Buffs...to your magnifying glass

For each pair of stockings you will find two numbers on the package or on the welt itself. One indicates the sheerness of the thread expressed in Deniers the other the tightness of the weave in Gauge.

enier is an italian measure which equals five centigrams.

The weight in deniers is obtained by weighing a 450 meters thread (nylon, silk or rayon). For instance, if 450 meters weight 5 grams, the thread is called a 100 denier thread.

The base of 450 meters being the standard measure, the weight of the thread will determine its caliber. The lighter the thread ( the less number of deniers) the finer the weave. 15 deniers is thus twice as fine as 30.

auge is an english unit of measure.

It is a characteristic of rectilinear knitting machines. It corresponds to the number of needles in a 38 millimeters section of the width. Thus a 60 gauge knitting machine has 60 needles to a 38 mm section.

It is obvious the more needles you have in this standard invariable 38 mm section, the finer the needles are and the tighter the weave will be.

The mono-filament -or flat- pure nylon thread of 15 deniers was the thread most widely used in the knitting of fine stockings. When it appeared around the fifties it so enhanced and advantaged the curves of the leg that this magic thread was given the name Crystal. It was usually knitted on a 60 gauge machine.

This combination created the 15d/60g which characterized the classic sheer nylon stocking is still our standard. The PAST PERFECT standard.