Petticoat

A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist (unlike the chemise).

In historical contexts (sixteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries), petticoat refers to any separate skirt worn with a gown, bedgown, bodice or jacket; these petticoats are not, strictly speaking, underwear as they were made to be seen. In both historical and modern contexts, petticoat refers to skirt-like undergarments worn for warmth or to give the skirt or dress the desired fashionable shape. In this context a petticoat may be called a waist slip or underskirt (UK) or half slip (US), with petticoat restricted to extremely full garments. Petticoat can also refer to a full-length slip in the UK, although this usage is somewhat old-fashioned.

Petticoat is the standard name in English for any underskirt worn as part of non-Western clothing such as the lehenga with the sari.

The practice of wearing petticoats as undergarments was well established by 1585. Petticoats were worn throughout history by women who wanted to have the currently fashionable shape created by their clothing. The petticoats, if sufficiently full or stiff, would hold the overskirt out in a pleasingly domed shape and give the impression of a smaller waist than the wearer actually had. It would also complement the desired large bust.

Elaborately decorated petticoats were worn under open-fronted gowns and looped overskirts from the mid-16th century. Eighteen century petticoats of wool or silk were often quilted for additional warmth and were worn with matching short gowns or jackets, which could be fashioned like a man's jacket with military details and trimmings. These ankle-length petticoats remained a rural fashion, especially in the UK, into the 19th century and are a part of the traditional Welsh costume.

In the 18th century, among the upper class women of Europe and America, elaborate lacy petticoats were worn with elegant silk dresses, sometimes supported by whalebone frames. The Devil's Brother, the Laurel and Hardy film adaptation of Daniel Auber's comic opera Fra Diavolo, offers a glimpse of the intricate petticoats, corsets, and other undergarments worn in the 18th century, especially in a scene where actress Thelma Todd prepares for bed, assisted by a maid. Colored pictures, called "fashion plates", were used to advertise the popular dresses and lingerie of the 18th century, a practice that continued through the 19th century until the introduction of photography around 1840.

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