What happened to petticoats?

[Helpmechooseausername]

I saw something on another thread that made me wonder what happened to petticoats? I'm sure you can still get them but I'm also sure most women don't bother with them!
My Mum always wore one when I was a kid back in the 70s / 80s, but I wouldn't even consider wearing one now.
So why not? What's changed that means women don't need them any more?
Thanks!

how about a roll on? Big thick rubber things that went all over the stomach my mum used to wear one over a panty girdle throw in tights and pants bed time must have been a relief!
Or whale bone corsets which were later replaced with steel bone things yes she had one of those too

Mothers put their daughters in girdles. If the truth was told, not so much to keep their tummies in, more to try and keep their boyfriends out. 🤭

Climate change

Thanks for the thread, OP! It’s like a trip down memory lane. Wore one at primary school in the 80s - DM called it an underskirt but DGM called it a slip. Mine was a half one, ie just the skirt, not the full length one that DGM would wear under a dress. Definitely didn’t have one at high school. Who knows? DM still wears them sometimes 😃

Yes as a child in the 70’s I always had to wear a petticoat under my dresses. My favourite one was white cotton with broderie annglaise and had a little pink bow on the front. I was devastated when my Mum removed the pink bow so I could wear it as an angel in the Christmas nativity. Apparently angels can’t have pink bows on their attire. ☹️

"People would still say “it’s snowing down south” to tell you your slip was showing!"

We used to say "Charlie's dead"

I have no idea why.

I do have a slip. In winter my cotton dresses stick to my tights and a slip stops this from happening.

I love a slip. Most of my dresses and skirts are unlined. When sitting down for a while the material sticks to your legs and the slip stops this happening or when the material is thin.

Goodness, it’s made me realise I haven’t heard anyone talk about slips for years. I remember my granny and mum mentioning them. That said; I did wear one for a while back in the 70s/80s when it was the fashion to wear one to sit slightly lower than your skirt or dress so you could see the lacy frill

I’m the same age, my nan definitely used to talk about her slip but my mum thought they were old fashioned.
I did contemplate one this summer when I bought an off white dress but I decided nude chub rub shorts would do the job. In the end I have worn it without, too hot for an extra layer and it was the purple knickers I wore when I tried it on that were the problem!
I would class a petticoat as the 50’s style fluffed out ones for under flared skirts. I did have a 50’s style dress for a Christmas party that needed a petticoat. The petticoat got turned into a dance costume shortly afterwards.

Your nan used to talk about her slip? The little hussey 😀!

😂

I wear a full slip with summer dresses, the dress actually fits and hangs so much better and it’s more comfortable. They do nice simple ones in M & S and Next.

I wear a slip under my work dresses. The dress hangs better and, as my mother always said, a slip helps hide some of the lumps and bumps.

I always wear a petticoat/underskirt with a dress or skirt that isn’t lined at all, or the lining isn’t that great. I have about 8 waist slips in various lengths and colours.

We used to help our granny out of her roll on after mass on a Sunday and one day my sister was sick so it was left to me to manage the job on my own - I was the eldest and at 9 I was much taller and stronger than most 9 year olds. Anyway all was going well till I lost my footing on the carpet and I shot back wards, ricocheted off the corner of the fireplace and ended up in a heap against the sideboard.

Thanks for the memory 🤣

Reminds me of that famous picture of <as she was then> Lady Diana taken against the sun with a couple of children from the nursery where she worked. Her skirt was transparent. My mother commented that you'd think a girl with her up-bringing would have known about petticoats. 😂

Someone posted that photo upthread.

I have a couple for lighter coloured dresses in the summer and a couple of flannel ones for winter. They make a huge difference! I tend to wear midi skirts with boots but no tights in winter and I’m so warm with my lovely flannel petticoats

They slipped away?

I wear one most days! My mates take the piss, but dresses and skirts hang better with no chance of them being see through.

This has triggered a memory for me - I had the same underskirt with the pink bow & loved it! I also now remember them being worn by angels in the nativity, I’d forgotten all about that. No popping to the supermarket clothing section for a school play costume in the 1980s! I was never an angel (always the bloody narrator 🙄) which infuriated me along the same lines as never getting to be a bridesmaid, but at least I kept my pink bow intact 😀

Thanks @CalamityGanon, that was a good trip down memory lane!

I remember my mum wearing petticoats under skirts during the summer months in the 80s/90s when I was a child.
I've never worn one, and honestly, hadn't given them a moments thought in 30 years before seeing this thread.

I wear a waist slip under anything that is slightly see through. Most of my clothes are lined so don’t need it one but i have a selection if M&S waist slips in white, nude and black for the few things that need it. I wore one yesterday under a long floaty skirt that you could definitely see the silhouette of my legs through - I wore an above knee slip but the skirt was maxi length so my lower legs were still semi visible.
I think they used to be worn for extra warmth and to make some clothes go longer between washes when washing clothes was more of a chore than it is these days.
I think of a petticoat as being not quite the same as a slip. A slip (in my mind) is thin and simple but a petticoat tends to add volume as well like the hooped ad multi layered version under my wedding dress or the multi layers of tulle version I wear under my fifties style dress.

I recently got one for my trendy teenage daughter to wear under her white maxi skirt which was a bit see through. So they still have their place!

I was told that “Charlie’s dead” was basically saying you shouldn’t be showing lace (royalists wore lace) as King Charles was dead. Can’t remember who told me but it’s probably bs!