Half Slips

[Dale]

It is winter in northwestern New Mexico, not the warmest time of the year. I am wearing skirts full time, and I have asked some women that I know for a little advice, since they have more experience wearing skirts than I. It has been suggested by them that I purchase a few half slips to wear beneath my skirts. One of them have even suggested panty hose or tights for the inclement weather. I admit that I have just a wee bit of trouble with this. I am just a bloke in a skirt, and a half slip and especially panty hose seem to me to fall into the category of women's underwear. I can not seem to get over the feeling that at that point, I am making a transition from skirt wearing man to cross dresser. I would very much appreciate some input and opinions from other members of this forum. What is your opinion concerning the subject of both the half slip, and hose or tights? I am not trying to look female, I am a man and I am comfortable as a man in a skirt, but a cross dresser I am not. Frankly I am really tempted to at least go with the half slip, if it will make a difference. Advice, suggestions and comments are very much appreciated.

[pepsie1]

What I do in this winter weather is wear multiple skirts in a layering style with long heavy socks. This approach is very comfortable down to 20 F providing the wind is not blowing and then all bets are off. I also dont care for tights etc. but have worn silk garments found at outdoor outlets with skirts or trousers. This approach is manageable in weather down to sub zero.

[JRMILLER]

You can purchase lined skirts, they are more expensive, but the lining creates more of a still air pocket, this helps a great deal. If you make your own or want to add a lining to a skirt, it's pretty easy. Lining is available at JoAnn fabrics, you just make a skirt out of it that fits at the waist, then attach it to the inside of the waist, otherwise it is permitted to freely flow...

[Milfmog]

I frequently add a half slip under a skirt or kilt, it adds a surprising amount of warmth, helps the skirt to hang and move better and I have no more gender based issues with it than I do with a skirt. Quite simply it works for me, YMMV.

Have fun,


Ian.

PS For kilt wearers who like to dress in the "regimental" style an added bonus of the half slip is that it is a darn site easier to wash a slip than it is to dry clean a kilt after any bathroom marking (apologies to any readers of a delicate nature who found that distressing ).

[skirtyscot]

Wear a long skirt! I recently bought a long cord skirt which touches my shoes and is warmer than any of my trousers, though long socks are called for to keep the draughts out.

Thick opaque tights made of a sock-like material are the least fem. I'm not big fan of tights either, but sometines it's nicer to wear a short skirt and tights instead of having a long skirt flapping around your legs all the time. I'm gradually warming to the idea of wearing thick tights. (Edit: sorry, pun not intended!)

I've never tried a half slip. But as it will not be on display, any worries about feminine underwear are purely in your head! That said, I bet I would be thinking the same way - something just shouts "Noooooo!". On the other hand, a couple of my skirts are lined, and it does make them warmer, and what is the difference between a lined skirt and an unlined one with an underskirt? Or an unlined one which you have lined yourself?

I am in danger of contradicting myself more than once in this post; this is visceral, not rational!

[skirtyscot]

By the way, when you say "panty hose or tights", is that just a translation or do they have slightly diffferent meanings in the USA?

'Tis a ghastly name, panty hose. I used think that the original settlers from England had been transported as a punishment for failing their spelling tests or wearing loud shorts, but maybe it was for calling tights "panty hose".

[r.m.anderson]

There we go again with that 'One Common Language' problem.
Correct me if I am wrong in this concept.
Panty Hose in the USA is the same thing as Tights in the UK.
Tights in the USA are thicker; more dense and not apt to be sheer -
think athletic wear and not nylons.
So what do the folks in the UK call the heavy duty athletic non sheer
panty hose or are these also just called tights ?

"Kilted-Question"
rma

[crfriend]

Half-slips (i.e. underskirts that hang from the waist) are a staple of mine and have multiple purposes. First and foremost, they help the main skirt move gracefully if there are frictional elements (e.g. tights) worn underneath and secondly can cut down on the number of times that a particular skirts may need to go through the wash.

Lightweight ones are mostly useful for motion control; heavier ones are also quite useful as insulation. In the instance where I'm wearing a heavy one, I'll usually wear a light one under that for friction control.

On the notion of "pantyhose" and "tights": In the US, "pantyhose" refer to sheer legwear and "tights" refer to opaque legwear; in the UK, "tights" refer to both and hence require a separate adjective to state the sheerness or opaqueness of the garment. This author prefers the UK notion that makes active use of the adjective as it is more gender-neutral than the US term which is frequently overloaded with fetish contexts when men are involved.

[Dale]

I will try to respond to all posts so far. Multiple skirts may not work out so well, but I will experiment with it tomorrow in the back yard. Trousers under the skirt defeats the reason why I wear a skirt. Pants are uncomfortable or painful due to my pelvic injuries.

I have long socks, and they are very helpful, but are not the whole solution (so far).

I have some long skirts, but no longer than about half way between my knee and ankle. Any longer and I will have trouble moving around my many cats, I do with the longer skirts I have right now. A longer skirt will make the cat issue worse (I have 27).

Most of my skirts are lined, and this is a big improvement over those that are not. I have a couple leather skirts, and they are quite warm, but they also require special cleaning, so I can not wear them all winter.

Skirtyscot has a good point about female underwear being all in my head. I was told almost the same thing by a lady I know just an hour ago. She told me to just think of a half slip as just a separate liner or underskirt. Good point when I give it some unemotional and logical thought. A woman's input can be very helpful.

Crfriend, in the U.S. the main difference between panty hose and tights (at least as I understand it) is the thickness and opacity of the material (just as you stated). I am not inclined to wear either, at least for now, and of course this is subject to change in the future. One must keep an open mind.

A lady I know has offered to loan me a long and a short one to try it out. On the other hand I may just purchase a couple as they are inexpensive. Skirtyscot makes a good point about female underwear being all in my head, so did this lady. In fact she told me it is "beyond stupid" to think of it that way. So at this point I believe that the half slip is the way I am going to go. At least I am going to try it out. I really do not want to put on a pair of trousers again, ever. Thank you for the input, and I am still open to suggestions.

[skirtyscot]

On the notion of "pantyhose" and "tights": In the US, "pantyhose" refer to sheer legwear and "tights" refer to opaque legwear; in the UK, "tights" refer to both and hence require a separate adjective to state the sheerness or opaqueness of the garment. This author prefers the UK notion that makes active use of the adjective as it is more gender-neutral than the US term which is frequently overloaded with fetish contexts when men are involved.

So now I know!

Some sportsmen wear tights - really really thick ones - in winter. Anything that helps to break the perception that tights are only for women is good. A friend of one of my sons uses them in winter when playing rugby, but he always refers to them as "man tights" just to be clear. That is fair enough, but I hope nobody comes up with one of those dreadful neologisms like "manscara"!

[rick401r]

I have a couple pair of running tights I bought many years ago. they're spandex sports tights with no feet. I guess they call them leggings nowdays. I'll have to dig them out and give them a try. As far as half slips go, I tried one my wife gave me but it didn't help the cold wind from blowing up from underneath.

[ChrisM]

She is right - the half slip is the way to go.

Just realize that a half-slip is to a skirt on a bloke as the washer is to a nut on a bolt. It is part of an engineered system.

Chris

[billschatz]

We are bogged down in semantics. For those who don’t believe it, a kilt is a type of skirt.
A slip is an undergarment usually made of silk or smooth cotton fabric. A half-slip is worn around the waist and under the skirt for several reasons:
• The main issue is soil. It keeps the outer garment clean.
• It keeps perspiration from reaching the outer garment.
• Warmth. It provides a layering effect.
• Hang. It helps with the natural hang of the garment, especially with synthetics which are subject to static cling.
• It helps prevent chaffing caused by coarse materials in the skirt or kilt
• It provides a level of modesty when worn under material that is either translucent or loosely woven thereby permitting transparency when back lit.
• My favorite – It stops the skirt or kilt material from getting caught all the time in body creases. You don’t have to worry about pulling out the material every time you stand up.
If you’re still opposed to the slip, try a pair of tights. All of the above is accomplished.

[crfriend]

We are bogged down in semantics.

Actually, for this "herd of cats" we call SkirtCafe, I rather suspect we're all in agreement that various forms of "underskirts" (aka "slips") are very utilitarian pieces of kit that are rather unsung as garments go.

For those who don’t believe it, a kilt is a type of skirt.

Yes, this is technically the case, but let's give the brand the respect its due and call a kilt a kilt. It's just the polite thing to do.

If you’re still opposed to the slip, try a pair of tights. All of the above is accomplished.

Actually, from personal experience, that's not really so. A lot of my skirts flow quite nicely if I'm bare-legged, but drag horribly if I put on a pair of tights (If it's a single garment, why is it always referred to in the plural? See "trousers".). I find slips most important when I have legwear on.

[cessna152towser]

Kilt liners are basically half slips for men as they have plain hems with no lace or frills.
Two of the makers appear to have stopped producing them but I believe they are still available from Comfilon.