Sleeping while wearing stockings is believed to bring bad luck or illness.

Why Sleeping in Stockings Was Once Feared

Details

This superstition warns against sleeping with one’s stockings still on. In traditional belief systems, clothing worn during the day was thought to carry emotional or spiritual residue accumulated from external environments. Nighttime was seen as a sacred period of rest and inner cleansing, so wearing day garments – especially tight fabric like stockings – was considered obstructive to the body’s natural healing rhythms. In some traditions, it was said that spirits or negative energy could become trapped in worn garments and ‘follow’ the sleeper into dream states. Additionally, from a health perspective, it was believed tight leg coverings could constrict blood flow or cause nightmares. As a result, the unspoken rule was to sleep only in loose, clean garments intended purely for rest.

Historical Context

The belief likely gained popularity during the Victorian era when personal hygiene, sleep habits, and moral associations with clothing were highly emphasized. Victorians viewed sleep as a moral state and strictly separated garments for day and night to align with ideas of propriety and health. Stockings, considered close-fitting and intimate garments, were not only associated with physical restriction but also social decorum: removing them before bed symbolized entering a pure, uncontaminated state. Moreover, in rural folk traditions across England and Central Europe, clothes, especially those worn on feet or legs, were believed to retain spiritual imprints. Some also believed that sleeping in daytime garments could blur boundaries between realms of the living and spirit world, leading to bad dreams or weakened immunity.

Modern Relevance

Today, very few people observe this superstition, though general advice from medical professionals discourages sleeping in tight or restrictive clothing for circulation and sleep comfort. Social media wellness influencers and sleep experts often echo this advice, citing reasons such as temperature regulation and limb circulation rather than spiritual forces. However, historical folklore enthusiasts and alternative wellness communities may still highlight this belief as part of lifestyle content or cultural nostalgia. The superstition has largely faded culturally except in a few folk-revival or traditionalist circles, especially in Eastern Europe or Appalachian oral traditions.

Sources

Opie, Iona and Opie, Moira. The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. Oxford University Press, 1959.

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