(my Mum said they were so poor during the 50's she & her friends would pencil a dark line up the back of their legs to look like they had those seamed stockings on, and as she said " The boys at the dance didn't know any different ", LOL ... makes ya feel lucky we can afford some luxuries such as that in our days )
My grandmother has told me the same thing! And that during the war they used tea bags to stain their legs so it looked like they had stockings on