and feet now need their own exciting and extensive colour wardrobe–stockings and tights in brilliant opaque spring colours.” The continued brief details the best brands to buy for the longest, neatest, palest, best navy, best sparkling tights, best bare options, best colours, and so forth (the brief notes that Mary Quant sells a “dye-your-own” white stocking kits that come with 20 dye options). The trend for opaque colorful stockings fit with “mod” and “space age” fashion, seen in the work of designers such as Pierre Cardin and Rudi Geinrich. The fashionable silhouette of the decade, embodied by the model Twiggy, emphasized waifish, straight figures, with long legs being emphasized by the colorful tights and mini skirts popular at the time.
Kindly donated to The Underpinnings Museum by Lucy Emke
Many thanks to Katherine Shark for the object description and research.
