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Since skirt lengths have increasingly become shorter since 1900 - after World War I they were almost at knee-length - lady's legs became part of a fashionable appearance.

The now visible leg became the main focus, although it was still demurely covered as dictated by the moral norm of the time. The finer the stockings were, the more the appearance of "dressed bareness" was suggested - and thus manufacturers were very interested in producing the finest possible hosiery.

As early as 1953, fine lady's stockings with 75gg and a yarn fineness of 15 den could be knit on Cotton patent flat-bed knitting machines. The finest possible hosiery knit on a "Cotton machine" was achieved in 1956 - a 90gg stocking by ARWA, knit on a specialized machine. This was achieved at a time where the first fine hosiery produced on circular knitting machines was beginning to displace Cotton patent hosiery.