Crinoline | aaarticle.com

The crinoline is a cage of flexible steel hoops worn under the skirt to hold it in a wide dome. Introduced in the 1850s, it freed women from layers of heavy petticoats and defined the mid-Victorian silhouette.

Overview

A crinoline is a lightweight framework of graduated steel hoops hung from tapes, worn under the skirts. It replaced the many stiffened petticoats previously needed to make a full skirt, giving greater width with far less weight.

How it is worn

It is stepped into and tied at the waist so the skirt springs out over the cage in a smooth bell; the hoops swayed as the wearer moved and made sitting, doorways, and gusts of wind a hazard. Skirts grew ever wider until the cage reached its greatest span around 1860.

History

The steel-cage crinoline was patented in 1856 and swept Europe and America almost at once, mass-produced in the millions. By the later 1860s the fullness moved to the back, and the crinoline gave way to the half-cage and then the bustle.