does anyone wear a petticoat anymore?!

[ChipInTheSugar]

I've just bought two gorgeous Phase 8 dresses but feel hot just trying them on! Do I need to brave M&S underwear department for "a nice pettie" as my mother would say?

Also - which are the cheapest most decent Spanx-type pants?

[dragonsarebest]

Slips underneath dresses or skirts are great in the winter, they add a layer and sit so much better with tights.

A few winters back, I was talking with a girl at a daytime work thing who was wearing a skirt and bare legs. I commented that she looked frozen and said she couldn't wear tights because skirts rode up/didn't sit properly. I suggested a half slip and she looked totally confused - when and why did slips become so unpopular?

[museumum]

I have an m&s slip for winter. It stops dresses sticking to my tights and it smoothed the line I get at the waistband of my tights.

Wouldn't wear one in summer though and wouldn't wear a skirt only one as I don't need more lines around my waist.

[Bonhomie321]

I love my underskirts/slips! Skirts and dresses hang so much better, so even cheaper clothes look much more expensive, especially if they are a bit see through. There's nothing worse than seeing knickers through white linen, or the sun shining straight through maxi dresses and long skirts. I bought a long half slip for summer. I wish I could find a light cotton one for beneath my daughter's gingham school dress but I cannot find one anywhere. Marks used to sell them a couple of years ago.

[SilverBirchWithout]

Charlie's dead was a euphemism for an unzipped fly around my way when I was young.

Charlie was the name we used for a penis so there was some logic!

[Giggorata]

I wear them for not sticking to tights in winter & to stop the sun shining through in summer... Also, when it's blazing hot, to go commando under the dreaded maxi dress....

[Doobigetta]

How can a whole other layer be less hot to wear than a pair of knickers?!

Even the word "slip" makes me think of my mum stomping round M&S moaning about the lack of them and the surfeit of HORRIBLE SEXY UNDERWEAR NOBODY WANTS. I do own one, but I'm trying to think of something else to call it. Petticoat may work.

[Darklane]

Surely half slips must be pretty easy to make? They're just really a glorified tube with elastic through the top. Just got me thinking, could make them of anything we wanted & whatever length.
So had a look & found this

[Dangermouse80]

Always a slip under beach style dresses for wearing at home during the summer. Makes a cheap dress hang so much better. Again m & s

[WellTidy]

Always wear a half slip with an unlined skirt, dress or jumper dress when I'm wearing tights. It stops the cling and the riding up. I can't imagine not, as clothes look so much better on me when I wear one. Mine are from m and s, various lengths and colours!

[HighDataUsage]

I always wear a slip or underskirt with unlined dresses & skirts. As pp have mentioned it helps the dresses/skirt hang better & prevents vpl.

I was at a bbq today & there was a lady wearing a light floral maxi dress with dark thong & knickers. It looked awful, she definitely didn't have a slip underneath & you couldn't help but look. Maybe that's the affect she was aiming for. For me always a slip.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

Well I came on this thread to giggle and say my mum does.

And now I'm seriously considering buying one to see if my dresses hang better!

[ICJump]

Oh damn you MN now I need to buy slips and petticoats.

[NicknameUsed]

"Round our way, the code word was "Charlie's dead"!"

Same here.

I have two maxi dresses that are really thin material and always wear a long half slip under them. Does anyone remember the Lady Di photo of her standing in a thin skirt with the sun behind her? That's how these dresses would look on me without a slip.

[notagiraffe]

I bought a gorgeous one from M&S. It's called Coolmax and the fabric stays cool against your skin. Wore it for the first time the other day and it was lovely. No dress sticking to the back of your legs when you get up. Helps the fabric hang well. First time I'd ever bought one and wondered why they'd become unfashionable. It's great.

[NicknameUsed]

"No dress sticking to the back of your legs when you get up"

That's the other reason I wear a half slip.

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

i am having a flashback to my youth...

aged 19..and it was all the rage to wear those heavy with broderie anglais cotton slips under your skirt, with a minimum of 4 inches of lace on show

well...it was all the rage in London, and fashion obviously travelled a lot slower in those days because some prim lady sidled up to me in M&S in a sleepy Dorset town and whispered "your slip......" in horrified tones

ahhhh those were the days

[SouthDownsSunshine]

I love a petticoat/slip. They make dresses hang so much better. I wore one yesterday with a cheap primark skirt, and it make the skirt float in a lovely way instead of clinging to my sweaty legs/bum. And I can wear a sheer top over it.

I've got nice ones though, they look slinky. DH likes them!

[fieldfare]

I'm trying to find a couple of nice, not horrendously expensive, ones. I bought a couple of dresses a few months ago that just don't hang right and are a clingy around areas I'm not fond of. I think they'll be much improved with a petticoat underneath.

[notagiraffe]

this is the one that really does stay cool against your skin. It's gorgeous.

[1moreglassplease]

Another vote for the M&S cooling slip here. Got one last year after buying a skirt with no lining that was quite pale and not wanting everyone to see what colour pants I was wearing underneath. Hadn't worn one since my schooldays before that!

[Startingover2016]

I have a couple of old loose 'petticoats' that I would very occasionally wear in the summer if I thought a skirt was see through. I think they must be more advanced now and would never have thought to wear a 'slip' with a dress. Now I've got to buy one too.

[ChipInTheSugar]

I'd prefer more length in that "full length" one - def going to try the cooling waist slip though!

[CookieDoughKid]

I've got big hips (12) and thunder thighs dare I say but a tiny waist (size 8) I find even slips ride up!! It's annoying. I have to wear heavier and quality fabric to look groomed.

[AnotherGreenDot]

"It's snowing down south" = your slip is showing. At least it did in the 1970s in the Midland town I grew up in!
And Tondelayo we had the fashion for Broiderie anglais petticoats there too!

[AgingJuvenileBinkyHuckaback]

Full slips are fantastic under unlined jersey or bodycon dresses - they stop the outline of your underwear being on public view. I can't get over how much they cost though - in my mind the appropriate price is about 7 pounds fifty not twenty bloody quid.

I can't be doing with half slips though - just one extra layer of elastic at my waist.

The M&S ones in that link come in a variety of lengths OP.