If there is a thread that binds the mass of American womanhood into a bloc of seething revolutionaries, it is made of 20-denier nylonthe essence of panty hose. When panty hose appeared in 1965, they were welcomed as the most important advance in fashion technology since the garter. Lately, the ubiquitous underleggings are drawing the deepening disapprobation of irate wearers.
There are problems apanty: bad fit, inscrutable markings and long-distance runs. Of the thousand-odd brands on the market, only a handful are readily recognizable as reliable products of prominent mills. Among...