You don’t hear the word ‘petticoat’ much these days. It refers to the undergarment, full or half-length, which was designed to be worn under dresses and skirts for the purpose of ‘structure and modesty’. They are now usually called slips or control garments, and have a much sleeker look than the limp petticoats which were a staple of our wardrobes in the swinging decades when the concept of underwear as outerwear was yet to catch on. In fact, having your petticoat show beneath your hemline was such a crime against propriety that it was one’s duty to female solidarity to point out the malfunction by whispering the code ‘Charlie’s dead’ or ‘It’s snowing in Paris’.
The word was resurrected in the great title of the jukebox musical Dreamboats and Petticoats, a catchy phrase which brings to mind the starchy nylon slips which made your full skirt stick out in a pleasing bell shape. A good way to get optimum stiffness was to soak the garment in a thick sugar solution and hang it out to dry. Sometimes bees would cluster on it, creating quite a Daliesque effect.
Karen Pelletier in
Not every furniture range has star billing in a film, so hats off to the British company G Plan which is prominently featured in the opening credits of Wolf Rilla’s 1960 film Piccadilly Third Stop. The company began producing the particular style of modern furniture for which it is renowned in the 1950s, and the range continues to be sought after for its distinctive design, characterised as being stylish, innovative and adventurous. 
