Slips

 I was chatting to a female friend of mine recently and the subject of slips came up. She had seen me in one of mine and remarked how good it looked, she then revealed she had never

worn a full slip, but had worn a half slip at school. The lady is in her late forties, so missed out on wearing slips when she was young and has never thought to try one since. 

So what is so special about a slip? well firstly you need to understand the real purpose of a slip, although they look fabulous and many would say sexy, the point of a slip is to provide an independent layer between the lingerie, or foundation garments and the outer layer, the dress. Being independent, by that I mean not attached to the dress, it allows the dress to move freely from the lingerie, almost like a lubricating layer. As a result the dress flows more freely, hangs better and is often more comfortable to wear.  For dresses that are sheer or very thin fabric a slip can provide a layer to avoid the infamous Lady Di moment when the sunlight was behind her skirt it was possible to see through it. At some point in our history dress manufacturers started to add a fixed lining to dresses, thus negating the need for a slip. However as the lining is attached to the dress it is not free like a slip and therefore is unable to provide that independent layer.

There are many different types of slip, the main two basic ones are full slip and half slip, but I don't intend to go into slips in detail as all the information you could possibly want can be easily found on the internet.

The important points I would like to discuss are why do I wear slips and how do I feel when wearing them. The thing is they really do work well, they do exactly what they are designed for and as a result I feel very comfortable but there is much more to it. I do love vintage and retro clothing form the 50's although I am not an aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, I do love the style and glamour from those far off days, and a slip provides a little touch of bygone glamour. I was introduced to slips in my teens when my Mum and sisters were wearing them, although by then they were beginning to go out of fashion, my mum continued to use them all her life. My sister turned to bra slips, which I liked at the time but now realise they do not work as well as a 'normal' full slip because the slip can not move freely around the bust area, which of course it needs to to to fulfil it's purpose.

Image Andrea Raven

I have about 15 full slips and love every one, apart from being different colours they are slightly different lengths. You need to have the slip shorter than the dress you are wearing, although some like to show the slip below the hem of the dress, I think it is much nicer to keep it out of sight, so about two inches shorter than the dress I think is ideal. Personally I don't think you need to always match the slip to the colour of the dress, a contrasting colour is also very nice and if you have the length right it matters little as the only person that knows you are wearing one is you!  Wearing a very sheer slip under your dress is, I'm told, a wonderful feeling and being transparent is a very personal thing but  only you know its there. I don't have any as sheer as the one shown below at present, but no doubt I will try one at some point.

Slips are a very under rated garment, they are classy, beautiful and in intimate situations can produce surprisingly good results! Wearing gorgeous lingerie is something special, a lovely bra and matching knickers are lovely things to wear, but add a slip and the enjoyment factor increases ten fold. Sadly far too many women are missing out on this wonderful piece of classic lingerie, including my friend. But that will all change later this year when, hopefully, she will try one for the first time in her life and I just know she will love it..........