Petticoat Options

[Elizaboo]

I'm a beginner trying to get my wardrobe together, and I am stuck about what kind of petticoat to wear. I have not seen any hoops that don't have plastic as the boning. Do such things exist? Are hoops really the most authentic for a middle class lady or would a corded petty be just as accurate? It just seems to me a corded petty wouldn't work as well as hoops. The other option, a cage, seems to be a good idea, but the price has put me off a bit.....any suggestions/opinions? Thank you!

Elizabeth Conard

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Petticoat Options

Elizabeth, you'll need a few different pieces.

First, you'll need a "base layer" (totally modern term) petticoat. This one is a bit shorter, mid-calf or a bit longer, and of a moderate fullness, 90" to 110" or so around, gathered to a comfortable waistband. It's worn closest to your body, on top of your corset.

Then you'll add skirt supports. Yes, a cage or hoop would be the most common for a middle-class, or even middle-working-class woman. By the 1860s, they are widely available, not expensive, and available in many shapes and sizes. If you look at a covered cage (hoop) or open cage that's somewhere between 75" and 110" for everyday use, you're in a good range. Cages and hoops are short, stopping about mid-calf.

You can purchase steel hooping, and also hoops made with steel hooping. The plastic-hooped versions don't hold up well over the years, in my experience. There've been several threads on hoops and cages at The Sewing Academy (www.thesewingacademy.org) if you'd care to peek. While the narrow-gauge wire cages are very popular, they're *not* the only accurate choice!

Over the cage or hoop, you'll use one or two full gathered (140" to 180" white cotton petticoats, hemmed to fall a bit shorter than your dress. Be sure to measure for your dress hems *over* all your skirt support layers!

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Petticoat Options

I don't want to take this too far afield, but I wonder about the degree to which even working class women wore hoops. In doing a little casual research recently, it occurred to me that men objected to hoops more than women, who often wore them in circumstances I wouldn't have imagined, for example during dangerous factory work.

This example comes from the clip files of Congressional Cemetery, and deals with the aftermath of the explosion and fire at the Washington Arsenal in June 1864:

The charred remains of seventeen dead bodies lay scattered about, some in boxes, some on pieces of boards, and some in large tin pans, they having been removed from the ruins in these receptacles. In nearly every case only the trunk of the body remained, the arms and legs being missing or detached. In one case, however, that of a young girl, every shred of dress had been burned from her but her gaiter shoes, which had singularly escaped a touch of the flames. It is probable that some portion of the rubbish fell over her feet, protecting them from the flames. We believe she has since been identified by her friends through these shoes.

A singular feature of the sad spectacle was that presented by a number of the bodies nearly burned to a cinder being caged, as it were, in the wire of their hooped skirts.

At http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/ under "HCC Archives."

[Spinster]

Re: Petticoat Options

Others will come along to speak to the sheer ubiquity of steel cage skirt supports during the period, with store prices making them available to the great portion of society, and a use of the search function on this board should find some of the older, more detailed and referenced discussions of the advent of steel cages and their advantages over over corded petticoats during the period.

I'm taking a moment to address perceived cost differential for a reenactor in dealing with a steel cage hoop and a covered bridal hoop with plastic boning.

About 6 years ago, I paid right at $100 for a steel cage hoop made in proportion to my height and girth. Previous to that, I'd owned 'off the rack' 4 and 6 bone covered plastic or covered metal hoops, with and without flounces.

The steel cage hoop looks better, walks more gracefully--it imparts a totally different, and very period look to the way skirts lay. I do not trip as easily. It compresses more gracefully and sits better.

Just as importantly, its far easier to keep clean--since the ground clearance is much higher than a bridal hoop, nothing really get on it. Yes, I've still got petticoats to wash, starch and iron, but I had that to do anyway. Both my steel hoop and my over and under petticoats have lasted far longer than any covered plastic bone hoops I've use.

I'm in the field often, and pretty rough on clothes. My belongings have been completely under water at an event twice---and wet to the bone more times than I can count.

About once a year, I sit down with a glue bottle and secure the loose buckram covering on the hoop steel. Occassionally, I've had to hammer a couple of brads back together or rebind a join. All in all, great value for the money--so much so, that I now also have a 'work' diameter hoop as well as a 'formal' one.