A new theory of underwear

Somehow this has become the summer of the skirt. Maybe it's because my two favorite pairs of pants – identical baggy wide-legged linen floods, from Flax, bought at the same time (as is my custom) – both wore through the crotch at about the same time and I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet. Or maybe I'm just wanting to look and feel different this year than in the past. For whatever reason though this change has necessitated a revision in my underwear policy and I'm really enjoying it.

Normally I keep only about eight or nine pairs of underwear at any given time, and they have to be on the pale pink through mauve through periwinkle purple end of the spectrum – no orange, red, yellow, white, green or even blue is allowed (black is always acceptable).



This summer though I realized that my usual colors could create unwanted attention if I wore them while riding my bike in a dress. It's too hot to wear tights or leggings or even jeans, especially while pedaling home in the heat of the afternoon, so I ordered several pairs of cheap stretchy "bike shorts" from American Apparel – all black. That was the first big change. Unfortunately they turned out to be bike shorts in name only. The fabric is too soft and flimsy, which makes them comfortable to wear, but pointless to ride in as the legs stretch out with every pedal and creep up my thigh until they're right about where the leg elastic on a regular pair of underwear would be.

So I decided to just suck it up and wear the leggings. I have a few pairs that are capri length that are not so hot. The trouble there is not with riding but with walking: the fabric of the skirt rubs against the fabric of the leggings and they end up bunching up in the front as you walk. Not attractive.

This week I finally thought of a simple solution that is making me so happy I just have to share it. The answer is to be found for usually three to five bucks or less on the racks of any thrift shop, and if you're lucky it will have yard upon yard of lace as well. I refer of course to old-fashioned full slips, the nylon or rayon kind (or silk, if you can find it), cut on the bias with adjustable straps and whole networks of ingenious tucks and darts and gussets and yes, lots and lots of lace.

Besides the way they allow the skirt to fall straight, just like it's supposed to, with no rubbing or bunching, these are also great because the fabric takes dye so well. Take a look at the color chart above and you can see where I'm going with this. By mixing various dyes you can get just about any color you can imagine, and one slip takes only a very small amount of dye to do, and they dry so fast you can wear them the same afternoon.

So hooray for vintage lingerie! I am still working on my patterns for various tap pants, camisoles, combinations &c., but for five bucks plus the cost of dying I am finding this a lot of fun. (Plus they make great nightgowns – no more getting all wrapped up in the sheets like a burrito.)

My latest find, from eBay:


I haven't decided yet what I want to do with this one. I'm actually starting to consider a seasonal addendum to my color rules ... maybe expanding to include brown, bronze, even orange .... oh, the possibilities.