Hagley Museum celebrates 75th Anniversary of Nylon

"Silk Stockings

So soft and so sheer

The dear Silk

Stockings you wore"

Lyrics and music by Cole Porter

Today that should be an ode to Nylon.  With the creation of nylon, silk stockings became a memory of the past. The Hagley Museum in Delaware just opened a new exhibit in April called Fashion Meets Science: Introducing Nylon This exhibit shows how nylon revolutionized the fashion industry and influenced how people have dressed since its launch in 1938 by the DuPont Company.

Fashion Meets Science: Introducing Nylon celebrates the 75th anniversary of nylon’s introduction to the fashion world. On October 27, 1938, a brand new material named nylon was announced to the public. Created in DuPont’s labs, nylon replaced silk in the ladies hosiery industry. Nylon was so popular that its early sales created near riots.

The highlight of the exhibit is the early development of nylon and its impact on the fashion industry, but it includes other uses for the discovery such as parachutes, toothbrushes, and carpet.

Nylon Wedding Dress

Visitors will be able to view the first polyamide fiber sample (basis of nylon) and first souvenir sample of nylon thread, first all-nylon woven fabric, one of the first pairs of stockings manufactured at the Experimental Station, and the first pair of seamless stockings; the first wedding dress made of nylon (1942), first dress made of 100 percent spun nylon (1949), and first nylon football pants will also be on display in addition to other nylon “firsts.”

Nylon Quiana Jacket.

Visitors can see the first nylon overlay lace dress (1940) and a prototype black nylon nightgown from Vanity Fair (1947). Clothing made from Qiana, a silky nylon fiber that debuted in the late 1960s and influenced fashion of the disco era, will also be displayed.

 Featured Qiana items include a Bill Blass Qiana Boudoir Robe (1968-1969), William Travilla Qiana evening gown (1968-1969), Oscar de la Renta Qiana wrap dress (1968-1969), Charles Kleibacker Qiana cocktail dress.

So for all you nylon   and fashion buffs this exhibit runs through March 31, 2014. Hagley Museum and Library is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. Call (302) 658-2400 weekdays for more information or visit www.hagley.org.

Keep Styling in Delco!