Foundations Revealed

In the last two months I talked about the different decorative techniques used to trim Belle Époque petticoats (here and here); now I will discuss the different factors that combine to create the shape of the skirt, and the petticoats that support it. Patterns of the six petticoats are included this month.

There are many factors that affect the shape of the skirt, and I will be discussing all of these in this article, particularly as they relate to the six 1890-1910 petticoats described here. Next month I will be talking about the basic sewing techniques (plackets, seam finishes, etc.) that were used in these six petticoats.

To continue from last month’s article, I will be talking about the decorative techniques in the six 1890-1910 petticoats described here.

Last month I talked about tucks and lace insertion.

This month I’ll be talking about embroidered insertion, lace edging and embroidery. Next month I’ll talk about the construction of the six petticoats.

If you're familiar with our sister site, you'll know all about Sunny's extraordinary articles in which she studies antique garments in minute detail with hundreds of detailed photographs. Here she looks at six late Victorian and Edwardian petticoats, studying the methods used to produce the beautiful embellishments so that we can either recreate our own historically accurate underthings to accompany our corsets - or take them somewhere more avant garde...