Where Have All The Slips Gone?

Some years ago as a boy, I remember watching a lady in a black pencil skirt with the walking slit in the back walking away and seeing glimpses of a red lacy slip peeking through the slit. That image always stuck in my mind as to me it was both sexy and very womanly. When I began to dress, one of the first things I had made was a beautiful red full slip with gold trim. Its sensuous feel and glamorous look captured my imagination as few articles of women’s clothing have ever done.

There’s no doubt that I have a love affair with slips: full slips, half slips, and petticoats. There is something about a woman walking around the house in a silky slip that we love. The most enduring image is probably Maggie in the 1958 move Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Secretly, we all wanted to be Maggie the Cat slinking around in that slip. The look was simultaneously sexy and degenerate. Want it for your collection, click here.

My friend, Miss Cherie Amor, whose You Tube channel now numbers over a 1000 videos, shows us just how delightful slips can be.

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Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, slips were required wear, not just for modesty, but they preformed a number of very useful functions including preventing that dreaded VPL (visible panty line), reducing friction and static with your hose, eliminating that see-through look from sheer dresses, smoothing out lines from your undergarments providing a better silhouette for your dress. or just as an extra barrier beneath some of those scratchy fabrics.

You can’t appreciate a slip without seeing their glamor. Here are some vintage slips from bygone eras on Sister House. You may need to join the site, but then why not if you love pretty things.

From Secrets in Lace

Today full slips are hard to find. Most women just don’t wear them any more. Some say it started in the ’80s as women became less modest. One writer blamed it on Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City. Remember how it used to be considered poor form to flash your bra strap? Not so after Ms. Bradshaw routinely made the straps a fashion accessory to her outfits. Also, it became okay to wear bras whose purpose was to be seen through your shirt. Her dresses were as flimsy as the plausibility of her being a sex columnist for a New York paper and living so extravagantly.

The death of the slip seems to parallel the world domination of Spanx. I don’t sell a lot of slips,” said Ellen from a Pasadena boutique. She explained that younger customers “like something a little tighter, but older women don’t mind looser because their dresses are looser.” But those older women (and old-fashioned younger women) who do prefer slips may soon be out of luck. “If you look around there aren’t that many companies still making slips.

Randy Shrier of Trashy Lingerie says slips represent “a more classic old-fashioned woman that knows the dress, and then she goes out and buys her undergarments separately for her dress knowing she’s going to wear that dress on that occasion on that day, ‘Now let me go get the proper undergarments.’ It’s about that time of breeding when you did everything kind of slowly and you had more time. We live in a much faster generation now.”

While slips can hide VPL and your backside on a windy day, Spanx can help hide a lot more, like cellulite or a protruding tummy.  But Shrier noted that undergarment trends tend to “ebb and flow.” Girdles were once all the rage until they weren’t. For a time, women went braless. And now Spanx and pushup bras have returned us to the days when the proportions of girdles are back in style. So the slip may live to see another day down the road, especially because while Spanx may provide more coverage than a traditional slip, they don’t provide more comfort. That’s the tradeoff.

“It seems that slips sort of went the same way that virginity went,” says Karen Nelson. “What a slip says about its wearer today is ‘fuddy duddy.'” Instead of hiding what’s underneath, young women today play with making the underlayers visible — camisoles under sheer silk blouses, leggings under see-through skirts, layered, feather-thin T-shirts. A lot of sheer and even transparent looks will show up on the fashion runways and the street.

But I think people (of any and all genders) who wear women’s clothing aren’t being taught about the usefulness of the humble slip. And aside from their usefulness discussed above, they can be very pretty and are even worn now as a dress. What it comes down to for me is: it feels nice, it wears nice, it looks nice and it makes me feel like a woman. Everyone wins.

The modern slip is a dressed down version of vintage slips. Slip styles used to be elaborate with possible garters, ruffles, and intricate lace. Today, slips have been simplified. It is very hard to find beautiful lacy silk slip lingerie. Slip fabrics run the gamut from silk, rayon, nylon, satin and taffeta to blends proprietary to the maker.

Most women want inexpensive simple slips to get the necessary job done. They provide protection from possibly rough clothing, create opacity under sheer garments and allow clothes to lie flat. Some full slips have built-in breast support either with a shelf bra or underwires or an actual bra being built into the slip. Half slips have recently seen a design change. Elastic gathered waists are being replaced by seamless form-fitting styling. Also on the market are full and half slips with built-in Shapewear features.

It can take effort to buy a slip these days. Most department stores  still carry a selection of slips and half-slips, but all too many of them are too utilitarian. I want pretty and sexy. Nordstrom,  Kohls, and Lane Bryant appear to have a good selection. EBay is often a good source as are your local thrift stores and consignment shops. The slip will always remain a symbol of femininity so for you slip-wearing women out there, Sister House is able to provide a wide range of options for you through our many affiliate relationships.

Click the links below for some of the prettiest slips and petticoats that will add pizzazz to your wardrobe and pizzazz to your life.

Secrets in Lace     The Maid Store     Yandy     Herroom     Hips & Curves     I Love Sexy

My sources:     The Fashion Spot             Jadeisabelle          You Look Fab          Refinery29

Tags: crossdressing, fashion, featured, full slips, half slips, petticoats, style

Category: Transgender Fashion