WHEN you think of the 1950s, most of us immediately think of those wonderful circle skirts and dresses with light and fluffy netting underneath for that full effect.

This was certainly the iconic look of the era and could not be achieved with simple cotton and lace slips.

Rewind 100 years earlier and women were using cotton, horse hair and rope lined hoop skirts to create volume under their skirts.

Back to the 50s they were still doing the same but there were more modern options beginning to emerge. Netting was a newer invention that was lighter and airy, requiring less petticoats, but it was also itchy and very prone to flattening out with wear.

Net needed to be stiff and so all the women’s popular magazines were on hand with plenty of advice on how to keep them just so. Starching crinolines with liquid and or spray starch was one technique. Pressing while damp was another. Ironing wax paper over net was a creative use of home supplies.

Using shellac over a blotter was an extreme, but hey it did work. But the cheapest and most accessible way that most women chose was to dip their net skirts in sugared water and then drip dry. Sounds rather sticky to me, but very effective!

The stiffer the net the more scratched ladies legs became – this discomfort is what women tell me they remember the most about petticoats in the 1950s.

Petticoats did and still do come in several lengths. The shortest was the knee length skirt, designed to end about two inches above the edge of the skirt. To have a petticoat show beneath a skirt or dress was a fashion faux pax.

If this were to happen your best friend might say “It’s snowing down south,” a polite old phrase indicating a visible white slip.

The other popular length was the tea length for longer mid shin length skirts.

At My Vintage, we carry a gorgeous range of vintage style petticoats that instantly transport any of your skirts and dresses into the 1950s. Our net pettocoats are full, volumatic, soft, fluffy and come in a range of colours.

  • Visit www.myvintage.co.uk or call into the store for more information or to have a look around.