These stockings were made sometime between 1775-1800. At the time if men were going to be the height of fashion they had to
have good legs, including nicely shaped calves. If you didn't have attractive legs you could have a pair of stockings made,
padded with lambswool. These gave even the skinniest legs muscles in all the right places. It was a bit like wearing a
padded bra today.
These stockings weren't everyday wear. They were only worn by wealthy people and even then only for special occasions.
When these stockings were made they were very popular and lots of pairs may have been in use. However, not many pairs have survived to today. In fact, this is probably the only surviving pair in a British museum. This makes them very special.
They are made from undyed knitted silk, with lambswool padding (the bottom stocking in the photograph is inside out to show you the wool). The wearer would have put his feet in the loops at the bottom and held the stocking up with garters which were tied on under the breeches. They didn't have elastic (it wasn't invented until around 1820).
These stockings were probably worn with a black silk velvet court suit, which would have included a highly embroidered silk waistcoat, an embroidered velvet tail coat and plain silk velvet breeches. These are also in the collection (see the picture). The outfit would have been finished with a pair of black leather buckle shoes. The buckles were probably made of cut steel or silver, and possibly decorated with pastes.
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