Tribute to nurses, sinister provocation or wink “only for women”: what is the reason for the return of white stockings?

Not because his return was announced, his presence is becoming less shocking.

White stockings, which mix connotations as different as childhood, the 60s, the spirit of the first “mods”, the hospital nurses of the 70s, photos of models in magazines from the 90s, aesthetics of the “man repeller” or the Chanel shows of recent seasons, are in full return on the catwalks and in the outfits for social networks of influential influencers: Blanca Miró, Pernille Teisbaek, Camille Charrière, Emili Sindlev, there are many who They have incorporated them into their outfits, and with them, into the conversation.

Despite the insistence of some fashion brands, in recent years they had fallen into disuse so the question now is whether this time they could convince and finally reach the streets.

If on this occasion they take the definitive step and end up being a trend, it will probably be as a result of the repetition effect: no matter how bland, or even ugly, something may seem to us, if we expose ourselves to it enough times we will end up seeing it as more attractive.

Even beautiful.

Marlo Thomas in 1967.ABC Photo Archives (Disney General Entertainment Con)

It won't be for exhibitions.

At the recently held Chanel show at Paris Haute Couture Week - the epicenter of luxury and high fashion - designer Virginie Viard has once again insisted on white tights, and to present the spring/summer 2024 collection she has He paraded all his models wearing tights of this color: a total of 56 outfits based on this difficult garment.

Karl Lagerfeld's successor has been including it in his collections since 2019 and other brands, such as Gucci, Balenciaga, Off-White and Saks Potts, have also flirted intermittently since then.

There are many more examples in the collections for next spring.

The model Irina Shayk wore them at the Andreas Kronthaler show for Vivienne Westwood (“look” 38) and they also made an appearance at the Givenchy show (for example, “look” 12, worn by Ilya Vermeulen) and repeatedly in Louis Vuitton.

At Lapointe, a bride wore them with a white sequin outfit, and the mesh version was seen on Nina Ricci's “show,” under a large pastel blue blazer that she served as a dress.

Palomo Spain brought them to its masculine proposals, and numerous brands declined them in their own way: Sportmax and Roksanda, Versace (here very thick and with exposed toes) or Burberry in the Resort 2024 mid-season collection (combined with flip-flops). heeled flops).

But why now?

What is the context for this incessant drip of white socks?

Irina Shayk backstage at Vivienne Westwood's latest show by Andreas Kronthaler.Ki Price (WireImage)

The reasons that have brought us here are several and respond to a crossroads of influences.

On the one hand, we come from a few months of fascination with an aesthetic called

balletcore

, born on TikTok and that captures the essence of feminine delicacy and strength.

Bows and ballet flats are two accessories that have permeated the general aesthetic and white stockings are an extension of that style.

White stockings, in addition, have entered the closets of women who boast on social networks that they don't dress to please men but themselves, and their outfits have many points in common with those of Leandra Medine McCohen, the New Yorker who in In the 2010s he entered fashion through the front door thanks to his blog Man Repeller and today he still occasionally wears white stockings.

Thus, this garment, which is not particularly pretty or flattering, serves as a stimulus to all those aesthetics that seek to beautify women from a traditional perspective.

A model wearing a Cavanagh suit and a beret in 1967.Evening Standard (Getty Images)

White socks, in fact, have a somewhat vindictive past.

To understand it, we must bear in mind that in the 60s a garment was born that turned out to be essential for the popularization of waist-high stockings (until then they were worn up to the thigh tied with garter belts).

We are talking about the miniskirt, that invention by Mary Quant that was a gesture of female freedom and a vindication of youth.

Models Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton began wearing minis with colored tights (until then only transparent, black or crystal tights were acceptable) in a “look” that told a new story about the place of young women in society. : Their clothes clearly belonged to a new generation.

Many no longer desired early marriage or motherhood: according to Time magazine, in the 1960s the average age of marriage for American women was about 20, and the average age of having a baby was 21. , but “young women participating in the revolutionary wave of the time often rejected the expectation of becoming wives and mothers so early.

So their wardrobes reflected that idea by taking on a youthful twist.”

And that's when the white socks came into the picture.

A particular movement took over the youth look: the “Mods”, a subculture that created a refined uniform to identify themselves, with two-piece suits, Chelsea boots, green parkas and clothes from Fred Perry or Ben Sherman for them;

and, headbands, miniskirt and white stockings for them.

The female version allowed women to prolong the time between childhood and adulthood.

Mary Quant herself, the mother of the Mod movement, explained it in the Times-Tribune in 1976: “When I was 13, I sat down and cried a lot about growing up.

What really unnerved me was the terrible realization that the adults' clothing was grotesque and drab.

"I wanted to evade the whole coming-of-age thing by wearing children's clothes forever."

Quant took her childhood uniform of a short skirt and tights and reinvented it for young women.

Colorful stockings, fun prints and decorations became fashionable, but the ones that best captured that innocent aesthetic were the white ones.

Princess Diana in a Victor Edelstein dress and Frederick Fox hat arriving at the Epsom Derby.Tim Graham (Getty Images)

By the 80s, the female role had changed significantly and white stockings were overshadowed by glass stockings, those transparent ones that shine, in the search for the female executive “look.”

They had naïve connotations and in this decade women sought to get rid of any label that infantilized them: they were demanding a place in the offices.

It was at the end of the decade, and in the early 90s, when they reappeared in formal attire and one of their prescribers at that time was Diana of Wales.

Thus, the return of white socks in 2024 also links to the rabbit hole that is aesthetic nostalgia for those years.

The French brand Chanel has been the great champion of this garment and has been including it in its fashion shows since 2019.

In March 2020, it even launched a version with the embroidered logo of the two Cs, which was a bestseller (and which is today resold on portals such as Vestiaire Collective at prices around 700 euros) and other luxury brands. , like Miu Miu (230 euros) or Wardrobe NYC (275 euros) continue to sell them on sites like My Theresa.com.

Uniqlo (12.90 euros), Calzedonia (6.95 euros), Falke (26 euros) or COS (15 euros) have already brought them to a more affordable segment.

The last great addition has been the one brought about by John Galliano in his much-discussed proposal for Maison Martin Margiela, where white stockings appeared with a thickness that gave them a gothic, sinister appearance and almost allowed them to be confused with leggings or even bandages.

So there are all the modalities, waiting to hit the street.

Gwendoline Christie in John Galliano's praised last fashion show for Maison Margiela haute couture. Pierre Suu (Getty Images)