it’s days like these that i feel old. every once in a while, it can hit you right between the eyes how much things have changed in my short (ok, maybe not-so-short) life.
i was in sixth grade in the mid-60’s. the most exciting field trip of my entire elementary school days was in the 6th grade. it wasn’t the content. it was the context. we toured the local sewage treatment plant. woohoo! what made this trip so special was the dress code. for the first time ever in my life, we girls were instructed to wear SLACKS. not pants. slacks. meaning nice, dress pants. the reason ms. wesch gave us for this unusual breach of school rules was that we would be walking over steel grates. with men underneath. and, so THE MEN COULD NOT LOOK UP OUR SKIRTS, we were to wear SLACKS. i swear to god i am not making this up.
those were the days when we’d wear pants underneath our skirts / dresses / jumpers TO school on very cold days (in those days, for some inexplicable reason, we wanted to stay warm), and immediately upon entering the classroom, we’d remove them in the girl’s coat room.
it was not until my SENIOR YEAR in high school that the dress code was changed to allow girls to wear PANT SUITS to school.
those were the days when we wore slips. does anybody out there remember slips? they were silky, slippery – yes, pretty even, underskirts, or underdresses, kind of. i know they sound an awful lot like what i see advertised as skirts or dresses. yup. they were just like that. don’t ask ME what the difference between a dress and a slip is now. i'm thinking it might just be the price.
for historical purposes, i attempt to explain WHY we wore slips.
i stopped wearing slips (mostly) after i was teased about my apparent neurotic “habit” and an unfortunate slip mishap in a local store. in MY day, people (women AND men) knew how to say to a woman quietly, “your slip is showing.” it was a courtesy. no embarrasment. apparently, on this particular day, nobody knew what was hanging increasingly lower AND LOWER from underneath my skirt. i imagine them thinking, “now that’s an interesting way to wear two skirts at one time!” so i walked around the store, browsing and shopping. feeling good. hah!
i paid for my items, even chatting with two women behind and in front of me at the check-out line. the store was PACKED on this spring saturday morning. i paid, picked up my bag, and proceeded to walk to the door in front of the entire store. i was feeling good. i felt something catch at my foot and looked down to see my entire slip puddled around my ankles. “SON OF A BITCH,” i said. oh. my. god. my UNDERWEAR.*
the mortification i felt at that moment cannot be described.
i had to get out of there. quick. thank god i am a gimp. i hooked my cane through it, stepped out of it, and picked it up (like a white flag), and threw it in my bag.
i threw that slip out when i got home.
i confess to having a multi-colored, flowered bra. for historical purposes, i attempt to explain what a bra, in fact, is.
i, for the first time in my life, purchased this multi-colored bra just three months ago! this was a big step for me. and since this is considered UNDERWEAR, and underwear is to be worn and NOT SEEN (archaic, i know), i planned to wear this only under tops through which it could not be viewed.
last week, i was planning to wear a top (through which underwear could not be viewed) with which i could wear this bra, so i put it on. i dressed, put on my make up, checked myself in the mirror, and THEN saw another top i wanted to wear. i put it on quickly, and since bill was waiting for me, hurried downstairs without checking myself in the mirror. we spent the day running around, and then met friends for dinner. i felt good.
when we got home, i undressed for bed, throwing my clothes in the hamper. OH. MY. GOD. THIS ISN’T HAPPENING. the flowered bra lay mocking me on top of my beautiful white blouse.
BILLLLLLLLLL! why, oh why, didn’t you tell me?????
once again i swear to god, this was his response: “i thought you planned it like that!”
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i sit here humbled, degraded, and speechless.
i sit here in my white blouse, my flowered bra, and a camisole**.
*my slip. a slip is considered underwear.
**camisole. underwear.
Posted by Stacey at September 5, 2005 01:40 PM
I still wear slips. :snort:
Posted by: lucy at September 5, 2005 03:17 PMOMG you just made me wet my paints, laughing so much here. We called them petticoats and I hated them with a passion but you had to wear them because of the fabric clinging to stockings or as you said, you did not want your underwear to show. Shudder to think that anyone saw your underwear. Actually Stace, bras in those days were utterly revolting to say the least. Did you ever wear hotpants - I had a cool red pair which I wore with white knee high boots. Oh I wish I had a photo of that to show you.
Now let me go and count the grey hairs.
Does anyone remember Bra slips, petticoats with inbuilt bras?
It's very French to wear a pretty bra so that the rest of the world can get a glimpse of it.
Why is the prettiest underwear always in such small sizes?
I've continued to wear a slip under skirts ever since my first waitressing job - our uniforms included a wrap-around skirt (remember those?). There are many, MANY things that can go wrong with a wrap-around skirt.
Posted by: Elle at September 7, 2005 05:48 AMEverytime I see that title, I can't help wondering if you used 'brief' on purpose as a pun. Do you use the word 'briefs' for panties in the US?
Posted by: Anji at September 8, 2005 09:11 AMthat was a cute post and made me think of all the times I have been embarrassed by slippage or hanging or the worst..skirt caught up in the waist of my panty hose whilst giving a speech in front of about 25 of the Top Brass of my company..
Posted by: Dusty at September 14, 2005 04:49 PMActually, with the slip showing, you would have looked completely normal around my family. Check out any number of photos of my girls (nieces, daughter, etc.) in the past couple of years. The layered look is in. Multiple skirts is in (I don't know about anyone else, I'm simply talking my girls here). There is a photo from this week's girls' night of my neice and my daughter in layered skirts. :) Not a slip, but yup, two skirts!
Posted by: Keri at September 16, 2005 01:05 PMWhen I tell my girls about not being able to wear pants, much less jeans, to school until 1971, they just know I obedience trained the first brontosaurus.
Pantyhose were always worn (although in junior high those were stockings with garters - now there's a sadistic invention for ya) and my mom put me on a tight pantyhose budget. Anyone remember cutting off the bad leg and wearing two one-legged pairs to make a complete set?
And WE were the avant-garde of the world?
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at September 23, 2005 02:26 PMi still wear slips when necessary and i cannot get over the lack of pantyhose in the workplace. it just seems wrong to wear close toed shoes without pantyhose. i say we start a trend of more slips. and i was almost born in 1971, so it can't be that old of a trend. or am i old, am i old? anyhow. stacey, you are cute as a bug's ear.
Posted by: jenB at September 25, 2005 03:15 AMthis is a hoot - makes you a year younger than me - or close. We didn't get to wear pants but the class behind us did. And you forgot to mention those damn garter belts - panty hose were invented during my junior or senior year. Up til then we wore garter belts and hooked the hose in them. Do you remember rolling up the waist on your skirt so that it would be a mini?
Posted by: kate at October 3, 2005 12:10 AMI was trying to find when ladies panties were
started = When ladies in long dresse where you
could not see an ankle they did not wear panties
I was trying to find out when panties were first
used. And I got you.