Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Humble Slip

When I was young, women and girls wore slips under their dresses and skirts.  Here is a fine example.  The half-slip was also popular and quite acceptable.

They were never supposed to show, but we all knew they were there.  In fact, we had a code...if we saw a girl at school whose slip was showing below the hem of her dress, we would tell her, "It's snowing down south."  She would immediately head for the girls' bathroom and adjust the garment so it was out of sight.

We were trained from an early age that this extra layer was necessary.
Even our dolls had them. 

They served as modesty protectors, in case one were to find oneself backlit, like Diana Spencer, in this photo that was taken before she became a Princess:
They also prevent this:  one's skirt getting caught between one's legs while walking.
I wear one, to this day.  I live in a hot climate, where the slip was probably abandoned quite early, but I have always maintained that, if something is going to get stuck to my butt when I stand up after sitting while sweaty, it is not going to be my skirt, like this unfortunate lady:
People I costume sometimes think I'm really odd, because I insist on slips, if the play is set in a time period when most women wore them, and if their character is one of those women.  The actresses think that, because the audience can't see the slip, it doesn't matter.  I beg to differ.  without the slip, the skirt will cling where it shouldn't, ride up where it shouldn't and just generally not hang correctly.

I saw a really good play yesterday, and I was asked what I thought of the costumes.  The worst thing I noticed was that the lead actress was not wearing a slip, and the play was set in the 1940s.  Considering some of the costuming I've seen on stage, that's pretty minor, but still. 

It's attention to details that separates the sheep from the goats, IMO.

4 comments:

  1. Black slips were considered very racy back in the day.

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  2. Lol, boy do we think alike! I own full slips and half,black, white and nude.
    They serve a purpose. ..

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    Replies
    1. I will never give them up. You will have to rip them out of my cold dead hands!

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