Elegy for the slip

I was just watching a trailer for Butterfield 8 on Turner Classic Movies. A great deal of time was given over to scenes of Elizabeth Taylor swanning around in her slip, something I recall she also did a lot of in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as well. And what a slip! Molded to the body like a glove, it emphasizes the smallness of the waist and the fullness of ths hips and breasts without revealing more than a hint of cleavage.

In the movies of old, a woman in a slip was available: A gangster's moll might loll about in her slip. A slip signified desire: Anna Magnani lusted after Burt Lancaster in a slip in The Rose Tattoo. In fact, foreign actresses in general wore slips: Simone Signoret, Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren all wore slips.

You don't see the full slip anymore these days--either in the store or in movies. There are camis, teddies, bustiers, thongs and tap pants, but a woman onscreen wearing any of these never packs the punch of Liz in her slip. Probably because it's not unusual to see women on the street wearing much less.