1890-1910 Petticoats, Part 3: Shapes

Page 3 of 5

Controlling Shape Though Decoration

There are three types of decoration that have a major impact on the shape of the petticoat:

Tucks above the decorative ruffle
Tucks in the decorative ruffle itself
Ruffles

Tucks Above the Decorative Ruffle

Two of the petticoats don’t have any embellishment above the ruffle. The four petticoats that do have decoration above the ruffle head use tucks as one of the decorations. Tucks add a bit of structure to the petticoat, and help it stand out from the legs. This isn’t desirable for the styles with incredibly clingy skirts (seen in high fashion between 1900 and 1905), but it is for other Belle Époque styles.

Bess Moser Petticoat

Bess Moser’s Petticoat has the most body of any of the six petticoats being analyzed. A large part of that structure comes from the 16 between the yoke and the first ruffle.


Tucks between the yoke and the top ruffle.	Reverse

Ruffle head at the join between the yoke and the body of the petticoat.	Reverse
The tucks are arranged in three sets of 5, 5, and 6 tucks. It looks like there was once a seventh tuck at the bottom of the third set, which has been let out. The widths of the tucks in both the first and second sets are about 3/16” and the spacing between the tuck seam lines is about 3/8”. The bottom set of tucks are wider: ¼” but the spacing between the seam lines is still 3/8”. The spacing between the sets is not completely uniform. The first tuck starts about 1” from the bottom of the ruffle head. The spacing between the seam lines of the first and second sets of tucks is about 1 5/8”. The spacing between the seam lines from the bottom tuck and the top of the first decorative ruffle is about 1 3/8”. All of these measurements have some variation in them as the seam lines are not perfectly straight. Below these tucks are two overlapping decorative ruffles.

Lacy Petticoat


Tucks and ruffle head	Reverse
The Lacy Petticoat has very simple decoration above thedecorative ruffle: There are 3 1/8" tucks spaced ¼" between seam lines. The ruffle head is decorated with a ribbon that has raised decoration that almost looks like embroidery. (It is the same decorative ribbon that tops the dustruffle).

Embroidered Petticoat


Tucks above ruffle	Reverse
The Embroidered Petticoat has a band of embroidered insertion and two tucks above the decorative ruffle. Both tucks are about ¼” wide and the distance from seam line to seam line is about ½”. The top tuck seam line is 1 1/8” from the bottom of the insertion. The seam line of the bottom tuck is about ¾” from the top of the decorative ruffle.

Cutwork Petticoat


	Tucks above ruffle	Reverse
	The Cutwork Petticoat is constructed in three tiers. Thereare 5 tucks clustered above the top of the middle tier (just above knee level)and 5 tucks clustered above the cutwork ruffle. In both sets the tucks areroughly 1/8" wide and the distance from seam line to seam line is roughly ¼".The seam line of the bottom tuck is roughly 13/16" from the top of the ruffle.

Tucks in the Decorative Ruffle

The author in a petticoat made using Past Patterns #109 without the decorative ruffle

The author in the same petticoat with a decorative ruffle

Tucks increase the footprint of a petticoat, making the ruffle stick out more.

Five of the six petticoats we’re analyzing have tucks in the decorative ruffle. I talked about the tucks at great length in Part 1.

At this point I just want to point out that it is not a coincidence that the two petticoats that appear to have the fullest-seeming ruffles (Bess Moser’s Petticoat and the Embroidered Petticoat) have the most tucks in their decorative ruffles. In fact, the Embroidered Petticoat ruffle has the smallest circumference of any of the gathered ruffles. (The circumference of Bess Moser’s Petticoat ruffles are middle-of-the pack.)