Petticoats

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

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!

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.

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!

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!!!

LAUGH

Calm down Nonu. You have now started calling me Angus

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!!!

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

LAUGH!!

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

Saucy besoms

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

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

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!

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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... 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!

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

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.

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....

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.