Comments on: Mammy Says Scarlett Can’t Wear Her Corded Petticoat Anymore

By: Jennifer Rosbrugh

Jennifer Rosbrugh — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 22:42:14 +0000

In reply to ladyd. Sounds like the corset is not made for your particular figure. Well-made and fitted corsets are quite comfortable. Of course, putting them into modern circumstances where they are not made for, like vehicle bucket seats, can be uncomfortable for anyone.

By: ladyd

ladyd — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 21:55:23 +0000

In reply to Jennifer Rosbrugh. I might just have to go for cording. My metal boned corset was the most uncomfortable. The one with the plastic boning but metal busk was better. But still awkward.

By: Jennifer Rosbrugh

Jennifer Rosbrugh — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:23:59 +0000

In reply to ladyd. Depends on how poor or well-off they were. If the women worked they might have worn corsets with reed or cording for support. Whalebone was quite prevalent, however, in most corsets of the time. Substitute that today with metal bones. I'm sorry you haven't had good luck with riding in a car while wearing a corset. Have you read my tips on corset wearing?

By: ladyd

ladyd — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 17:42:28 +0000

In reply to Robin Scott. What kind of stays would a farmers wife/daughter have worn. I want to go towards 1860s but I need to be able to travel in a car or sit on the floor. So far with a later corset and bustle combo this has been practically impossible.

By: Robin Scott

Robin Scott — Mon, 25 May 2015 04:10:53 +0000

At civil war events my impression is of a laundress from a poor rural farm. I wear a starched corded petticoat with starched petticoats over and under. It is very easy to get around and if I need to kneel down on the ground or if I would need to sit on the ground I can do so easily. Yes, all that can be warm in the summer. That is what it was like for working women, poor women and women on farms. It was hard work and you sweated, hence the layers of under pinnings that could be washed instead of having to wash your outer dress. I much prefer the flexibility of the corded petticoat. Women who were of low means would not have had the money or the “need” for a cage or hoop except for special occasions. People who lived in the rural areas especially in the south didn’t get to town very often and the need for finery was not as important to those who lived in towns or cities.

By: Linda R

Linda R — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 15:24:49 +0000

Very interesting commentary. I have both a corded petticoat and a hoop and there are pros and cons to them both. The hoop is definitely cooler in the summertime because it lets air circulate. But it gets in the way and after a while, it gets quite annoying because it takes up a lot of real estate. The corded petticoat definitely is easier to move around in and more practical. But, unless there’s a nice breeze blowing during a summer re-enactment it’s going to be warm.

My understanding is that nurses and factory workers did not wear hoops. If you were a nurse working with patients it could be very painful for the patient if your hoop brushed up against him or her. Likewise, if you were a factory worker and your skirt got caught up in machinery or brushed up against a heated surface, you could sustain a serious injury or even get killed. And, from looking at old photographs of working people not many of them seem to be wearing hoops.

Also, look at the sizes of some of the staircases in middle class citizen’s homes. They are narrow! When I visited the Jenny Wade House I could not picture any female in that household going up and down those stairs wearing a hoop. Or, even being able to walking around the place without your skirt getting caught up in furniture or knocking things over.

I agree with other comments stating that the corded petticoats did not die a quick death.

By: Diane Ullman

Diane Ullman — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 02:02:05 +0000

Communication was much slower in the 1850s-1860s. Even if the spread of the wired hoop was very rapid in the cities, it would not have taken hold very rapidly in the countryside or on the prairie. There would certainly have been misunderstandings about them and some factions would probably have seen them as immoral or sinful. So I think the corded petticoat would probably have lingered for several years before reaching anything like “universal” acceptance.

By: Varika

Varika — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:21:52 +0000

Well…I didn’t jump on any “miracle bras”–in fact, I still prefer a soft cup to anything “push up” or even wired. I also don’t wear jeans and I tend not to wear most “new” fashions, no matter how good they’re supposed to be. In part, this is because of my weight–but in part it’s also that I just don’t like the way some of those things feel. So I would have to say that I doubt that ALL women would jump at the chance to wear hoops. On top of that, I suspect that at least among the working class, even women who did get hoops early on also still wore just petticoats for, say, casual picnics with the kids or spring cleaning, when you wanted to wear something older.