Janine over at VintageHem proposed a giveaway, and since it involved 1) really pretty slips and 2) no actual work on my part, I agreed. Here's the deal: in order to win one of their lovely slips with fancy hems, go to the VintageHem blog and leave a comment on today's post (the one about THIS CONTEST). That's it. They'll pick a winner at random.
(Full disclosure: Janine has offered me a slip, too, for doing this. I will report back on it in this space.)
Here's a closer look at the style of slip they're giving away, "Have a Ball":
I am always looking for new slips. (When I manage to go shopping in an actual store, I usually look for knee socks, tights, slips, colored leather gloves, cardigan sweaters, and penny loafers, not necessarily in that order.) I made some myself last year that I wore to death, and after that I bought some slippery nylon ones at Kohl's six months ago that are okay, but not great. (For some reason, mid-range department stores are the only places I can find slips these days. They're not at the low end [Target] or at the high [Saks, Lord&Taylor, Neiman's] — at least, not at prices I think are reasonable. And I'm not talking about those human sausage casings they call "shapewear," either.) The Vintage Hem slips seem reasonably priced for decorative slips — they run about $30.
Oh, and just in case you don't have it marked on your calendar, this is the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament weekend. Check in tomorrow to see this year's puzzle dress. (Hint: Duro Jr.!)
A Dress A Day 
Oh! I love slips so much! I have wanted one to wear under my ’50s dresses.
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Slips are dead easy to make, and you can use small amounts of real silk for a luxurious, non-static feel. My favorite half-slip is one I made many years ago from a remnant piece of Duchesse satin and some cotton lace. It’s perfect for dry cold winter days because I don’t electrocute myself every time I walk across a carpet.
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Yippee! Thanks for helping to promote this – man I’d love one of those slips.
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Thanks for this. They’re so pretty!I’m going to the ACPT this year, so I’ll look for you and your Duro Junior!
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I’ve been looking for something exactly like that! Sundress weather is coming…
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I watched ‘Wordplay’ the other night and thought of Erin the whole time…A crossword tie, maybe a tote bag, anyone can do. It takes someone truly special to pull off a crossword dress.
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Oooo. Stunt dress! Stunt dress!!! Ahemmmm, and I’d love a slip… Anon in Ire
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I’m always looking for slips that are actually shorts. Someone here, I think, gave me a link to purchasing them on line, but I really want to find them in a store.
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I’m glad to see that other people wear slips. My daughter told me that slips were dowdy, so I quit wearing them for awhile. But I decided that I was more comfortable with something between my dress material and my skin. I found some comfortable silk ones at WinterSilks. I feel sexy, not dowdy in them.
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Deirdre, I bought a shorts-slip/pettipants/pantyslip about 9 years ago at Meier Frank (now Macys) but they no longer carry them. I eventually broke down and made myself a pair. It was pretty easy using a pajama pants pattern. I used nylon tricot and some vintage lace trim.Ive seen some ready made ones online by people who sell modest clothing.
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I’ve always been so sad that the slip selection in regular stores is so small. These are gorgeous.
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I don’t feel properly dressed without a slip. I have a friend who disliked Princess Diana just because of that infamous photo of her sans slip. That’s a bit extreme for me. It seems to me that slips prolong the life of garments as well as help them hang better. I made a tiered eyelet slip for my fuller skirts, but didn’t like the bulk of the cotton casing for the elastic waist. I think I just need to use a really lightweight batiste and make the top tier smaller so the gathers are minimal. I do have a 50s-style crinoline that is astonishingly fun to wear, though it gets the most exposure on my dress form under my fullest skirts which I rotate seasonally.
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Oh–forgot to include this: several years ago I tried to find a full petticoat for a dress I made for my very young cousin, but shopped in vain. An older clerk told me that this and children’s robes were the two items most often sought by customers. I ended up making one. Perhaps things have changed since; I do see robes for little ones in catalogs. Now I would just go online, I suppose.
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I am a huge (ha) fan of slips. If I’m wearing a skirt, I don’t feel quite fully dressed without a slip. Vintage Hem slips are gorgeous, but too bad they come in such limited sizes. It seems like it wouldn’t be too tough to expand their size range into plus sizes, or offer custom slips in bigger sizes. They could even upcharge. Sad! I would have spent a good deal of money there.
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Men’s silk boxers make excellent slips for shorter (knee length) skirts.
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I love slips and wear them all the time. And if in pants, I do the camisole thing.
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I love slips/petticoats, too. If you missed it, awhile ago, I posted a great long post here at ADaD on how to make slips or petticoats for your dresses, even without a pattern. You should be able to find it without too much trouble if you search on “petticoat”. I’ll do a post right now, for a Fast Luxury Petticoat:Buy a fabulous pillowcase (regular, queen, or king-size, as needed, for your size). Buy two, if one would be too skimpy to go around you comfortably. Buy something with lace, or embroidery, or 1000-thread count cotton, or silk (luxury is the keynote here). Stand in front of a mirror, and hold the pillowcase in front of you; the already-finished end is your hem, and you should let the top of the pillowcase fold down until the finished end is where you would like your hem to end. Mark where you’ve folded your pillowcase; this will be the waistline of your petticoat. With your marking pen/pencil, draw a line straight across the pillowcase, from one side to the other. (If you’re using two pillowcases, mark the second pillowcase in the same spot as the first pillowcase, and draw the line in the same spot.) You now need to mark off enough for the casing for your waistline elastic or drawstring. You need to mark off twice the finished width of the casing, plus about a quarter of an inch (1/4″) to finish off the raw seam. If you use quarter-inch elastic, mark off two inches (2″) above your first line. Cut along this second line. (If you’re using two pillowcases, mark this second line in the same spot on the second pillowcase as you did on the first, and cut along it. You should now have two pillowcases the same length, with a waistline marking in the same spot on each.) Finish the raw edge (serge or turn under once and stitch)*, fold down 1/2″ (one-half inch) to the inside, and stitch down as close as possible to the finished edge. Leave a gap of about an inch unstitched, so you can insert a 1/4″ (one-quarter inch) wide elastic. I measure off the elastic to go around my waist, then a bit extra, and adjust it on myself, before stitching the ends of the elastic together. If I don’t want bulk, I butt the ends of the elastic together, and stitch each end down on a piece of grosgrain ribbon, so that the ends of elastic touch each other, but don’t overlap. I may not stitch that little gap in the casing seam closed, either, if I decide later to adjust the fit. Presto! Finished slip/petticoat, in luxury material, with decorative hem!For the ladies who opt to use two pillowcases, the procedure is nearly the same; the only difference is that after the excess fabric is cut off the top of the pillowcase, the side seam needs to be opened on each pillowcase. (There’s usually only one side seam on a pillowcase. If there are two side seams in the pillowcase, open only one on each of the two pillowcases.) *Seam the pillowcases together, and finish off the waistline casing as for the first example. If you have used two pillowcases with one sideseam each, your finished slip will have two sideseams. If you have used two pillowcases with two sideseams each, your finished slip will have four lengthwise seams.More Sneaky Tricks: Deirdre, if you’re looking to buy your slips-that-are shorts in stores and not just on line, start looking at pajama pants. For the summer, you may want to look at cotton or silk ones. Doesn’t matter if they’re men’s or women’s. Once you find the ones you like, cut them off at your preferred length (plus hem). It would be easy enough to stitch a little lace around each leg, if you like (I know I do). Your best bet, I think, would be pajama pants with the least bulky waistline finish. But if you find something you really love, it’s no big deal to cut off the bulky waistline, and just make a casing with a little elastic in or a drawstring. Or even finish it with a band of elastic. You may find that for everyday inexpensive pajama pants, men’s pajamas (the kind sold prewrapped in plastic) are your best bet.Oh, while I was typing my epic, Overgrown Hobbit posted about men’s boxers! I like that suggestion, too, and it would also work for cotton boxers, if you can’t find silk. The same stitch-lace-on-it holds true for the boxers, as it does for the pajama pants. And again, if the boxers have that really bulky, bunch, waistline elastic, you can cut that off and make your own casing, either by folding it down or putting binding on. You can even topstitch a long length of ribbon to the top edge and tie them shut with the ribbon. And if you don’t mind buying on line, you can get some great bargains on silk boxers at Dharmatrading.com.It’s possible I’m the one who steered you to a link for pettipants on
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I *heart* those slips.
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La BellaDonna thank you for the slip “mini post” here! I never thought to try pillowcases. I’m heading to S FL next month and need to make myself some pettipants or some kind of shorts to wear under skirts. I’ll probably get laughed at if my family finds out (this is South Florida after all), but I’ve gained some weight lately and I certainly don’t need to chafe and be miserable in a pretty skirt.The PJ/boxer idea is brilliant!
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Vintage slips and petti pants are EVERYWHERE on ebay. Both full and half slips for good prices. Thrift stores also usually have a lot of slips. Mostly white or beige, but that works. I suppose the really full actual 50s crinolines can be more expensive on ebay but not if you consider how often you would wear it.
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A lame question about making slips: The only time I’ve ever made myself a slip, I drew up a “pattern” (hardly deserves the word, really) for a half-slip and sewed it up out of cotton and lace. The shape itself was fine, but I found that there was a tremendous amount of bulk at the waist, much more than there is on a store-bought slip. Obviously, some of that is because most commercial slips are made of thin nylon, but… I can’t shake the feeling that there must be ways of making a slip at home in a nice fabric without having miles of fabric bunched up around my waist.Any thoughts? ~Ella
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finding a slip for a theatrical production has become increasingly difficult-on several occassions I have bought a nightgown and the costume shop has turned it into a slip-might be something to check out for real life-works really well for a half slip
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As someone who sews and is interested in the history of women’s clothing, I think that there’s a distinction to be made here between “slips,” which cover the torso as well and have spaghetti-straps, and “half-slips,” which are the ones that hang from the waist like a skirt — usually with an elastic waist these days, though also often with a button or a tie a the waist if it’s not elastic.Personally I wear few slips and mostly wear half-slips, but that’s also because I mostly wear skirts and not dresses.I guess I just mean to say, there is a distinction, and more women might want to think about wearing full slips with certain garments, especially dresses.
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Am I the only for whom the link to vintagehem.com doesn’t work? It goes to an insurance site. Very strange.
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The link didn’t work for me either. I read the comments to see if anyone else had the same problem.
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That’s wierd. I visited vintagehem.com from here a day or two ago (whenever this post was first posted) with no problems and spent a little while browsing the slips (or, more accurately, half slips). No way can I get to it now, though I can get into the vintagehem blog????Anon in Ireland.
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Scormeny, you’re correct; I’ve been using “slip” and “half-slip” interchangeably, and they really aren’t identical … even if they are interchangeable. Heh. I tend, more often, to wear slips than I do half-slips – and John, quite often I’ll buy silk nightgowns and wear them as slips – I don’t bother to cut them down into half-slips. Even with a blouse or sweater and skirt, I find the full-length slip to be more convenient than a half-slip. Either one works, though, if you’re wearing a wrap dress! I especially like having something vivid under a wrap dress, as they are so prone to unwrapping at inconvenient, windy moments (ditto for wrap skirts).Ella, 1. There are no lame questions. 2. It depends on how full the skirt or dress is under which you want to wear a slip (“half-slip”). Honest, please google “petticoat” on this site, because I covered a LOT of the questions that are coming up in my great long Petticoat post. But the obvious solution is: have less fabric at the waist than the hem. If you wear full skirts – gathered, half-circle, or full-circle – you can make a half-circle petticoat that either hooks closed at the waist, or ties closed, or you can set it on a narrow elastic. If you wear straighter skirts, then you want the hem of the slip/half-slip no wider than the hem of your skirt, and you want the waist at least as wide as your hips (in a non-stretch fabric), or wide enough to stretch over your hips (in a stretch fabric). You can do this with a single width and one seam on the straight of the grain, cutting the pattern in the shape of a truncated triangle, or you can cut your slip on the bias of the fabric (best for non-stretch fabrics). (Note: If you’re making a Pillowcase Petticoat and you don’t like a lot of fullness at the waist, you’ll want to remove some of the fabric at the sides so that the petticoat looks like the truncated triangle. Don’t remove so much fabric that it won’t go over your hips! Try making a Pillowcase Petticoat out of a regular pillowcase first to check the fit on yourself.) One of the BEST half-slip patterns you buy is a nice bias skirt pattern, preferably one that comes in a couple of different lengths, and, if possible, a couple of alternatives – that is, a one-piece/one-seam skirt, and maybe a skirt with two or more pieces. Use this bias skirt pattern as your slip pattern, instead of limiting yourself to what’s shown in the “lingerie” section of the pattern book!Valerie, I would look for cotton boxers or pajama pants, if you need to be able to try them on; otherwise, you can try going here: http://www.underworks.com/pettipants/ – they offered both all-cotton and nylon, in different lengths – including a long-legged cotton panty for those of us whose thighs rub! They also have full-length slips.
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Ella, Simplicity 3827 will give you a nice gored petticoat in two lengths with minimal bulk at the waist. It’s a start! Look for patterns that are marked “suitable for knits” if you want to use tricot (this doesn’t require it); if you find bias skirt patterns you like, just check the back for suitable fabrics – 100% cotton batiste would be fine. But you can get it at The Vermont Country Store. Did my other post not register?Yeesh.http://www.rufflesnlace.com/RufflesNLace_home.htmlRufflesNLace has frilly pettipants in various lengths, and WONDERFUL petticoats and crinolines to go under full skirts – or to wear by themselves, if that’s your style.http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/browse/Home/Apparel/Womens-Intimates/Panties-Briefs/D/30003/P/1:100:1010:10230:100490?endecaid=winsct2LTThe Vermont Country Store is a wonderful old-fashioned merchant that carries half-slips and full slips in nylon AND 100% cotton batiste. They carry mid-thigh-length cotton snuggies, somewhat looser mid-thigh-length cotton “bloomers”, and fabulous knee-length 100% cotton batiste “culottes” – a fuller leg all the way to the knee, looks almost like a petticoat, and only $25.00; it goes up to a 46″ waist. I think I need a couple for the summer!
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Oh, ERIN! The Vermont Country Store has a full-length (i.e., knee) slip in MERINO! No sleeves! Scoop neck! Perfect for under your dresses while it’s still cold!http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/browse/Home/Apparel/Womens-Intimates/Slips/Merino-Wool-Full-Slip/D/30103/P/1:100:1010:10230:100500/I/f08230?evar3=BROWSE
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I do not understand what the deal is with the Slip Disappearance! How can they be “dowdy” when they’re underneath your clothes so no one can see them anyway? Are people really looking at you going “Oh, I can’t see her legs/underwear right through her skirt, how out of touch she must be!”? “Hmmm, that outfit would look so much more au courant if her dress were clinging unattractively to her tights”? I don’t get it. You will have to pry my slips off my cold dead behind.
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Nice slips really ARE hard to come by. And they make a lot of difference in how a skirt hangs, so I won’t go without one unless wearing something like a denim skirt.The local military exchange is the only store in an 80-mile radius that has any that aren’t horrible cheap nylon. My mom makes hers, since she is a plus-size lady (plus size slips are REALLY REALLY hard to find) but somehow I can never get motivated enough to do it myself.Anyway, she doesn’t even use a pattern. She just takes a hip and waist measurement, adds her ease, puts in elastic and a hem, and calls it a day.
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I never wear full slip, but often wear a camisole-plus-half-slip. Weird to wear separates under a dress, I suppose, but it works for me.
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Ladies. Not to worry. If you looking for high quality full slips or half slips, just email me with what your looking for, in a specific color, size, or maker. Chances are I will have it. Ive been collecting slips for over 20 years and I sell them to whoever wants to buy them. I sell a lot of them overseas. Some of which go to other sellers who mark them up between 100-500% and get it. so let me know if I can be of assistance to anyone out there who loves to wear slips. I can email you a photo of what I have to offer and if you like what I have, we can talk about a price later. Most of the slips I have are from the 70s and 80s and most are nylon. But I do have vintage slips from the 50s and 60s and newer slips from the 90s thru the millinia. I have silk, satin, and polyester slips also, buy not many. I have florals and brocades, cami/half slip sets, in every color and length under the sun. I (dont) have a whole lot a really large slips, but let me know what your looking for and i will see if I can find it. You can reach me at sliplovin66@hotmail.com or secondhandslipshop@live.comThank you for your interest.
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I just love to wear slips and I am a man !
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