I grew up in a house where I almost never left home wearing a skirt or dress without a petticoat underneath.
And if you know me, you know I am a skirt girl. 😭
But my mother was very particular about this. Even when the dress already had a lining, she would still make sure I had a petticoat underneath it. And not those very light ones either. My mother would deliberately choose the thicker ones.
“Wear your petticoat.”
It was part of getting dressed.
And interestingly, all these years later, I still wear them.
I can buy a beautiful dress today, fully lined, and somewhere in my mind my mother’s voice will still ask, “What are you wearing underneath?” 😭
The older I become, the more I appreciate some of these little things our mothers taught us as women.
Some things are worth preserving.
Not because every woman must dress exactly as our mothers dressed. Fashion changes. Generations change. Personal style differs. But there are certain principles around dressing, presentation, modesty and carrying yourself that I hope we don’t become so modern that we automatically throw them away simply because they came from an older generation.
Sometimes that extra layer underneath a dress is what allows the dress itself to sit beautifully.
It protects you when the sun suddenly exposes more than you realised.
It helps when fabric becomes transparent under certain lighting.
It gives you the freedom to walk, sit, bend and move without constantly wondering what everybody else can see.
And perhaps that is why today I found myself thinking about the petticoat beyond clothing.
Because life also needs **linings.**
There are things that look beautiful on the outside because something underneath is holding them properly.
We admire someone’s confidence, but underneath it may be years of learning who they are.
We admire a good marriage, but underneath it are conversations, forgiveness, boundaries, friendship, wisdom and choices nobody sees.
We admire someone’s career, but underneath it are skills, discipline, mistakes, reading, preparation and years of showing up.
We admire someone’s faith, but underneath what we see publicly may be prayer, Scripture, correction, obedience and private seasons with God.
We admire a woman’s composure, but we may never see the emotional regulation underneath it.
We admire the business, but underneath it should be systems.
We admire the platform, but underneath it should be character.
We admire the gift, but underneath it should be substance.
**Some things need a lining.**
Something underneath that nobody necessarily applauds, but which protects what everybody eventually gets to see.
And maybe that is one of the lessons I unknowingly carried from my mother’s insistence on petticoats.
She was teaching me about clothing.
Life taught me the metaphor.
Not everything underneath needs to be visible.
Not every foundation needs an audience.
Not every private discipline needs to become content.
Sometimes the reason something sits beautifully on the outside is because somebody took time to put the right things underneath it.
So yes, all these years later, I am still a skirt girl.
And I still wear my petticoats. 😭
But perhaps now I understand them differently.
**Before worrying too much about how life looks on the outside, make sure there is something underneath it.**
A lining.
Character. Wisdom. Discipline. Faith. Substance.
Because sometimes what is underneath is exactly what allows you to carry what is visible with dignity.