Stockings, white cotton with red and black stripes, 1895

1895. White cotton stockings patterned with narrow vertical red stripes and occasional black stripes closely flanked by red ones. The welt (top) is white with horizontal black and red stripes. The heels and toes are now missing. Each stocking is knitted flat and shaped to follow the contours of the leg, reaching from the welt to the toe and joined at the back of the leg with a single seam that runs from the welt to under the heel. The heel is knitted of a piece with the main stocking and given shape by the seam. The gusset and sole are of one piece with the top of the foot and are seamed to the sides of the heel and down the center of the sole. Machine-made.

The Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection digital catalog was produced by the UNH Library Digital Collection Initiative, supported in part by a grant from the Mooseplate program and New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Additional funding provided by the E. Ruth Buxton Stephenson Memorial Fund.

Photography copyright, Astrida Schaeffer.