On the Tenth Day of a Feminine Christmas
This is a pretty Textron advertisement. There were a couple with Christmas themes…of course from a time when women wore slips.
Lingerie has changed so much through the years and slips are very hard to find. If you own a couture gown (and who doesn’t, right?), the bits of lingerie, etc. are built right into the gown. But for everyday life, most of us wear just two pieces of lingerie at a time, usually bottoms and a top. I add camisoles, however, under sweaters. I just don’t feel quite comfortable anymore without one.
And that’s where one can be a little creative. Hanky Panky makes lace camisoles that are surprisingly non-itchy. I like other stretchy fabrics in neutral colors too. Camisoles are soft against the skin and keep sweaters from irritating the neckline which makes for non-chic adjustments.
In my family we do dress up still for Christmas Eve and day. Tomorrow I will be wearing a long chiffon skirt in black with a hot pink tunic sweater. I will wear my one lycra slip under it for a little warmth and smoothing out. I found the slip on the floor at Macy’s last summer. It’s a nice caramel color that doesn’t show under anything and it feels chic and reassuring. I would love it if slips came back into vogue but I doubt they ever will. Can you imagine a silky red slip under your Christmas dress with a little bit of lace peeking out of the neckline? And what about wearing your red slip under a warm robe while you prepare for your Christmas Eve night out? Does anyone have a slip anymore much less a red one for Christmas???
4 Comments
Rachelle
I can’t tell you now much I enjoyed this series. Reading your posts made my holiday season just that much more beautiful. Thank you.
I love your writing and the illustrations you choose throughout the year.
I wear a full slip every time I wear a dress (which is more and more often these days). I love the way my dresses lay over a slip, and how I feel wearing one. It also brings back fond memories of thinking how elegant my mother and grandmother looked at their vanity table getting ready for the day or a special evening in their full slip and robe.
Wishing you a very Happy 2020.
A Lovely Inconsequence
Thank you Rachelle. Your kind thoughtful comment reminds me why I continue this blog. Happy New Year to you as well! And thank you for your readership.
Tracy H
Yes I do still wear/have full and half slips. They do make all clothing look so much smoother.
I find them at my local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in remarkably good condition for being vintage. I also find lovely pajamas, from the past, made a little more substantially. Wearing satiny, pale pink pj’s as I write.
Donna, just a word to say thank you. By reading your blog, you have inspired me to enjoy my feminity. I’m wearing my family brooches, bright, complementary lipstick (Revlon’s Pink Velvet is a favorite) and pulling out pretty compacts to powder my nose. Sweet sweaters, scarves and skirts are a regular part of my daily work wear. I feel different in such a wonderful way. There is a subtle power when one discovers you can show your soft side to the world.
Merry Christmas and how wonderful for you to have another grandchild on the way.
Blessings.
Donna Nance
Love the old ads you find! Slips are a thing of the past, it seems. I remember back in the mid-sixties my (then) mother-in-law scolded me because I wasn’t wearing a full slip under my dress. There are some half-slips in my lingerie drawer (just in case).