1950s Floofy Petticoats: Masterpost

With the circle skirt done, it's time to make some petticoats. A petticoat is essential to get the fashionable 50s shape. Here's a compendium of research and links on the fabrics and styles.

First up, if you want to buy a petticoat, this is a lovely comparison post; and many independent sewers selling them on etsy etc However, there are also many free tutorials and they are simple enough to construct.

Fabric

These petticoats use a LOT of fabric, and for the full effect, you want to wear more than one. Figure out costs before you buy.

Most tutorials online use tuille, which is very pretty - but scratchy on the legs, so wear a slip underneath. Chiffon is also delicate, soft and fluffy. These are the best choice for a petticoat which is a design statement in its own right - modern, swirly, with lots of movement.

However, for a petticoat which really has strength and structure and which doesn't lose body - you need to use a heavy duty fabric like crinoline (more on this by Dixie DIY; thanks for the tip!). Here's a nice post about crinoline, although I've seen others say that polyester crinoline is superior to cotton. I have no idea.

HistoricalSewing also has a super informative post on organdy, including how to sew it. She mentions petticoats, but is mostly a Victorian sewer so it's unclear how historically accurate this would be for the 50s. It sounds like a great choice regardless.

Other alternatives include organza, horsehair and net (which is available in various weights and strengths). An online article from 1956 names nylon net. Another one names: "Trimmed with embroideries and ribbons and made in layers of taffeta, net and lace, or in tiers of organdy or tulle, they're a whirl of ruffles.". Several quotes from people who were there at the time name a fabric called paper nylon.

Perhaps - as it was customary to wear several petticoats - one should mix and match stiffer support garments with soft, frilly ones for the final layer; or use several fabrics in a single skirt? I'm not sure.

Historic petticoats are 1in or more shorter than the skirt. Many people with a retro look like to make sure the frills are visible, but that was not historically accurate - showing your underskirt was like flashing your knickers. 

Hoop skirts were also used in this era.
The Met - 1955

Starching

I haven't found evidence of anyone who still uses starch on their skirts. I assume modern fabrics are more reliably stiff, or modern wearers wear them rarely and wash them never compared to people for whom it was part of a daily wardrobe; or maybe we just have more income for replacing stuff.

This petticoat must surely also be cut
similar to a circle skirt, so as to flare? Not sure.
In the 50s, women used all sorts to maintain the stiffness of skirts. This quote from Vintage Dancer:
"Starching crinolines with liquid and  or spray starch was one technique.  Pressing while damp was another. Ironing wax paper over net was a creative use of home supplies. Using shellac over a blotter was an extreme, but hey it did work". 
Here's another memory, this one from a non-costume blog:
"A sort of memory came back when I was thinking about the very full net petticoats we used to wear under our 1950s dresses. But surely it must be a false one? We cannot really have used sugar water as a starch. Can we? The problem was that old fashioned Robin starch would not work on the latest miracle fabric – nylon - but the net still went limp after its first wash, so perhaps needs must, at least until DIP was invented for man made fibres. Perhaps drastic measures were needed...here I found a quote from the Independent of 19 March 1999:
"Each generation found natural means to improve their fabrics; a strained potato water to clean silk, a tealeaf rinse for linens, sugar and water to stiffen paper nylon petticoats."
The funny thing is though, that I certainly have no recollection of using sugar water on paper nylon – we must have known that it would be impossible to sit down on that. My memory tells me that it was only nylon net that got the treatment"
HedgehogFox has another memory post about washing petticoats and the introduction of hoop skirts, and about how to stop your skirt being whoofted up by wind. 


And here's Janet from Petticoat Pond:
"My ambition is one day to be the owner of a multi-layer paper nylon petticoat, but this material appears no longer to be available. I remember how the girls back in the late 50's used to wash their "can-can" petticoats ("can-can"(British) = "crinoline" (US)) in a strong sugar solution and then hang them up to drip dry. I recall visiting a girl friend at that time and seeing two of her petticoats hanging up from the airing rack below the kitchen ceiling to dry: what a sight!"

History

Crushhhhhhh <3
I've fallen in love with Bygone Glamour ("There are some interesting social and cultural components that go along with that, but as much as I enjoy looking at such things in an analytical way, I also just really enjoy fluffy skirts." Nothing is cooler than nerdy enthusiasm!). She has an intro post and a follow up which are little gems of research.

Vintage Dancer has a nice potted history, including memories from women who wore these styles in the 50s. I love the quote drawing attention to how both huge and slim skirts were in style. Apparently, these skirts needed maintanence:

Oh, Petticoat Pond! The website for people who are really into the petticoat, and I mean really. This whole website is incredible: it's packed with vintage floofy skirt eye candy (some NSFW -Petticoat Pond is a website primarily for crossdressers with a fondness for petticoats and, I think, petticoat fetishists too. Hence why it's such an obsessively comprehensive site. Many images are NSFW, and some sections use transmisogynist language or have a fetishy/sexual vibe. Others have an ageplay/"adult men pretending to be little girls" vibe. It's all well organised so you can browse without encountering that content so long as you look in retro and classic categories. If these things make you uncomfortable, tread with care. ).

"Nothing is more fun than dressing in fantasy wear. It is important to share time with someone who will accept you for the way you want to be, and not the way they want you to be." - Audrie Dove
Petticoats finished with fabric to make them
look like an additional skirt: the sort of
attention to detail project one rarely sees
online now.

Online, you only ever see patterns for one 1950s petticoat style - that is now "the" petticoat as far as retro costuming is concerned. It's incredible seeing how much variety there was in style and design, and petticoats are easy enough to make that one could copy all sorts of unusual details. There's also this tutorial from a 1956 magazine, showing how to make a petticoat.  Check out this tutorial for being graceful in a floof, and this scanned 1954 article on "The Petticoat Craze" has photos and notes on fabrics. Lots of historic research, a movie list, you really can't beat this site.

Patterns & Tutorials

Nylon taffeta. Check out those stripes!
Petticoats are easy to make, and as such, there are a tonne of free patterns and tutorials out there. This post collects a number of them, with photos of the results (Vintage Pattern Files).

My favourite is DixieDiy - it's clearly laid out, and has that crucial detail about using crinoline rather than tuille.

The most recommended seems to be Sugardale, and there's a nice tutorial built on top of hers by GrosGrain.with adaptions and ideas. I love this infographic at This Blog is Not For You, showing how you can add layers for maximum floof.

Rock N Roll Bride has an amazing rainbow skirt, showing how these old styles can be adapted with new life. It's not historically accurate; it's swoonworthy as hell. Terrible Toiles shows you how to make a super short version.

Petticoat patterns can be used with other fabrics to make regular tiered and frilly outer skirts.

Petticoat Care

  • Best collection of techniques I found
  • Another nice washing and storing guide
  • Roll up petticoats when not in use and store in a fabric bag: hanging them will cause them to droop.
  • Wash as infrequently as possible, preferably by hand. 
  • Wear a slip underneath to protect it from body ick ("It should be around 10cm shorter than your petticoat so it doesn’t peep out (15cm – 20cm shorter if you’re dancing and spinning"). 
  • Steam is the best way to get wrinkles out when necessary (including hanging it up in the bathroom when you have a hot shower.)
  • Trick for reviving old petticoats
  • Advice on caring for crinoline

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