Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Crinoline shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Crinoline offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Crinoline at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Crinoline? Wrong! If the Crinoline is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Crinoline then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Crinoline? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Crinoline and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Crinoline wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Crinoline then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Crinoline site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Crinoline, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Crinoline, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
magazine, August 1856
Crinoline was originally a stiff
cloth with a weft of horse-hair and a
Warp (weaving) of
cotton or
linen yarn. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt and dress-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman’s
Skirt and dress into the required shape. In form and function it is very similar to the earlier farthingale.
Origin of the word
The name 'crinoline' was invented by one of the
cloth's manufacturers, who combined the Latin words
crinis (meaning
hair) and
linum (meaning flax). An alternative origin for the word is sometimes given: the combination of the French language words
crin (specifically meaning horse-hair) and
lin (again, meaning flax).
The history of the crinoline
The crinoline was not the first accessory designed to support the wearer's
skirt and dress in the correct shape; the farthingale in its various forms was worn from the late fifteenth century through the early
seventeenth century, and
Pannier (clothing) in the
eighteenth century. However, these very formal and elaborate styles were only worn at royal courts and in the highest levels of
society.
After the
French Revolution, French fashion turned against the elaborate styles favoured by
Royal family, the court, and the aristocracy. As Parisian fashion was very influential, most western European countries adopted the same styles.
Under the prevailing neoclassicism influence, women’s fashions had adopted a Empire silhouette based on the simple draped garments of
Ancient Greece and the togas of ancient Rome.
Skirts were straight and slender, and worn with very few — if any — petticoats.
However, the silhouette did not remain that way for long, and skirt hems began to widen to give a cone shape. In the 1810s, Gore (disambiguation)s began to be used in skirts again, and skirts grew wider in the 1820s. The width of these skirts was sometimes supported by a small
bustle. These were not always sufficient, and so extra petticoats were worn to help.
The first 'crinolines' were petticoats starched for extra stiffness, or made out of the new crinoline
cloth, and they often had ruffles to support the skirts to the desired width. However, dress fabrics were heavy but not stiff enough to support their own weight, which tended to collapse the petticoats out of shape. Extra rigidity was added to petticoats through rings of cord or braid running around the hem. In the 1830s, women started to wear petticoats with Hoop skirt of whalebone or cane around the hem.
The first hoop skirt in US is patent no. 4,584 from 1846, of David Hough, jr.
U. S. patent no. 20,681 from 1858 of I. R J, Mann, was the first latticework, of strings and hoops
In 1858, the American
W.S. Thomson greatly facilitated the development of the cage crinoline by developing an eyelet fastener to connect the
steel crinoline hoops with the vertical tapes descending from a band around the wearer’s waist. The invention was patented in the
United States (patent US21581),
France (patent FR41193) and
United Kingdom (patent GB1204/1859). This facilitated the fashionable silhouette's development from a cone shape to a dome. It was
prior art; Thompson was probably inspired by the open cage or frame style of farthingales and panniers.
The cage crinoline was adopted with enthusiasm: the numerous petticoats, even the stiffened or hooped ones, were heavy, bulky and generally uncomfortable. It was light — it only required one or two petticoats worn over the top to prevent the steel bands appearing as ridges in the skirt — and freed the wearer's legs from tangling petticoats.
Unlike the farthingale and panniers, the crinoline was worn by women of every
social class. The wider circulation of magazines and
newspapers spread news of the new fashion, also fueling desire for it, and mass production made it affordable.
Problems with the crinoline
The crinoline was the subject of much ridicule and satire, particularly in
Punch magazine magazine. Victorian dress reformers did not like it either — they seized upon the cage aspect of the crinoline and claimed that it effectively imprisoned women. Given that the crinoline did eventually have a maximum diameter of up to 180 centimetres (six feet), it is easy to imagine difficulties in getting through doors, in and out of carriages, and the general problems of moving in such a large structure. However, while the crinoline needed to have a degree of rigidity, it also had a degree of flexibility. A particular kind of
steel, known as spring steel or watch-spring steel, enabled the hoops to be temporarily pressed out of shape.
The second problem was the potential impropriety of the crinoline. Its lightness was a curse as well as a blessing, as a gust of wind or a knock could set it swinging and reveal the wearer's legs. Even worse, if she tripped or was knocked over, the crinoline would hold her skirts up.
The third problem was the pressure, but tight stiff corset spread the pressure.
Sitting down could be a problem if the wearer failed to spread her skirts out properly as the entire hoop contraption would fly up in her face. This embarrassing but humorous tendency is often depicted in comedies of the era.
Image:USpatent21839 1858.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:Sit_in_crinoline1858.jpg|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent26848_1860.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent49447_1865.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent52637_1866.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent92811_1869.gif|Sitting down in Crinoline
The greatest problem with the crinoline, though, was that in some situations it was dangerous — because of its size, the wearer was often not aware of where its edges were. It was only inconvenient and annoying when a maid’s crinoline knocked a vase off a table or upset a cup, but for factory girls, there was the risk of crinolines getting caught in machinery and dragging them to be mutilated or crushed to death. Crinolines also burnt easily, partly because air circulated freely underneath them and partly because the fashionable dress fabrics, silk and cotton, were highly flammable.
The crinoline's decline
The crinoline had grown to its maximum dimensions by 1860. However, as the fashionable silhouette never remains the same for long, the huge skirts began to fall from favour. Around 1864, the shape of the crinoline began to change. Rather than being dome-shaped, the front and sides began to contract, leaving volume only at the back. The kind of crinoline that supported this style was sometimes known as a
crinolette. The cage structure was still attached around the waist and extended down to the ground, but only extended down the back of the wearer’s legs. The crinolette itself was quickly superseded by the
bustle, which was sufficient for supporting the drapery and train at the back of the skirt.
The crinoline today
Crinolines are still worn today. They are usually part of a formal outfit, such as an evening gown or a wedding dress. The volume of the skirt is not as great as during the Victorian era, so modern crinolines are most often constructed of several layers of stiff net, with flounces to extend the skirt. If there is a hoop in the crinoline, it will probably be made of plastic or nylon, which are low in cost, lightweight and flexible.
With the recent trend towards lavish weddings and grandiose bridal attire, the crinoline has started making a comeback. Manufacturers such as White Clover are updating the crinoline and designing-out its historical shortcomings by using modern material such as Velcro, elastic and Spandex.
For her first solo collection; Fashion Designer
Vivienne Westwood looked to the Crinoline for inspiration. The collection, titled Mini Crini, featured shorter Crinoline Skirts with more flexible plastic hoops.
See also
References
- Costume in Detail 1730 - 1930, Nancy Bradfield (ISBN 1-85882-038-3)
- Handbook of Nineteenth Century Costume, C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington (ISBN 0-571-04703-3)
- Fashion in Underwear, Elizabeth Ewing (ISBN 0-7134-0857-X)
- Victorians Unbuttoned, Sarah Levitt (ISBN 0-04-391013-0)
- Corsets and Crinolines, Norah Waugh (ISBN 0-7134-5699-X)
External links
- {{cite web |publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum
|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/corset/index.html
|title= Corsets and Crinoline
|work=Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories
|accessdate= 2007-08-12-->
magazine, August 1856
Crinoline was originally a stiff cloth with a weft of horse-hair and a
Warp (weaving) of
cotton or
linen yarn. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened
petticoat or rigid
skirt and dress-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman’s Skirt and dress into the required shape. In form and function it is very similar to the earlier
farthingale.
Origin of the word
The name 'crinoline' was invented by one of the
cloth's manufacturers, who combined the Latin words
crinis (meaning
hair) and
linum (meaning flax). An alternative origin for the word is sometimes given: the combination of the French language words
crin (specifically meaning horse-hair) and
lin (again, meaning flax).
The history of the crinoline
The crinoline was not the first accessory designed to support the wearer's skirt and dress in the correct shape; the farthingale in its various forms was worn from the late
fifteenth century through the early seventeenth century, and
Pannier (clothing) in the eighteenth century. However, these very formal and elaborate styles were only worn at royal courts and in the highest levels of
society.
After the
French Revolution, French fashion turned against the elaborate styles favoured by
Royal family, the court, and the
aristocracy. As
Parisian fashion was very influential, most western
European countries adopted the same styles.
Under the prevailing
neoclassicism influence, women’s fashions had adopted a
Empire silhouette based on the simple draped garments of Ancient Greece and the
togas of ancient Rome.
Skirts were straight and slender, and worn with very few — if any — petticoats.
However, the silhouette did not remain that way for long, and skirt hems began to widen to give a cone shape. In the
1810s,
Gore (disambiguation)s began to be used in skirts again, and skirts grew wider in the 1820s. The width of these skirts was sometimes supported by a small
bustle. These were not always sufficient, and so extra petticoats were worn to help.
The first 'crinolines' were petticoats starched for extra stiffness, or made out of the new crinoline
cloth, and they often had ruffles to support the skirts to the desired width. However, dress fabrics were heavy but not stiff enough to support their own weight, which tended to collapse the petticoats out of shape. Extra rigidity was added to petticoats through rings of cord or braid running around the hem. In the
1830s, women started to wear petticoats with
Hoop skirt of whalebone or
cane around the hem.
The first hoop skirt in US is patent no. 4,584 from 1846, of David Hough, jr.
U. S. patent no. 20,681 from 1858 of I. R J, Mann, was the first latticework, of strings and hoops
In 1858, the American
W.S. Thomson greatly facilitated the development of the cage crinoline by developing an eyelet fastener to connect the steel crinoline hoops with the vertical tapes descending from a band around the wearer’s waist. The invention was patented in the
United States (patent US21581), France (patent FR41193) and United Kingdom (patent GB1204/1859). This facilitated the fashionable silhouette's development from a cone shape to a dome. It was prior art; Thompson was probably inspired by the open cage or frame style of farthingales and panniers.
The cage crinoline was adopted with enthusiasm: the numerous petticoats, even the stiffened or hooped ones, were heavy, bulky and generally uncomfortable. It was light — it only required one or two petticoats worn over the top to prevent the steel bands appearing as ridges in the skirt — and freed the wearer's legs from tangling petticoats.
Unlike the farthingale and panniers, the crinoline was worn by women of every
social class. The wider circulation of magazines and newspapers spread news of the new fashion, also fueling desire for it, and mass production made it affordable.
Problems with the crinoline
The crinoline was the subject of much ridicule and satire, particularly in
Punch magazine magazine.
Victorian dress reformers did not like it either — they seized upon the cage aspect of the crinoline and claimed that it effectively imprisoned women. Given that the crinoline did eventually have a maximum diameter of up to 180 centimetres (six feet), it is easy to imagine difficulties in getting through doors, in and out of carriages, and the general problems of moving in such a large structure. However, while the crinoline needed to have a degree of rigidity, it also had a degree of flexibility. A particular kind of steel, known as spring steel or watch-spring steel, enabled the hoops to be temporarily pressed out of shape.
The second problem was the potential impropriety of the crinoline. Its lightness was a curse as well as a blessing, as a gust of wind or a knock could set it swinging and reveal the wearer's legs. Even worse, if she tripped or was knocked over, the crinoline would hold her skirts up.
The third problem was the pressure, but tight stiff corset spread the pressure.
Sitting down could be a problem if the wearer failed to spread her skirts out properly as the entire hoop contraption would fly up in her face. This embarrassing but humorous tendency is often depicted in comedies of the era.
Image:USpatent21839 1858.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:Sit_in_crinoline1858.jpg|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent26848_1860.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent49447_1865.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent52637_1866.gif|Sitting down in CrinolineImage:USpatent92811_1869.gif|Sitting down in Crinoline
The greatest problem with the crinoline, though, was that in some situations it was dangerous — because of its size, the wearer was often not aware of where its edges were. It was only inconvenient and annoying when a maid’s crinoline knocked a vase off a table or upset a cup, but for factory girls, there was the risk of crinolines getting caught in machinery and dragging them to be mutilated or crushed to death. Crinolines also burnt easily, partly because air circulated freely underneath them and partly because the fashionable dress fabrics, silk and cotton, were highly flammable.
The crinoline's decline
The crinoline had grown to its maximum dimensions by 1860. However, as the fashionable silhouette never remains the same for long, the huge skirts began to fall from favour. Around 1864, the shape of the crinoline began to change. Rather than being dome-shaped, the front and sides began to contract, leaving volume only at the back. The kind of crinoline that supported this style was sometimes known as a
crinolette. The cage structure was still attached around the waist and extended down to the ground, but only extended down the back of the wearer’s legs. The crinolette itself was quickly superseded by the bustle, which was sufficient for supporting the drapery and train at the back of the skirt.
The crinoline today
Crinolines are still worn today. They are usually part of a formal outfit, such as an evening gown or a wedding dress. The volume of the skirt is not as great as during the Victorian era, so modern crinolines are most often constructed of several layers of stiff net, with flounces to extend the skirt. If there is a hoop in the crinoline, it will probably be made of plastic or nylon, which are low in cost, lightweight and flexible.
With the recent trend towards lavish weddings and grandiose bridal attire, the crinoline has started making a comeback. Manufacturers such as White Clover are updating the crinoline and designing-out its historical shortcomings by using modern material such as Velcro, elastic and Spandex.
For her first solo collection; Fashion Designer Vivienne Westwood looked to the Crinoline for inspiration. The collection, titled Mini Crini, featured shorter Crinoline Skirts with more flexible plastic hoops.
See also
References
- Costume in Detail 1730 - 1930, Nancy Bradfield (ISBN 1-85882-038-3)
- Handbook of Nineteenth Century Costume, C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington (ISBN 0-571-04703-3)
- Fashion in Underwear, Elizabeth Ewing (ISBN 0-7134-0857-X)
- Victorians Unbuttoned, Sarah Levitt (ISBN 0-04-391013-0)
- Corsets and Crinolines, Norah Waugh (ISBN 0-7134-5699-X)
External links
|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/corset/index.html
|title= Corsets and Crinoline
|work=Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories
|accessdate= 2007-08-12-->
Crinoline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean ...
Corsets and Crinoline - Victoria and Albert Museum
No other garment in Western history has assumed such political, social, and sexual significance. What is it about the corset? A mere undergarment, designed to enhance the female ...
crinoline - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about crinoline
Stiff fabric, originally made of horsehair, widely used in 19th-century women's clothing. It was used to create skirts of great width in the 1850s when the cage-frame crinoline ...
Crinoline, Bridal Crinoline
Click picture to ZOOM in, use 'BACK' button to go back
crinoline - definition of crinoline by the Free Online Dictionary ...
1. A coarse stiff fabric of cotton or horsehair used especially to line and stiffen hats ... 2. A petticoat made of this fabric.
The Crinoline
The development of the 1850s crinoline or hooped skirt. ... The 1800s crinoline, also called a hooped skirt or extension skirt, was inspired by the open cage or frame ...
CRINOLINE
Fancy Auricula CRINOLINE. Photographed by Henry Pugh. A Tribute to Tim Coop Knowle April 2002
Browse Catalogue: Tapes. (Cotton, Tubular, Grosgrain, Petersham ...
Browse Catalogue: Tapes. (Cotton, Tubular, Grosgrain, Petersham, Crinoline)
Crinoline - Wikimedia Commons
The crinoline is a 19th century form of the hoopskirt; a framework of light metal that held out skirts without the need for multiple layers of petticoats (which had been the ...
1860's Timeline - Corsets and Crinolines
Taylor & Co. Ltd. Cage Crinoline
