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American petticoat, 1855–1865 Modern petticoat. A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress. Its precise meaning varies over centuries and between countries.
In a June 1666 diary entry, Samuel Pepys describes the Maids of Honour in their riding habits of mannish coats, doublets, hats, and periwigs, "so that, only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women in any point whatever". For riding side-saddle, the costume had a long, trailing petticoat or skirt ...
Under new enthusiasms for outdoor sports and country pursuits, the elaborately embroidered silks and velvets characteristic of "full dress" or formal attire earlier in the century gradually gave way to carefully tailored woollen "undress" garments for most occasions, whilst continuing to be worn for more formal ones (e.g. Balls, receptions ...
A slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt. A full slip hangs from the shoulders, usually by means of narrow straps, and extends from the breast to the fashionable skirt length. A half slip (or waist slip) hangs from the waist. The word petticoat may also be used for half slips.
Elaborately quilted petticoats might be displayed by a cut-away dress, in which case they served as a skirt rather than an undergarment. During the 16th century, the farthingale was popular. This was a petticoat stiffened with reed or willow rods so that it stood out from a woman's body like a cone extending from the waist.
The dresses of the previous period featured a separate bodice and skirt. In contrast, the mantua hung from the shoulders to the floor. The earliest mantua was a loose gown worn for 'undress' wear. Gradually it developed into a draped and pleated dress and then into a dress worn looped up over a contrasting petticoat and a stomacher.
By the 1770s the sack-back gown was second only to court dress in its formality. This style of gown had fabric at the back arranged in box pleats which fell loose from the shoulder to the floor with a slight train. In front, the gown was open, showing off a decorative stomacher and petticoat.
Top: Minoan statuette, 1600 BCE.Verdugada, c. 1470s Bottom: Farthingale, c. 1600.Hoop or pannier, 1750–80. Cage crinoline with steel hoops, 1865. LACMA M.2007.211.380. A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape.