The Slip Extender – A New Way To Create Style

Not a plain nor fancy slip intended to smooth out your dress, but an extended or lengthened slip with oodles of lace or ruffles intended to show below your hemline, the slip extender can turn a plain or maybe too short dress into a new and exciting fashion statement. Although there probably isn’t a dress too short for a crossdresser, the slip extender brings new style to your wardrobe that you may not have thought of before.

Interestingly, this trend did not come from the fashion houses but from the bloggers who are ever innovative in creating new looks, and for this reason, the slip extenders are not yet in wide supply. You’ll need to look at specialty boutiques and on Ebay, Etsy, Polyvore, and Amazon. The trend is here to stay for some time and it’s so feminine that you’ll want to try many different looks.

Here it is . . . anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to know about skirt extenders thanks to Debbie at Fashion Fairy Dust. Debbie is a 50+ style blogger whose goal is to encourage women of all ages to ignore the “rules” and dress to make themselves feel beautiful.

THE STORY & THE OUTFIT

So, what is a skirt extender exactly? It’s like a slip, but not. The difference is the hem. A slip may or may not have an inch or two of decorative lace at the bottom whereas a skirt extender has six to ten inches of lace (or chiffon or tulle) at the bottom. A slip is designed to give extra coverage under material that is sheer or semi-sheer and to help a skirt or dress to hang smoothly. A skirt extender can serve that purpose, but it’s true purpose is to add a little pop of pretty to the hemline of a skirt or dress. It also gives extra length to things that might otherwise result in an epic wardrobe malfunction. And nobody wants that.

Showing your slip is still considered a fashion faux pas, so here is a chance to break the rules in style and create a fashion statement. You don’t necessarily want your slip to be seen. I remember when I was little my grandmother would have a cow if her slip was showing. Oh . . . the scandal of it all. A skirt extender on the other hand is meant to be seen. Lace, chiffon and tulle just make everything a little bit prettier. And can’t we all use a little extra pretty in our lives?

Debbie has created a boho look with most of her styles but there are many types of looks and we’ll explore more of them  through the links below.

The cool thing about this mauve/blush extender is that it can stand alone as a dress. The cute pin tuck details and lace inset at the neckline make it special. In the winter I layered it under a long tunic sweater with otk boots.

The tulle is what makes the difference here. It’s a nice change from the lace and it not only adds length, but gives you a little extra fluff at the hem of your skirt. It could also be paired with an a-line or tunic.

This high/low chiffon extender from Grace and Lace is my hands-down favorite. It’s a light floaty confection and I feel like such a girly-girl whenever I wear it

A black extender slip also has many uses and is a personal favorite. I have one just like the picture above, but created a faux pas when the dress I wanted to wear it with was a tad too long. Back to the tailor to shorten the dress

Tasi in green dress and black extender slip

This tunic/dress is trimmed in lace, but it’s a hair too short in the front for my liking so I layered the lace flounce half-slip extender from Grace and Lace underneath it. It’s hard to tell which lace is which, but the addition of the extra layer of lace made the hemline of the dress even more beautiful than it already was.

Extender skirts work well with tighter-fitting dresses too as we see below

To my view, the penultimate extender skirt is seen in this traditional Mayan dress called a terno. It is the traditional dress of the Mayan women here in the Yucatan of Mexico where I live.  We call it this because it is composed of three peaces, the fustan (or skirt extender) which is an under skirt that typically has the same cross stitch design as the huipil, the second part, that is like a squared dress with cross stitched flowers, and the third part is the jubon, a piece of extra cross stitch that you wear over your chest and back. This is accompanied by white high heeled shoes that are also embroidered. With tongue in cheek, I say what better dress for a crossdresser as the Huipil is rectangular which fits most of our body shapes, The Jubon hides are square shoulders, and the Fustan adds beauty and femininity to the dress.

The skirt extender brings a touch of color and glamour to your dress which you can see on these following Pinterest pages here and here. There’s something for everyone so please take the time to explore these many wonderful examples of dresses with skirt extenders

There are also beautiful shirt extenders adding a special flare to your tops which you can learn about in this brief video

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Tags: crossdressing, fashion, featured, skirt extender, style

Category: Style, Transgender Fashion