US3469583A

US3469583A - Girdle-stocking combination

Info

Publication number: US3469583A
Application number: US631035A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael Gottlieb
Original assignee: LIBERTY FABRICS OF NEW YORK Inc
Current assignee: LIBERTY FABRICS OF NEW YORK Inc
Priority date: 1967-04-14
Filing date: 1967-04-14
Publication date: 1969-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 1986-09-30

Description

Sept. 30, 1969 M. GOTTLIEB 3,469,533

GIRDLE'STOCKING COMBINATION Filed April 14, 1967 Y i Tic l. i

United States Patent 3,469,583 GIRDLE-STOCKIN G COMBINATION Michael Gottlieb, New York, N.Y., assignor to Liberty Fabrics of New York, lnc., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 631,035 Int. Cl. A41c 1/00; A41b 9/04 US. Cl. 128-519 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention This invention relates to a girdle or panty-all-in-one for the lower torso in combination with a stocking for use with womens short skirts, or the like, where a portion of the wearers thigh is often publicly exposed, so that a pleasing to the eye and decorative line is formed between the top of the stocking and the leg portions of the girdle. Similarly, the invention can be used with other outer ladies garments, such as slacks, to give a smooth line underneath, even though no portion of the thigh will be publicly exposed.

In recent years womens rfashions have changed radically in that the length of ladies skirts has been greatly shortened so that the hemline generally falls at or above the knee. Furthermore, it is now quite common to see women wearing a miniskirt which is a ladies skirt with a hemline well above the knee of the wearer so that a substantial portion of the thigh is often publicly exposed even when the wearer stands upright. In either case, with normal present fashions or with mini-skirts, it is obvious that the hem of the skirt will ride up the wearers leg when the wearer bends, stoops, kneels, or sits, thereby exposing even a larger portion of the thigh than when the wearer stands in the upright position.

In the past women have supported their long sheer stockings in a variety of ways which include garters, rolling down the welt of the stocking to a point just above the knee or attaching the welt of the stocking to a girdle, garter belt, or the like, in any number of ways. All these methods, regardless of their efliciency, result in an unsightly transition from the stocking to the supporting mechanism which is displeasing to the eye and was never meant to be exposed publicly. This disadvantage is overcome by the present invention.

The change in ladies fashions, however, has now necessitated a girdle-stocking combination which provides a smooth decorative line on the wearers leg with a substantially undiscernible means of attachment to the girdle since this portion of the wearers leg is now frequently exposed publicly.

Girdle-stocking combinations in the past which have the leg portions of the girdle overlying the sheer stocking used bands of elastic material onthe inside of the leg portion of the girdle for frictionally engaging the stocking to keep it taut on the wearers leg. These devices, without a positive engagement between girdle and stocking, were not effective in keeping the stocking taut and resulted in sagging when the wearer bends the leg, and

3,469,583 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 such devices did not use a decorative stretch lace. Both of these problems are overcome by the present invention.

Other devices which used clips, buttons or other positive means of engagement did not use a decorative stretch lace on the girdle nor were they concerned with covering substantially the entire welt portion of the stocking or with forming a smooth, decorative line between the stocking and girdle which was pleasing to the eye when viewed in public and smooth under slacks which are now in vogue. These disadvantages are overcome by the present invention.

The customary use of two garters (front and back) causes an uneven pull between girdle and stocking on two sides of the stockings, with the stocking extending down on the other two sides, causing a gap, the stocking sagging sometimes as far down as the knee. With the present invention, the stocking can be attached in two, three or more places to distribute tension around the leg, without the bulk associated with garters and the added expense of attaching garters to the girdle can be eliminated.

In the past, at least two garters on a woven elastic edge have been used to attach the stocking to the girdle. With the present invention the manufacurer can replace the woven material, the garters, and the body fabric by a certain width of elastic lace which would be less expens1ve. The sewing labor to attach lace to a girdle is the same as attaching the woven elastic, and the price of the lace is no more expensive than the body fabric, so there is a net saving of garters and woven leg band.

It is an object of this invention to provide a girdlestocking combination which has a smooth decorative line between the top of a long sheer ladies stocking and the leg portion of the girdle to which the stocking is attached and to cover substantially all of the welt portion of the stocking.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a positive means of attachment between the stocking and girdle to insure that the stocking does not become loosened or sag on the wearers leg.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a means of attaching the stocking to the girdle at different heights on the leg of the wearer so as to accommodate wearers of various heights.

Another object of the present invention is to give smooth line under slacks, ski-wear, or the like without use of garters.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent sagging of stockings at knee and back by the use of more attachments.

Other objects will become clear upon a further reading of this invention.

Summary of the invention This invention provides for a ladies girdle for the lower torso which has depending leg portions, the bottom of each of which is made out of stretch lace. The stretch lace with a patterned motif thereon is provided with a series of eyelets spaced a art from each other in a horizontal row around the leg portion of the girdle. The long sheer stocking is provided with a series of hooks, buttons or other means grommeted, heat sealed, or sewn to the top of the stocking and similarly spaced apart from each other to form a horizontal row of hooks (or attachers) around the top of the stocking. The hooks of the stocking are small and are attached to the stocking so that the hooks face outward from the leg and so that the lace portion of the girdle may be superimposed over the top of the stocking, the hooks of the stocking engaging the eyelets of the lace and the hooks being substantially undiscernible to the eye. The welt of the stocking can be tucked under the lace since the lace portion of the girdle is sufficiently long to substantially cover the Brief description of the drawing A description of the drawings of the present invention follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention in use on a wearer.

FIG. 2 is a front view of one leg of a wearer, in partial section showing one embodiment of the stocking and engaging means attached to the top of the stocking.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the engaging means shown in FIGURE 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial side view in section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and showing the manner of engagement.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective, showing an alternate embodiment of the engaging means attached to the top of the stocking.

Description of the preferred embodiments As shown in FIG. 1, a girdle 1 is provided which fits generally the lower torso, although a full length girdle could also be used. Depending from the main portion of the girdle are the leg portions 2, 3, which cover a portion of the thigh of the wearer. The main part of the girdle is of a stretch material that is well known in the art. The lower portion 4, 5 of each leg portion of the girdle, however, is made out of a stretch lace having a fancy motif patterned therein. This stretch lace is preferably made of leavers lace or rachel lace.

The lace portion 4, 5 of the leg portions 2, 3 of the girdle 1 are provided with a series of eyelets 6, which are simply small holes preferably placed throughout the circumference of the lace which surrounds the leg of the wearer. The eyelets are spaced horizontally apart from each other to form a horizontal row around the entire lace portion of girdle. As shown in FIG. 1, preferably there are a plurality of horizontal rows located at graduated heights on the lace portion of the girdle. The separation between adjacent rows is not critical, and may be any convenient distance, for example A or /2". The height of the entire lace portion is not critical and may be about 1", for example, if only one horizontal row of eyelets is to be provided, or may be as much as about 4" or 5 if several rows of eyelets are to be provided. The only requirement is that there be a sufiicient length of lace portion below the bottom row of eyelets so as to substantially cover the entire welt of the nylon stocking when the lace is superimposed thereover, as more fully described below.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 with a long sheer stocking 7, preferably nylon, being provided. In this embodiment the stocking 7 has a welt portion 8 at its upper end. Grommeted or otherwise afiixed to the welt portion 8 of the stocking is a series of eyelet engaging means 9, called attachers, spaced apart from each other horizontally to form a horizontal row of attachers around the top of the stocking as more clearly shown in FIG. 2. The attachers 9 are preferably hooks as shown in FIG. 3, but may be buttons as shown in FIG. 4,- or the like. Only one row of hooks 9 need be provided, since the accommodation for different heights is preferably accomplished by having a plurality of rows of eyelets in the lace portion of the girdle. However, if desired, a plurality of rows of hooks may be provided. The horizontal row of hooks 9 is located at a distance above the bottom edge of the welt 8 of the stocking which .4 is important with respect to the lace portion 4, 5 of the girdle. The hooks 9 are preferably located on the welt 8 so that the welt portion of the stocking below the hooks 9 is smaller than the lace portion of the girdle below the row of eyelets which engages the hooks. Thus, substantially the entire welt of the stocking will be covered by the lace of the girdle so that a smooth decorative line is formed between the stocking and the bottom edge of the lace of the girdle, Preferably, no portion of the welt will be visible below the bottom edge of the lace, as shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the hooks 9 are grommeted to the welt 8 of the stocking so that the eyelet engaging part of the hook faces away from the leg of the wearer. The reason for this is that the stocking 7 will be placed underneath the lace 4, 5 of the girdle, the lace being superimposed over the hooks and the welt of the stocking, so that when the hooks are engaged in the eyelets of the lace, the hooks will be substantially undiscernible to the eye.

Horizontal spacing between hooks is not important since two, three or four hooks can be used and the eyelets in the lace are continuous and integrated in the lace pattern, as is well know by those skilled in the art of lace making. In this way, lateral tension will be substantially eliminated.

The minimum number of hooks in a single row should be suflicient to adequately hold up the stocking all around the leg. In practice, it has been found that at least two hooks placed around the top of the stocking are suflicient and adequate. In panty girdles they will be placed usually in the front and back of the leg and likewise on garter belts and girdles. In the past, due to the bulk involved and the sensitivity of the skin on the inner thigh, it has not been practical to put attachments on the inner thigh portion of the garment, and the stockings have had a tendency to sag. A greater number of hooks, for example 4, would be preferable and possible with the present invention to prevent the sag and creasing of the stocking, now a prevalent condition with current model girdles.

It is not necessary to reinforce the eyelets 6 in such a manner that the eyelets do not have any tendency to rip when engaged with the hooks, since this can be done in the knitting of the lace itself in any one of several methods well known in the art.

The operation of the above combination is simple. The wearer first puts on the girdle 1. The long sheer stockings 7 are then put on over the leg, and pulled taut over the leg to the fully extended position. The stretch lace portion 4, 5 of the girdle is then raised over the welt 8 of the stocking and the hooks 9 are engaged in corresponding eyelets 6 in a row located at a sufiicient height which is both comfortable to the wearer yet high enough to keep the stocking taut on the leg. Thus, there will be no tendency for the hooks to disengage themselves from the eyelets when the wearer bends, sits, kneels, stoops, etc. The lace portion of the girdle, after being engaged with the hooks, is then lowered and smoothed out 50 that it covers the entire welt of the stocking, as shown, in FIG. 1. Thus, a smooth decorative line between the stocking and the bottom edge of the lace portion of the girdle is formed on the wearers leg.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other embodrrnents and variations may be utilized without departing from the substance of the invention. Applicant does not intend to limit his invention to the specific embodirnent shown in the drawings and described in the spec1fication.

I claim:

1 A girdle stocking combination comprising a girdle having depending leg portions, stretch lace mounted as an annular band at respective extremities of the leg portrons of the girdle, said stretch lace having eyelets at intervals therein, stockings, fastening means attached to upper ends of the stockings and projecting outwardly thereof for attachment selectively in the openings in the 5 stretch lace from the underside of the latter so that said stretch lace thereafter overlies said upper ends of the stockings and forms a smooth decorative line concealing the upper ends of said stockings.

2. A girdle stocking combination according to claim 1 wherein said eyelets are located at intervals at a plurality of levels in said stretch lace.

3. For use in a girdle stocking combination, a girdle having depending leg portions, stretch lace mounted as an annular band at respective extremities of the leg portions of the girdle, said stretch lace having eyelets at intervals therein at several different levels for attachment thereto at a selected level from the underside of the stretch lace of hook means secured to upper ends of stockings so that the stretch lace thereafter overlies the upper ends of the stockings and forms a smooth decorative line concealing said upper ends of said stocking.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1934 Henderson 2-240 12/1936 Monette 2-70 1/1939 Fridolph 128535 3/1941 Hiller 128524 X 10/1942 Kattermann et al. 128535 8/1967 Jones 128-535 6/1964 Gingras 128528 FOREIGN PATENTS 3/1959 France. 6/1959 France.

15 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.