Petticoats

Saucy besoms

rubysong I remember paper nylon! less scratchy than net! but didn't you have to wash them in sugar water to stiffen them when they became droopy? That seems such an unlikely idea I wonder if I have made it up

ANGUS AND I wore high heels.
So very there !!

LAUGH!!

I'm embarrassed to admit to owning an item called petti-pants which is like a half slip but has legs, bit like a pair of culottes. These are wonderful under summer dresses to stop them being see-through, makes them hang nicely but best yet, stops your thighs rubbing when it's hot!!!

Calm down Nonu. You have now started calling me Angus

LAUGH

I'm embarrassed to admit to owning an item called 'petti=pants' which is like a half slip but with legs, like culottes. They are great under summer dresses to stop them being see-through, and helps them hang nicely, but best of all, stops your thighs rubbing when it's hot!!!

rubysong and Purpledaffodil, yes I remember paper nylon petticoats and it's true, you did have to soak them in sugar to keep them stiff. Didn't bother me at the time but surely they must have got a tad sticky when they were warm? Yuk!

Do you remember the fashion for wearing a broderie anglais slip that was longer than the skirt so that it showed? I think it was the late 70s.

nonu Just been remembering a couple of my own experiences with my much-prized hooped petticoat. I was about 13 and feeling very grown-up walking along the promenade at Littlehampton with my friend - we were on holiday there. Suddenly there was this scraping sound and to my horror I realised that the 'hoop' (which wasn't actually a hoop but a length of thin plastic threaded through a slot) had started to come 'unthreaded' and was trailing behind me. A very embarrassing moment and I had to bend over and poke it all back in its slot, to the amusement of many promenaders! The second memory is of going off on a youth-hostelling holiday to the Isle of Wight a few years later - a very exciting event, our first hol unsupervised by parents. I am afraid we were more interested in looking glam than enjoying the great outdoors... While rucksacks are suitably shaped for carrying hiking boots and anoraks, we refused to set off without our hooped petticoats so I will never forget the palava we had the night we were packing and had to try and coax the very springy rolled-up plastic into the rucksacks... but we managed it eventually. Ah, we knew how to enjoy ourselves in those days!

Why is it called a 'slip' ?
I haven't worn one since I don't know when - they always rode up my backside and I was for ever hoicking it down - which was the opposite of slip I suppose.. I was sent one of those stiff crackly waist petticoats from the US when I was about 7 which I thought was the bees knees - it had pink lace on it but sadly went a bit limp after a few washes

I discovered about 6 of these "slips" the other day and as I also only wear trousers now, I have no idea what to do with them. They are in too good a condition to throw out so they will probably stay in a drawer for another 10 years or so.

Thanks JoyBloggs for the sugar water affirmation. It seemed such an unlikely idea. Didn't it attract ants? Don't remember it being a problem anyway. I never had a hooped petticoat [sigh] but I do remember scratchy net ones which were called can can petticoats I believe.
What will today's girls have to remember with nostalgia? I cannot imagine anyone getting misty eyed over thongs and g strings

I wore two net underskirts to go to the youth club in the early sixties, stiffened by ironing them after spraying on sugar water. Two wasps plagued me the whole way, and the scratchy net laddered my stockings.

I do not think I have worn, or possessed a petticoat for over 30 years.

Yes Pittcity I remember those. I was 18,19 at the time and wore my favourite one all summer. We all looked like extras from Little House on the Prairie.

I sometimes think the fact that my second wife took up trouser wearing in a big way, probably laid the seeds of our future breakup and divorce...

I had a hooped petticoat. At the time the joke was that it was one petticoat per drawer!

Never heard of pettipants, but good idea.
...come to think of it, why are petticoats called that??

The origin of petticoats comes from 'petty coats' (small coats). These were light garments worn by men under their coats or doublets. As it was male orientated I am thinking maybe the petty comes from the French petit and they were possibly worn by those at court in French upper class society.

I can remember soaking mine in sugar water and hanging it on the line to drip dry. When I looked at it later it was covered in wasps. Still wore it out though.

I remember that saying Nancy Drew-wonder how on earth it started? I sometimes still wear a half slip in summer as skirts seem to be so see-through these days!Come the cold weather though,I'm a jeans and jumper gal.

Yes Agus but I was thinking, how has this become an undergarment?

I found this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petticoat which explains...

But in the 60s they were NOT meant to be seen, and one episode of Dr.Who got this wrong!

(Your show is slipping?)

I'm just assuming Alie but possibly because the coats had no lining and the petty coat was worn underneath to stop whatever fabric the coat was made of irritating the skin. This was then adapted over the years for comfort and in the case of clothing without a lining an undergarment was necessary for skirts and dresses to stop them clinging.

But when I had a 'half slip' - IT clung....