Vintage wool dresses - base or mid layers?

StellaMarie

Registered Guest
Hi all, I wonder if anyone could help me with this -
I have a few wool dresses from the 40s (unlined), and I'm wondering historically what women wore under these?

I usually wear a normal slip under dresses, but I found it wasn't enough as my arms/chest etc were exposed to the scratchy material
In the end I found the only solution was to wear a cotton long sleeved blouse over the slip. This at least solved the scratchy feeling, but I'm curious what would have been the norm back then - were there long sleeve slips, or some kind of mid layer on the arms? If so what materials and styles were common?
I actually did try to look this up myself, but Google didn't understand what I was asking so hopefully someone here will know.

Any and all info is appreciated, even just speculation!
 
I don't have any insight to share but can commiserate - I have a lovely 50s wool dress with a very high neck that irritated the heck out of my neck the only time I wore it. So much so that I'll probably sew some kind of lining into it before wearing it again. And wool doesn't usually bother me.
 
I've seen older advertisements for knit underwear (tops and bottoms) that are longer lengths, sort of like thermal underwear, but a bit airier. I don't know if slips were made in the same way, but if so, I haven't come across one. It does make sense that woolens would be more for colder weather, and longer undergarments would certainly make sense.
 
Back
Top