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Petticoats
By Madeline | January 24, 2008
The petticoat was another item in a women’s wardrobe, though typically this was only involved in a rich women’s wardrobe. Initially, women only had on petticoat to wear. The reason for the petticoat was to give the dress the woman wore a lovely belled shape. I know I personally love ANY dress that incorporates that belled skirt, no matter how uncomfortable it is to wear in the humid Florida heat. The reason the belled shape was desired was because it hid the hips and thighs, gave the waist a more narrowed appearance, the shoulders a more squared appearance and called attention to the bosom. No wonder I love those belled skirts - why the heck don’t we still wear them today?! Oh yeah, that humid Florida heat…
As time progressed, there were actually two layers of petticoats and their purpose was multifunctional. A hoop skirt (which I’ll go into later) separated the two petticoats.
The internal layer served two purposes: modesty and warmth. In case a woman, heaven forbid, were to have a tumble and her hoop skirt were to bell out, it wouldn’t be her privates and sprawled legs you’d see, but the layers and layers of silk, linen or wool of her internal petticoats. Additionaly, those English castles and manors were very drafty despite the numerous fireplaces, wood panelled walls and wall tapestries, the internal petticoat was a means of protecting women’s legs from getting chilled. In the coldest part of winter, these petticoats often were made of wool for layers and layers of warmth. The outer petticoat lay over the hoop skirt in the attempt to hide the oh so obvious shape of the hoops as they were unseemly and gave the bell shape of the skirt its smooth, clean appearance. Usually, neither petticoat extended more than a little lower than the last hoop to avoid the embarassment of the petticoat being seen, as a result, women who wore petticoats bent at the knees rather than at the waist to avoid exposing their under garments.
Towards the end of the 16th century, the petticoat became more than just underwear to be hidden beneath a fine overskirt, it became an accessory to the gown. Petticoats were made with lace and ribbons attached and made of beautiful silks, brocades and velvets for all to see. Think of Scarlet O’Hara - yeah, kinda like that. :)
One of the more interesting things I learned while studying up on this was that children, including boys, actually wore petticoats during the Tudor era as an every day part of their wardrobe up until the age of six. As far as the poor went, they usually didn’t have petticoats, or if they did, they were made of rough linen and held very few layers, nor did they concern themselves with the internal and external petticoat as they had no hoop skirt to cover.
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