What is the Purpose of Slip Dresses?
If you find yourself questioning whether or not the younger generations know the difference between nighties, slips and dresses, you're not the only one. Although we appreciate new fashion having fun with traditional clothing, and seeing the beauty in something that was designed to never be seen. It does make it a little difficult when you’re shopping for yourself. If you're like us, you will begin to ask yourself, did we forget the purpose of slip dresses?
Slips make the perfect mediating layer between your underwear and outer layer. They are excellent to wear for comfort, to prevent mishaps, or even to protect your skin. The reason slips are so comfortable is that they are unrestrictive and lightweight to wear, especially when they are made from cotton.
Here at Cotton Dayz, all of our women’s slips are made from 100% cotton, so it's better for your skin and for the environment.
A traditional slip dress, also known as an underdress, is worn as a middle layer that mediates between your underwear and outerwear and has been around for centuries. As a mediating layer, slips have served many functions over the years.
It was found to be originally worn in the Middle Ages and was known as a smock in England and a chemise in France. They were lightweight, loose-fitting garments that served to protect women’s skin from the coarse fabrics of the outerwear. Some also believe that it protected them from the plague while bathing.
During the 1700s, the trend of underwear as outerwear first emerged for women’s slips. Queen Marie Antoinette and members of the French Court used to wear it as a leisure garment; however, when the Queen was painted in her chemise slip, the people of France believed it to be a scandal.
It wasn’t until the start of the 1900s that slips once again became popular as underwear, as the women of the time did away with the restrictive corsets and girdles of the Victorian era.
The loose-fitting, lightweight slip complemented the flapper dress perfectly. So perfect that the two garments are so similar that the 1920s are considered to be Western society’s second wave of underwear as an outerwear trend. However, with a slip underneath a flapper dress, the dress sits smoothly and elegantly along the women’s silhouette.
Slip skirts and dresses in the 1930s became even easier to wear as underwear with more stretch and comfort, while the ’40s and ‘50s brought more glamour to the slip. Slips became embellished with lace detailing or embroidery. It gave slips a kind of sexy allure that led to the 1950s trend of wearing a slip long enough that it poked out of the hemline of your skirt.
The 1990s brought the slip back with another wave of underwear as an outerwear trend, resulting in the outerwear slip dress we see in women’s fashion today. Despite a slip dress commonly seen as outerwear, there are still plenty of benefits of wearing a soft cotton slip dress under your outfit.