Description:
Printed, quilted, and corded cotton petticoat with a different print used on the fashion and lining fabrics (sometimes known as a "double" garment). The outside is made up of a polychrome printed cotton with a design of small flowers in green, blue, two shades of red, white and purple on a tan ground. The inside printed cotton fabric is less ornate, decorated with a more modest design consisting of a series of small pairs of hyphen-like shapes, alternating in orange/brown or light purple with a white spot in the center, all against a spottled light purple printed ground. There are four seams of the outside fabric; CF, CB, and one at each side. The quilting was done in white thread and the pattern is diamond shaped, ending in 15 concentric corded channels at the hem. The waistband, placket and hem are each lined in a brown cotton twill tape. The excess length of the garment is taken up at the waist, where it is folded over inside. The CB length of the garment is 34." As early as the 1720s, quilted petticoats were an important component of many women's wardrobes. In addition to providing added warmth, the materials and quilting patterns they displayed served as decorative embellishment to the wearer's apparel. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the bulkiness of these kinds of petticoats fell out of favor as dress styles became streamlined. With the increase in skirt width beginning by the 1820s, quilted petticoats reappeared, as evidenced by this example. During the 1830s and 40s, several petticoats could be worn in an effort to increase skirt size, a problem finally alleviated with the development of the cage crinoline in the 1850s.
Label Text:
In the 1830s, quilted petticoats were worn for extra warmth during cold weather. They also provided volume to achieve the fashionably wide skirt silhouette. This colorfully printed, quilted, and corded example is made from two differently patterned cottons; a robustly bright (and more expensive) outer fabric, lined with a more modest, monochromatic one.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.404 |
