Petticoat
Unknown Artist
1883
Medium
cotton, linen
Classification
Petticoat
Culture
American
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Lillian E. Glenn Peirce and Mabel Glenn Cooper, 1929
Accession Number
2009.300.2989a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant underlayers of 1880s American fashion with this petticoat, a quintessential garment from the Victorian era. Dating to 1883, it the structured undergarments that shaped the era's silhouette, providing modesty, volume, and support beneath voluminous skirts and emerging bustles. Worn by women of the growing middle class, petticoats like this were essential for achieving the fashionable hourglass figure, reflecting the societal emphasis on propriety and poise in post-Civil War America. Crafted from cotton and linenbreathable, durable fabrics ideal for everyday wear—this piec...