Introducing the blixie!
Back in the days when my job sucked, I used to work in an independent bookstore whose owner (whom I’ll call the Big Guy) was, to put it generously, eccentric. One of his less endearing quirks was a preoccupation with his female staff’s appearance rather than our performance. Exposed midriff was his particular bugbear. You couldn’t lift an arm to shelve a book without the fear that you’d turn around to find the Big Guy had materialized silently behind you and was now pointing with quivering finger and bristling eyebrows at the half-inch of offending flesh exposed by the riding up of your top. “What,” he’d growl, “is THAT?” In the end, fed up, I resorted to what I called the bookstore burqa, a roomy old castoff shirt of my boyfriend’s that came halfway to my knees, which I buttoned on daily over whatever I was wearing.
Little did I know that working women had the same problem back in 1949, when the phrase “sexual harassment” was not so much as a glint in Merriam-Webster’s eye. Their solution was a lot more becoming than the bookstore burqa. It was called the blixie — an all-in-one blouse/camiknicker set!
These should be compulsory – I saw three different ladies’ “builders’ bum” today (not pleasant)
LOL Never heard it called that before!! It took me a minute to get it. here in PA they call it plumber’s crack.
I recently discovered your blog, and I am really enjoying it. Thank you for sharing.
Look at the men (wearing suits, of course) in the audience – amazing. If I tried to drag my husband to a “blixie” fashion show, I’m sure he’d volunteer to babysit the kids so I could go with my sister, instead!
When I was a little girl (in the ’70′s) I had two-piece pajamas that snapped together at the waist, presumably to keep them in place while allowing a potty trained child to use the bathroom independently. I wonder if that wouldn’t be easier than crotch fastening?
I tuck my blouses into my tights. They stay very nicely.
without a doubt my tights would show if I did that. LOL
Do you know, I once tried to buy a slip in highland Honduras and discovered that women there still wear camiknickers under their dresses? They’re supposed to be warmer, since it gets cold in the mountains. I was pleased to make that discovery, but bummed that no one sold a slip for smaller than a size 3x.
The advice I’ve seen in all my vintage books for that girls problem would be for her to sew extra fabric to the bottom of her blouse, like Meg said about the 30s blouses. A peplum of sorts.
These things are cute, but they are basically just playsuits worn under a skirt.
I like the stunned looks on the faces of the audience the first time the model whips off her skirt; they weren’t expecting that. And how did they go to the bathroom?
I’m reminded of the 30s blouse patterns I’ve been looking at. They seem to have a waist seam with a long line lower section. In the pattern pictures they’re often worn outside the skirt, but if mixing eras with a high waisted skirt the lower section would come in very handy.
Oooh – the 40s version of those rather horrid Victoria’s Secret blouse-bodysuit combos:
http://www2.victoriassecret.com/commerce/onlineProductDisplay.vs?namespace=productDisplay&origin=onlineProductDisplay.jsp&event=display&prnbr=GK-199980&page=2&cgname=OSCLOBLOZZZ&rfnbr=6496
Aaaargh, I owned one of those in the 90s! Going to the bathroom involved a 10-minute struggle with spandex and snaps. No wonder I’d blotted it from my memory.
Surely a blouse attached to nice loose knickers like the blixie’s would have been less heartache to wrangle with, though?
I beLIEVE that they used snaps in the crotch area, but I might be wrong. I know in the Edwardian or victorian era they had a split crotch in their bloomers, which pulled to each side to allow bathroom functions. This is a thought provoking idea, since I have a long torso and end up with blouses untucked all the time. and being heavy I think tucked ones look neater.
FWIW, thanks for the idea. Kitty
Til you need to ‘spend a penny’. I’ve lived through the 90s bodysuits. Remember fiddling with those press studs?
I could really use one of those, my torso and cute blouses that stay tucked in do not agree for some reason.