Petticoat vs. Slip — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 4, 2024
A petticoat adds volume to skirts, enhancing silhouette. A slip prevents see-through, smoothing the garment's line.
Difference Between Petticoat and Slip
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Petticoats are designed to add volume and shape to skirts and dresses, creating a fuller silhouette that is especially sought after in formal and bridal wear. They often feature layers of fabric, such as tulle or crinoline, to achieve the desired effect. On the other hand, slips are worn for practical reasons, primarily to prevent the see-through of garments and to provide a smooth line under dresses and skirts, helping to mask any seams or lines from underwear.
Petticoats were an essential part of a woman's wardrobe, serving both functional and aesthetic purposes. They provided warmth and modesty while also shaping the outer garments to fit the fashion of the time. While slips also date back to historical times, their main function has remained to create a barrier between the body and outerwear, improving comfort and the appearance of the outer garment.
Petticoats come in various styles, including full petticoats, which add volume all around, and A-line petticoats, which are designed to complement A-line dresses. These styles cater to different types of dresses and skirts, allowing for a customizable level of volume and shape. Slips, however, are generally simpler and come in two main types: full slips, which cover the torso and the lower body, and half slips, which only cover the lower body. They can be made of silk, satin, or synthetic fabrics, designed to be sleek and unobtrusive under clothing.
The choice between a petticoat and a slip depends on the desired outcome. A petticoat is chosen for its ability to alter the shape of a dress or skirt dramatically, making it an ideal accessory for formal wear, costumes, and vintage fashion. A slip is selected for its functionality, providing a layer of coverage and ensuring that the outer garment drapes smoothly over the body, making it a staple for everyday wear and for ensuring modesty with lighter fabrics.
In modern fashion, the use of petticoats has seen a resurgence in certain niches, such as vintage and bridal fashion, where the silhouette they create is part of the desired look. Slips, meanwhile, remain a functional garment, with innovations in materials and design making them more comfortable and effective at enhancing the look of modern fabrics and styles.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Function
Adds volume and shape to skirts and dresses
Prevents see-through and smooths garment lines
Historical Use
Essential for fashion and modesty
Worn for modesty and comfort under garments
Types
Full, A-line, tiered, etc.
Full, half, tailored, etc.
Material
Tulle, crinoline, lace, etc.
Silk, satin, synthetic fibers, etc.
Modern Application
Bridal wear, formal attire, vintage fashion
Everyday wear, under sheer or clingy fabrics
Compare with Definitions
Petticoat
Often made from stiff fabrics for shape.
Her vintage petticoat featured layers of tulle.
Slip
A smooth undergarment worn for modesty and to prevent clinging.
She always wears a slip under her silk dress to avoid static.
Petticoat
Can feature decorative elements like lace.
The bride chose a petticoat with lace trim for extra elegance.
Slip
Comes in full and half styles for different garments.
She chose a half slip to wear under her sheer midi skirt.
Petticoat
An undergarment worn to add volume to skirts.
She wore a petticoat under her ball gown to enhance its fullness.
Slip
Made from smooth, lightweight fabrics.
Her cotton slip felt soft and comfortable under her summer dress.
Petticoat
To create a specific silhouette or style.
Petticoats are essential for achieving the iconic 1950s poodle skirt look.
Slip
Provides a seamless look under clothing.
A slip ensures her pencil skirt drapes beautifully without sticking.
Petticoat
Associated with historical or formal attire.
For the period drama, actors wore petticoats to achieve an authentic look.
Slip
Enhances comfort and the appearance of outer garments.
Wearing a slip made her vintage dress look more flattering.
Petticoat
A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress. Its precise meaning varies over centuries and between countries.
Slip
To move smoothly, easily, and quietly
Slipped into bed.
Petticoat
A girl's or woman's undergarment, worn under a dress or skirt, that is often full and trimmed with ruffles or lace. Also called pettiskirt.
Slip
To move stealthily; steal
Slipped out the back door.
Petticoat
Relating to or characteristic of women.
Slip
To escape, as from a grasp, fastening, or restraint
Slipped out of the wrestler's hold.
Petticoat
(historical) A tight, usually padded undercoat worn by men over a shirt and under the doublet.
Slip
To put on or remove a piece of clothing smoothly or quietly
Slipped into a nightgown.
Slipped out of the shirt.
Petticoat
(historical) A woman's undercoat, worn to be displayed beneath an open gown.
Slip
To slide involuntarily and lose one's balance or foothold.
Petticoat
(historical) A fisherman's loose canvas or oilcloth skirt.
Slip
To move accidentally out of place or fail to gain traction
The gear slipped.
Petticoat
A type of ornamental skirt or underskirt, often displayed below a dress; chiefly in plural, designating a woman's skirts collectively.
Slip
To pass gradually, easily, or imperceptibly into a different state
He slipped into a coma.
Petticoat
A light woman's undergarment worn under a dress or skirt, and hanging either from the shoulders or (now especially) from the waist; a kind of slip, worn to make the skirt fuller, or for extra warmth.
Slip
To decline from a former or standard level; fall off
The senator's popularity has slipped.
Petticoat
(slang) A woman.
Slip
To elapse, especially quickly or without notice
The days slipped by.
Petticoat
(historical) A bell-mouthed piece over the exhaust nozzles in the smokebox of a locomotive, strengthening and equalising the draught through the boiler-tubes.
Slip
To fall into fault or error. Often used with up.
Petticoat
(transitive) To dress in a petticoat.
Slip
To place or insert smoothly and quietly
She slipped the letter into her pocket.
Petticoat
(dated) Feminine; female; involving a woman.
Petticoat influence
A petticoat affair
Slip
To insert (a remark, for example) unobtrusively
Managed to slip his criticisms in before the end of the meeting.
Petticoat
A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.
Slip
To put on or remove (clothing) easily or quickly
Slip on a sweater.
Slipped off her shoes.
Petticoat
Undergarment worn under a skirt
Slip
To get loose or free from; elude
Slipped his pursuers.
Slip
To fail to be remembered by
Her name slips my memory.
Slip
To release, loose, or unfasten
Slip a knot.
Slip
To unleash or free (a dog or hawk) to pursue game.
Slip
To give birth to prematurely. Used of animals.
Slip
To dislocate (a bone).
Slip
To pass (a knitting stitch) from one needle to another without knitting it.
Slip
To make a slip from (a plant or plant part).
Slip
The act or an instance of slipping or sliding.
Slip
An accident or mishap, especially resulting in a fall.
Slip
An error in conduct or thinking; a mistake.
Slip
A slight error or oversight, as in speech or writing
A slip of the tongue.
Slip
A docking place for a ship between two piers.
Slip
A slipway.
Slip
(Nautical) The difference between a vessel's actual speed through water and the speed at which the vessel would move if the screw were propelling against a solid.
Slip
A woman's undergarment of dress length with shoulder straps.
Slip
A half-slip.
Slip
A pillowcase.
Slip
A smooth crack at which rock strata have moved on each other.
Slip
A small fault.
Slip
The relative displacement of formerly adjacent points on opposite sides of a fault.
Slip
The difference between optimal and actual output in a mechanical device.
Slip
Movement between two parts where none should exist, as between a pulley and a belt.
Slip
A sideways movement of an airplane when banked too far.
Slip
A part of a plant cut or broken off for grafting or planting; a scion or cutting.
Slip
A long narrow piece; a strip.
Slip
A slender youthful person
A slip of a child.
Slip
A small piece of paper, especially a small form, document, or receipt
A deposit slip.
Slip
A narrow pew in a church.
Slip
Thinned potter's clay used for decorating or coating ceramics.
Slip
(intransitive) To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
Slip
(intransitive) To err.
Slip
(intransitive) To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentional.
Slip
(intransitive) To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc.
A bone may slip out of place.
Slip
(transitive) To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.
She thanked the porter and slipped a ten-dollar bill into his hand.
Slip
(transitive) To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.
Slip
(intransitive) To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.
Some errors slipped into the appendix.
Slip
To move down; to slide.
Profits have slipped over the past six months.
Slip
To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry.
Slip
Clipping of sideslip: To fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind.
Slip
To remove the skin of a soft fruit, such as a tomato or peach, by blanching briefly in boiling water, then transferring to cold water so that the skin peels, or slips, off easily.
Slip
(obsolete) To omit; to lose by negligence.
Slip
(transitive) To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of.
To slip a piece of cloth or paper
Slip
(transitive) To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place.
A horse slips his bridle; a dog slips his collar.
Slip
To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
Slip
To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline.
Slip
An act or instance of slipping.
I had a slip on the ice and bruised my hip.
Slip
A woman's undergarment worn under a skirt or dress to conceal unwanted nudity that may otherwise be revealed by the skirt or dress itself; a shift.
Slip
A slipdress.
Slip
A mistake or error.
A slip of the tongue
Slip
(nautical) A berth; a space for a ship to moor.
Slip
(nautical) A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.
Slip
(nautical) A slipway.
Slip
(medicine) A one-time return to previous maladaptive behaviour after cure.
Slip
(cricket) Any of several fielding positions to the off side of the wicket keeper, designed to catch the ball after being deflected from the bat; a fielder in that position (See first slip, second slip, third slip, fourth slip and fifth slip.)
Slip
A number between 0 and 1 that is the difference between the angular speed of a rotating magnetic field and the angular speed of its rotor, divided by the angular speed of the magnetic field.
Slip
A leash or string by which a dog is held; so called from its being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand.
Slip
An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion.
He gave the warden the slip and escaped from the prison.
Slip
(aviation) sideslip
Slip
A portion of the columns of a newspaper etc. struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.
Slip
(dated) A child's pinafore.
Slip
An outside covering or case.
A pillow slip
The slip or sheath of a sword
Slip
(obsolete) A counterfeit piece of money, made from brass covered with silver.
Slip
Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.
Slip
A particular quantity of yarn.
Slip
A narrow passage between buildings.
Slip
(US) A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.
Slip
(mining) A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.
Slip
(engineering) The motion of the centre of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horizontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed it would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.
Slip
(electrical) The difference between the actual and synchronous speeds of an induction motor.
Slip
(telecommunications) The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.
Slip
A fish, the sole.
Slip
A twig or shoot; a cutting.
A slip from a vine
Slip
(obsolete) A descendant, a scion.
Slip
A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier).
She couldn't hurt a fly, young slip of a girl that she is.
Slip
A long, thin piece of something.
Slip
A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information.
A salary slip
Slip
(marine insurance) A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwriters.
Slip
(ceramics) A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
Slip
(obsolete) Mud, slime.
Slip
To move along the surface of a thing without bounding, rolling, or stepping; to slide; to glide.
Slip
To slide; to lose one's footing or one's hold; not to tread firmly; as, it is necessary to walk carefully lest the foot should slip.
Slip
To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; - often with out, off, etc.; as, a bone may slip out of its place.
Slip
To depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding; to go or come in a quiet, furtive manner; as, some errors slipped into the work.
Thus one tradesman slips away,To give his partner fairer play.
Thrice the flitting shadow slipped away.
Slip
To err; to fall into error or fault.
There is one that slippeth in his speech, but not from his heart.
Cry, "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war.
Slip
To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.
He tried to slip a powder into her drink.
Slip
To omit; to loose by negligence.
And slip no advantageThat my secure you.
Slip
To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of; as, to slip a piece of cloth or paper.
The branches also may be slipped and planted.
Slip
To let loose in pursuit of game, as a greyhound.
Lucento slipped me like his greyhound.
Slip
To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place; as, a horse slips his bridle; a dog slips his collar.
Slip
To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
Slip
The act of slipping; as, a slip on the ice.
Slip
An unintentional error or fault; a false step.
This good man's slip mended his pace to martyrdom.
Slip
A twig separated from the main stock; a cutting; a scion; hence, a descendant; as, a slip from a vine.
A native slip to us from foreign seeds.
The girlish slip of a Sicilian bride.
Slip
A slender piece; a strip; as, a slip of paper.
Moonlit slips of silver cloud.
A thin slip of a girl, like a new moonSure to be rounded into beauty soon.
Slip
A leash or string by which a dog is held; - so called from its being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand.
We stalked over the extensive plains with Killbuck and Lena in the slips, in search of deer.
Slip
An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion; as, to give one the slip.
Slip
A portion of the columns of a newspaper or other work struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.
Slip
Any covering easily slipped on.
Slip
A counterfeit piece of money, being brass covered with silver.
Slip
Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.
Slip
Potter's clay in a very liquid state, used for the decoration of ceramic ware, and also as a cement for handles and other applied parts.
Slip
A particular quantity of yarn.
Slip
An inclined plane on which a vessel is built, or upon which it is hauled for repair.
Slip
An opening or space for vessels to lie in, between wharves or in a dock; as, Peck slip.
Slip
A narrow passage between buildings.
Slip
A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.
Slip
A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.
Slip
The motion of the center of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horozontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed which she would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.
Slip
A fish, the sole.
Slip
A fielder stationed on the off side and to the rear of the batsman. There are usually two of them, called respectively short slip, and long slip.
Slip
The retrograde movement on a pulley of a belt as it slips.
Slip
The difference between the actual and synchronous speed of an induction motor.
Slip
A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwrites.
Slip
A socially awkward or tactless act
Slip
A minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc.
Slip
Potter's clay that is thinned and used for coating or decorating ceramics
Slip
A part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting
Slip
A young and slender person;
He's a mere slip of a lad
Slip
A place where a craft can be made fast
Slip
An accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall;
He blamed his slip on the ice
The jolt caused many slips and a few spills
Slip
A slippery smoothness;
He could feel the slickness of the tiller
Slip
Artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material
Slip
A small sheet of paper;
A receipt slip
Slip
A woman's sleeveless undergarment
Slip
Bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow;
The burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase
Slip
An unexpected slide
Slip
A flight maneuver; aircraft slides sideways in the air
Slip
The act of avoiding capture (especially by cunning)
Slip
Move stealthily;
The ship slipped away in the darkness
Slip
Insert inconspicuously or quickly or quietly;
He slipped some money into the waiter's hand
Slip
Move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner;
The wheels skidded against the sidewalk
Slip
Get worse;
My grades are slipping
Slip
Move smoothly and easily
Slip
To make a mistake or be incorrect
Slip
Pass on stealthily;
He slipped me the key when nobody was looking
Slip
Pass out of one's memory
Slip
Move out of position;
Dislocate joints
The artificial hip joint luxated and had to be put back surgically
Common Curiosities
Can petticoats be worn with any type of dress?
They're best suited for dresses or skirts designed to have a voluminous silhouette.
What is a petticoat?
An undergarment designed to add volume to skirts or dresses.
What is a slip?
A lightweight undergarment that provides a smooth silhouette under clothes.
How do I choose the right slip for my dress?
Consider the length of your dress and whether you need a full or half slip to avoid visibility at the hem.
What's the difference between a full slip and a half slip?
A full slip covers the torso and extends to the skirt, while a half slip only covers the lower body.
Why would someone wear a petticoat?
To achieve a fuller shape or specific style with their skirt or dress.
What are the benefits of wearing a slip?
It prevents clothes from clinging, offers modesty, and can make outer garments more comfortable to wear.
Are slips outdated?
No, they continue to be used for their practicality and the smooth, clean line they provide.
Do petticoats come in different styles?
Yes, they can vary in material, layers, and decorative details to suit different outfits.
Can a slip add volume like a petticoat?
No, slips are designed to be smooth and form-fitting, not to add volume.
Can men wear slips or petticoats?
While traditionally designed for women, anyone can wear these garments if they choose, for their intended purposes or as part of a costume.
How do I care for my petticoat?
Follow the care label, but generally, petticoats may need to be hand-washed or dry-cleaned, especially if they're made of delicate materials.
How does the choice between a petticoat and a slip affect the appearance of an outfit?
A petticoat adds volume and a specific silhouette to skirts or dresses, while a slip provides a smooth base, enhancing the outer garment's drape and appearance.
Can slips be worn for warmth?
While not their primary function, slips can provide an extra layer of warmth under dresses or skirts.
Is it necessary to wear a slip under a sheer dress?
Yes, to provide modesty and ensure the fabric drapes nicely without sticking to the body.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
