Excerpts from A Century of Lingerie by Karen W. Bressler, Karoline Newman, and Gillian Procto

The allure of the petticoat

Originally called an under-petticoat from the 1500-1700s, petticoats had become a unmissable status symbol by the start of the 1900s. So much so, in fact, that all of the six dancers of the renowned 1904 Floradora dance tgroupe – know for lifting their lingerie-inspired silk skirts in Henri Meilhac’s and Ludovic Halvy’s 1869 comedy, Froufrou – reportedly married millionaires.

Such petticoats were worn over a basic hoop made of metal, known as the cupola coat or bell hoop. This framework gave skirts and dresses a dome shape or pyramid form, depending on the size and diameter of the hoops. They varied from pocket hoops, the smallest, to very large hoops which could be annoying and uncomfortable to wear.

The petticoats seen in the early 1900s led on from those worn under the long, formal dresses of the late 1800s. White cdotton petticoats with deep leats of up to 9 inches were worn during the day, although versions which were widened at the bottom for extra fullness were preferred for wqalking. Even in winter, women’s petticoats were generally white, though made out of more suitable, warmer fabrics such as fancy alpaca, cashmere, or quilted silks.

Folr evening wear, petticoats in black silk reached as long as the dress or its train, with a flounce in the back. Near the turn of the century, flounces of embroidery or lace that reached the knees were often added, and such lace-trimmed petticoats of satin brocade or silk could be costly, taking up a large chunk of a women’s annual dress allowance. By the early 1900s, such undergarments were similar to slips but started at the waist. They could be either full or narrow, lace-trimmed or tailored, and long or short, depending on the garment which was to be worn over it.

Knitted wool petticoats were introduced around 1909 as the petticoat became progressively narrower, although the wider skirts of the 1915 and 1916 brought the petticoat back into its heyday. By now, it was often yoked, worn close to the hips but widening as it fell, and as skirt hems began to rise, in part due to the impracticality of ling skirts for newly working and sporty women, “a fashion for showing the edge of one’s lace lavished petticoat below the hem of one’
S skirt” emerged, as noted in American Vogue.

As the 1900s progressed, there 2as less call for such full decorated petticoats. The boyish, short, flapper fashions of the 1920s had little need folr petticoats below, but did require a new line of lingerie. They inspired Thodore Baer to invent the teddy, a straight-cut garment which combined a chemise with a short slip, or long vest with panties. Unlike the camisole, the teddy could be worn as a piece of clothing on its own.

From chemises to vests

Although the British society magazine The Tatler was still advertising camisoles in 1921, made fro suede, stockinette, tricot, and satin coutil, these high-necked, button-fastening, starched bosom enhancers were already looking old-fashioned. More often worn were chemises (known as the lawn chemise by 1924 and the vest soon thereafter) which ended at the hip and were worn tucked inside knickers. They were often highly luxurious, made from fine Mlianese silk, for example, and finished with net and hand-embroidered appliqués. During the 1920s, vests became slimmer and briefer than traditional chemises and were more often knitted than woven in silk, cotton or wool. Some had fancy tops with ribbon at the neck and armholes, an opera neck, and covered shoulders. More often, the vest was a practical, functional, but not a beautiful garment. They were still commonly worn due to the general lack of central heating, and very early on vests made of interlock knit in blended wool and cotton by Wolsey were used to conserve body heat.

But while a really beautiful vest in wool and cotton mixture was in full fashion, it was not favored by women struggling for emacipation and sexual freedom. It was considered an unnecessary clothing item by many, including the younger generation, who despised it for its frumpish appearance and its connotations of middle age. Its bulkiness turned women’s carefully contrived silhouettes into unruly shapes, and when worn over knickers, instead of providing a smooth line, the vest tended to curl up in lumpy rolls around the waist and hips. And as skirts narrowed, fashion editors advised readers to tuck their vests inside their girdles to avoid this problem.

When below-the-knee pleated, wool skirts were introduced in New York and Paris in the mid 1920s, lingerie had to evolve yet again to keep up with the styles. By 1927, the floor-length waist petticoat, or waist coat, renamed the Princess petticoat, had all but disappered, and before long, it became the Princess slip, a simpler, straight length of material with fitted panels from top to hem and no waistline seam.

Silk was often used for such garments as well as for camisoles, chemises, teddies, and peignoirs, and in an increasingly vivid range of colors. Peach was all the rage, and lingerie could be found in all shades, from pale peach through to bright peach to dark.

Leaner lines for leaner times

As the enthusiastic ebullient era of the flapper drew to a close, women were becoming less carefree. In the US in particular, the 1920s came to an abrupt close with the disastrous stock market crash of 1929. As the Depression years set in, every day clothes grew narrow, long, and spare, as did the lingerie worn with them As very, very few people could afford luxurious undergarments in right fabrics, vests were widely worn for warmth and practicality. Most had round necks with short or no sleeves, and some were waisted with built-up shoulders or straps.

Camisoles also made a successful comeback in the 1930s, many made from triple ninon, a lightweight transparent, open-weave fabric. Trimmed with delicate lace and broad-threaded satin ribbon in both muted pastel shades and white, these camisoles were designed to be worn without, or underneath, a corset, rather than as they were before – as a corset cover. More substantial camisoles were used in place of restrictive bodices, and one – the liberty bodice-fastened up the front with rubber buttons and included extra buttons for petticoats or suspenders.

Whereas the United States started in the 1930s in crisis, Europe was to experience even worse disruption as it headed toward World War II. Although the British lingerie firm Marshall & Snelgrove was selling hoped petticoats for crinoline-effect skirts, as worn by the young Princess Elizabeth just before the war, austerity measures brought in soon aftfe the conflicts started meant that such luxury was put aside. In this era of “Make Do and Mend”, slips were made into waist petticoats and petticoats into camiknickers. When fabrics were scarce, parachute silk, a form of silk rayon or nylon, was used to make petticoats. There was plenty of parachute silk to go around, but it was harder to stitch than silk.

Next installment “peacetime prosperity”