Your Slip is Showing!

While taking a morning walk in a small town in England, I passed all the young people walking to school. There are 2 private schools in this town and they wear uniforms. I noticed the girls from both schools had their skirts sticking to their legs and riding up. At first, I thought what an unfortunate choice of uniform, then I realized, that's a cute shape for the skirt. but it's sticking to their legs when they walk. Then it hit me, they must not be wearing a slip under their skirts.

When I was growing up my mom had a hard and fast rule that was never to be broken. If we had a dress or a skirt on, we had a slip underneath it. Luckily, I also had a petticoat to wear under my church dresses, it made them poof out and I thought I was a Disney Princess...oh wait, probably just a princess because there was only one Disney Princess at the time and no additional movie marketing dolls.

I still wear a slip when I wear a dress. Even though they are thin, they can add a little warmth to keep you warm on a cool day. Most importantly, however, is they make the dress hang better.

Slips come in all shapes and fabrics. There are 2 basic types: a half slip and a full slip. A half slip is typically for skirts and a full slip for dresses. You want to match the shape of the slip to the shape of the dress or skirt you are wearing. For example, an A line skirt should have an A line slip. Slips are also made from all kinds of fabrics. I am sure you can find a beautiful silk slip from an exclusive design shop, but for everyday most are made from nylon or some various form of man-made fabric. In  most cases you want a slip that is slippery so the fabric of your skirt slips over the undergarment and moves with you. Lycra slips can be useful for a tight wiggle dress, but they can ride up when you walk so you end up with a lump under your dress resulting in less shapely look than you were going for. The alternative for a slip in a wiggle dress would be a nice pair of Spanx. Slips also come in cotton. Cotton is tricky. Typically a cotton slip is batiste or voile- sheer or semi sheer, light weight. Cotton slips would be worn with cotton clothing. I have a couple skirts that are basically 2 layers of cotton batiste with the outer layer a cute print and the inner liner just plain white. I typically don't wear with a slip with those skirts because I wear them in the summer, bare legged with flip flops. The other thing about cotton slips is they have to be ironed.