The lords of the wardrobe and sex fantasies

On February 28, 1935, American chemist Wallace Hume Carothers and a group of like-minded people created a new synthetic fiber, which was called nylon.

In 1939, an event took place in New York that largely determined the lives of several generations of the fair sex. The world—famous chemical company DuPont presented a new synthetic material - nylon. In less than a year, nylon stockings appeared on sale, and the former favorites — technically imperfect silk stockings — went into oblivion under the onslaught of a powerful advertising campaign by the manufacturer of a sensational novelty. The slogan read: "Wearing stockings made of silk rather than nylon is like preferring a horse to a car." How could women resist?

Since then, more than 80 years have passed, and stockings still occupy an important place in ladies' wardrobes and men's fantasies.

Sale of nylon stockings in Washington, 1945. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

Great Britain, 1938. Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS

New York, Fifth Avenue. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

USA, 1940. Photo: Underwood Archives / UIG / REX / FOTODOM

1940. Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS

After the Second World War, women breathed a sigh of relief: nylon, which they loved, returned to the shelves! Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

Atlantic City, 1949. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

Although nylon stockings were twice as expensive as silk, the demand for them exceeded all expectations. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

September 1955: technologists at work. Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS

April 1949. Photo: Kurt Hutton / Picture Post / Getty Images / Fotobank

1950s, USA. Photo: Mondadori Portfolio / Getty Images / Fotobank

Paris, 1954. Photo: AFP

Washington, 1946. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS

New York, 1942. Photo: Charles Kenneth Lucas / AP