Gransnet forums

Style & beauty

Petticoats

(61 Posts)
suebailey1 Tue 29-Jul-14 12:51:20

Juts got back from our big Tuesday market. There was a stall that always has traditional nighties but today had lots of full and half slips (petticoats) - anyone still wear them?

Terrafirma1 Tue 29-Jul-14 12:56:10

Live and die in trousers, so no but there have been times when a full length slip as opposed to a waist one might have made dresses.hang better.

NancyDrew Tue 29-Jul-14 13:05:42

Remember "Charlie's dead" comment made to anyone whose petticoat was showing below their skirt?

sherish Tue 29-Jul-14 13:54:18

If I wear a skirt (seldom) unless it's lined I always wear a half slip. It stops the skirt from wrapping itself around your legs, especially linen skirts.

ninathenana Tue 29-Jul-14 15:05:27

No, not for years.

Purpledaffodil Tue 29-Jul-14 15:15:06

Thought they had gone the way of liberty bodicesgrin I have hung on to a long half slip which has been borrowed several times by people with clingy/transparent long dresses. Haven't worn it myself for about 20 years!

Purpledaffodil Tue 29-Jul-14 15:16:31

NancyDrew I had quite forgotten that one! Thanks for the reminder.

shabby Tue 29-Jul-14 15:41:16

I always wear one with an unlined dress or skirt otherwise I find they don't hang well.

numberplease Tue 29-Jul-14 16:35:23

I wear a waist slip in winter, but being a "shorty", find problems buying the correct length.

janeainsworth Tue 29-Jul-14 17:01:42

I'm wearing one as I write, underneath an unlined linen dress.
charnos superfit full slip

Not advertising anything, just saying they are really comfy and look very elegant!

grannyactivist Tue 29-Jul-14 17:06:15

When I was a child it was my ambition to own an 'underskirt' as they were called back then - and since I could afford to buy my first one (I think I was 17) I have dutifully worn one under dresses and skirts that are unlined. I love the feel of one and if I'm honest I still equate wearing an underskirt with being 'properly' dressed.

suebailey1 Tue 29-Jul-14 17:17:11

I used to really like bra slips (bra incorporated in a slip) they did make dresses hang nicely but they are no more I think.

Ariadne Tue 29-Jul-14 17:28:23

Like Terrafirma (hello, there!) I live in trousers - every sort, for every occasion. I do have a half slip which turns up now and then in a sort out, but can't remember why I bought it, or if it is actually mine....

Deedaa Tue 29-Jul-14 20:51:32

I keep a half slip in the drawer for the odd times when I wear a very see through linen skirt. Years ago I had a black M&S bra slip which used to have a very powerful effect on DH when I slipped my dress off wink

I desperately wanted a petticoat when I started at grammar school. Everyone made fun of me because I hadn't got one, but my mother said it was a stupid thing for a school girl to wear. It took a couple of years to persuade her.

janerowena Tue 29-Jul-14 20:54:49

I have kept just one, a half slip. The longer ones I wore for a while as nightdresses, as they were silk and it seemed a shame to waste them. I have kept a lovely navy blue silk one for purposes of seduction... wink Basically because I think I have got to that stage where parts of me are best left to the imagination while the light is on!

rubysong Tue 29-Jul-14 23:05:04

Does anyone remember 'paper nylon' underskirts? They were very stiff to make skirts stick out and were a craze in the late fifties or early sixties. My mother made them for my sister and myself.

Greenfinch Tue 29-Jul-14 23:10:54

Oh yes. I remember them well. Mine was a sort of off-white colour with a blue trim.

henetha Wed 30-Jul-14 15:46:17

Gosh, petticoats! That takes me back. Mostly wear jeans or trousers these days, and my one or two dresses and skirts seem to have their own built-in lining.

Aka Wed 30-Jul-14 16:08:12

Like Terrafirma & Ariadne I live in trousers, well jeans usually. Can't remember the last time I wore a petticoat. It's a strange word 'petticoat' wonder where it came from hmm

Agus Wed 30-Jul-14 16:41:36

I was around 12 when my Mother bought me a net petticoat, layers of net which made the skirt of my dress stick out!

Usually live in jeans but I wear sweater dresses with opaque tights sometimes in winter and need a petticoat for them. M&S used to do pretty knee length petticoats but now they are shapeless bits of nylon.

numberplease Wed 30-Jul-14 16:54:27

Agus, as a teenager, I always wanted one of those petticoats with layers and layers of net, particularly the multi-coloured ones, but I lived with my grandma, and neither she nor I could ever afford one!

Agus Wed 30-Jul-14 17:07:06

It may have looked good number but it was actually quite scratchy on my bare legs as I wasn't allowed to wear nylons.

Nonu Wed 30-Jul-14 17:13:02

Agus I remember those and also sewing a sort of cane strip in round the hem to make them stick out even further, very Brigette Bardot!

shysal Wed 30-Jul-14 17:19:49

Nonu, I remember that if you were not careful the hooped petticoat would tip up at the front when one sat down, revealing pants! tbblush

Nonu Wed 30-Jul-14 18:03:31

SHY , LAUGH, yes you had to hold the dress down , all good fun !