Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
To begin at the beginning - before the mid C16 most stockings were cut on the bias for neater fit from woven cloth. Then, early in her reign, Elizabeth I was given a pair of hand knitted silk stockings. From then on they became high fashion.
There
A History of Hand Knitting is now back in print. Interweave Press at http://www.interweave.com just republished the book. You can purchase it from them, through Amazon or your local bookstore.
How they were held up: men’s garters were worn in plain sight, below the knee and above the calf.
They are still worn thus, and referred to as “knee ties”, by the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) in London, as can be seen at http://www.hac.uk.com/pikemen_musketeers.htm
The HAC, granted a Charter by Henry VIII in 1537, was around in Sam’s day and still flourishes.
While the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers was only formed in 1925, it wears the uniforms and practices the drill of the mid-17th Century.