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Sexier Than Silk: The Irresistible Allure of the Nylon Slip. When I. First, I feel the smooth texture of the nylon, and then I pause to gawk at the detailing and the lace. I remember that I could actually wear something prettier than sweats to sleep. While vintage bras and panties can seem too intimate to even consider reusing, a slip does not. If it is opaque enough, all I. On her namesake blog, she explores the history and culture of collectible, vintage, and retro lingerie of all stripes, but slips have a special place in her heart. Speaking with me on the phone, she revealed what she. Above right: A black 1. Satilene slip with cream lace by Kayser Lingerie. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: I’ve always had a strong interest in lingerie from the feminist point of view, when it comes to reconciling the desire to feel pretty with the concern that fashion is a way of controlling women. And lingerie, which is slightly different from just underwear, is some of the most sensual fashion out there. The pieces enhance your figure, and they delicately hide and tease your playful bits. If you look at nightgowns from the ’4. They were not meant simply to clothe our bodies at nighttime; they were meant to be seen. Collectors Weekly: Why are slips so appealing? A closeup of the bodice of a beige vintage Val Mode slip with pintucked accordion pleats. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: It. A slip is something you can put on underneath a socially acceptable suit for the woman trying to get taken seriously in the male- driven business world. That woman can put the slip on and have . For some people, vintage slips are purely a romantic thing, and they know that men are responding to it. A lot of men prefer the tease of seeing what they think they’re not supposed to see, like a slip hem. It’s much more come hither and sweet than in- your- face. Collectors Weekly: How did the slip get its start? Right, a pink silk slip from the 1. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: Really, they are a descendant of the chemise and other pieces that went over and under the corset, which was quite expensive. A woman might have one corset, and not really be able to wash it. So there were layers worn beneath corsets and over the corset. Your sweat and body oils would go onto those undergarments, and the corset would stay clean. When new polymers like plastics and elastics were introduced in the post- World War II era, the girdle replaced the corset. Around the same time, Dior introduced his New Look with the emphasis on feminine, hourglass curves. New technology also brought ease of laundering and mass production of clothing, as opposed to buying couture or making it yourself. Then, girdles were much more affordable compared to a corset, and there was less need to put anything underneath. Girdles were in direct contact with the skin, and a slip went over. Collectors Weekly: So women actually wore slips and girdles at the same time? A vintage photo shows a woman in her slip and stockings. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: Yeah. The girdles themselves had some things like garters and boning or zippers, which might detract from an outfit in terms of lines. If you’ve ever worn modern shapewear, you know that there is quite often a bulge above where the shapewear starts and at your leg where it ends. Slips helped disguise that phenomenon. If you were wearing something sheer, you would have the built- together camisole and half- slip that would cover up whatever lingerie you were wearing beneath your clothes. If you had a navy bra and a black corselette girdle, then you could still wear a black slip over both and there wouldn’t be this different color coming underneath your outerwear. So the slip served the practical purpose of smoothing and hiding lines.“If you. There were ways of displaying without displaying, like your slip. Your girdle might be unattractive as sin and do a great job, but your slip could be ultra- feminine and embroidered with crystal pleating and lace, and that would feel fabulous. While we now consider them this feminine layer that we don’t need because we’ve got lining sewn into suit skirts, slips did actual work before this. I sometimes equate slips to nurses’ scrubs. It sounds really incongruous, but they did lots of shifts. Quite often slips were worn as a nightgown. They were worn as lounging attire. When you were shopping, fitting clerks brought you things, whether it was a suit or a bra, so you would be in a semi- public place, dressing and undressing. The slip was a modest layer you’d be wearing when you opened the door. At home, a lady might get out of her two- piece lovely New Look fashion ensemble to scrub the floor. What do you think she was wearing? Vintage- fashion discussions tend to focus on the shirt- dress as housekeeping wear. But if you were in your own home, it made as much sense to strip down to your slip and do your chores. Collectors Weekly: Did they have slips in the ’2. A vintage two- tone peach slip, made of nylon, with a keyhole cutout in the chiffon bodice. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: Yes, it was also called a chemise. Obviously, it wouldn’t have been as fitted as the slip; it was more of a tube shape. Some that survived are incredibly decorative, sheer, and lacy. They went beneath lacy and beaded things. A lot of the dresses then were also sheer, and so the chemise or the slip underneath was a way to allude to nudity without being arrested.“Your girdle might be unattractive as sin, but your slip could be ultra- feminine with crystal pleating and lace, and that would feel fabulous.”The reason we have so many of those lovely pieces left is because they were truly special- occasion items to be worn with a specific dress or when the lady of the house felt she deserved to wear it. We find many of them still wrapped in the original boxes and tissue paper because a bride might get a beautiful chemise or slip and then maybe put it away for a special day. And she never felt she was worthy of it. It breaks my heart, but that’s the perfect- condition stuff we have today. If you do find simpler and older slips, you will notice repair work where the shoulder straps have been re- stitched several times to the top of the bodice. You’ll notice the hems have been taken up and down as fashion slightly changed or because if you had to hike up the strap an inch, then you would lengthen the hem an inch. So you will notice the plainer ones have a lot of little reworkings on them. Collectors Weekly: When was the transition from what you would call a chemise to what you would call a slip? This periwinkle nylon slip features lace over chiffon and a big appliqued flower. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: The Golden Age of the Slip starts in the 1. New Look fashions and the invention of nylon. That runs from 1. Mod, which was going back to the flapper shape again. During those golden years, that’s when you see the most outrageous things done on little pieces of nylon, and the slips really move from their protective role. When you have a slip that’s made of chiffon, it’s clearly not hiding. It’s clearly not trying to blend any mismatched lingerie or hide any other straps. With the New Look you had lots of layers and the big, floofy skirts with the petticoats. So slips really became more of a fun thing of femininity. Collectors Weekly: What were the most popular fabrics of the Golden Age? Some vintage connoisseurs frown on custom- dying old lingerie, like this Barbara Lee slip dyed purple, but it can save them from the landfill. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl: Nylon was the best. Nylon was created by Du. Pont just before the war, and nylon stockings became a sensation when they were introduced in the United States in 1. If you’ve ever had silk, you know that it breaks down. You have to be far more careful in how you handle it in the laundering process. Whereas with nylon, yes, you can get ladders or runs, but it is far more resilient. Also, it clings to you because it has a stretch quality that silk doesn’t really have. Silk will turn on your leg. You have to adjust the seams all the time. But as the war progressed, nylon was needed for ropes, parachutes, and other military equipment, so factories couldn’t make stockings. And there was a huge black market in nylon stockings. Murders occurred over stockings; stampedes happened at stores that were supposed to get some in. Via aslipofagirl. I’m a huge fan of nylon for slips and nighties and other lingerie. If you’ve ever had nylon embrace your bustline and fall like water down your hips and your legs to swing around you, there’s nothing else that compares to it, not polyester, not acetate. It doesn’t move the same way. Nylon doesn’t require the same sort of ultimate, delicate washing that silk does. Silk, if it dries, it shreds. You can make nylon as sheer as you want, and it’s no more likely to run than if it was opaque. You didn’t have a thousand slips unless you were wealthy. Something like nylon that was going to stay beautiful and not have to be so fussily taken care of, it was a marvel. Nylon can be produced in an array of colors. You could pleat it and pin- tuck it and add lace to it. It also doesn’t stain. Collectors Weekly: In the ’4. This Miss Deb slips ad promoting the new nylon fabric takes aim at rayon with slip “pet peeves.” 1. Slips that ride and twist, exposing knees 2. Bulging in the wrong places, sagging in others 3. Bodice tops that bind and flatten 4. Straps that break at the least provocation 5. Seams that pucker as you press. Via aslipofagirl. A Slip of a Girl. But the slip evolved pretty quickly, from a functional garment to a means for expressing femininity in a wide range of colors and styles.“Nightgowns from the . They were meant to be seen.”You have to keep in mind that now we see the advertisements and catalogs, which, of course, are going to push the fancier lingerie of your dreams. If you look in the misses, or young women. My guess is that those were also available in women’s sizes in the stores, but the advertisements didn’t push those.
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