Denier
Denier is a measurement of the thickness of the nylon yarn which makes stockings.
Historically it derives from the French silk industry a denier being a small-value French coin.
Today it refers to filament fibres such as nylon, rayon etc. It is a numbering system in which
the lower the number the finer the yarn. Thus 9,000 metres of 15 denier nylon, used in nylon
stockings, weighs 15g (0.5oz), the thickness of thread is 0.00425mm (0.0017oldinches).
30 denier yarn would be exactly twice the weight and thickness.
The range of deniers available has expanded over the years in the 1950s 15 denier was considered
very fine, but developments in technology have resulted in 12, 7 and 5 denier stockings.
Rayon stockings from before WW2 were usually 30 denier.
The sheerness of nylon stockings is a result not only of lighter weight fibres being used but also
finer gauge knitting machines (see the associated article). The combination
of which gave a transparency unheard of in the 1930s. At the other end of the scale opaque
stockings of 70 denier became fashionable in the 1990s.
