Petticoats became established in most European cultures by 1585. There were several different types of petticoat at this time; some variations included farthingales, which were an early form of petticoat with wood sewn into it to achieve the desired shape. Farthingales came in several different shapes and were commonly used in courts at the time. It was mostly the noble class that used farthingales, as the garment was not very practical for everyday activities such as cooking or cleaning.
In the 1700s, some versions of farthingales went to extremes, as you can see below. The purpose of these larger farthingales was to show power and wealth; these wider farthingales were quite expensive, and as you can imagine, the amount of fabric it took to make a dress this size was similarly pricey.
(This isn't even the biggest farthingale out there!)
However, they were quite uncomfortable, and so by 1651 had fallen out of popularity, to instead be replaced by petticoats (as you might be more familiar with them), made of cotton, wool, or silk (for richer folk). These petticoats often had lace or ruffles in the bottom, and several were worn at once to achieve the fullest skirt possible.
Petticoats were widely popular, being worn both in Colonial America and the "Wild West". Of course, common women would not wear as many as those who were noble, but even the poorest woman wore petticoats.
Predictably, these voluminous layers of petticoats were both hot and cumbersome; there are plenty of accounts of a woman running her skirts into a flame and being burned to death. Some women also fainted from the heat and weight of their petticoats. Needless to say, the advent of wide skirts was one fashion trend that was literally to die for. Though, for women in colder climates, petticoats did in fact do wonders to keep one warm (I can attest to their effectiveness-definitely would recommend petticoats for windy winters).
In the early 19th century, dresses narrowed, and as a result, fewer undergarments were worn underneath them. Thus the petticoat declined in popularity, until around the 1820s, when a resurgence of waltz in Europe resurrected the petticoat and the subsequent large skirts.
By the 1850s petticoats had become extremely bulky, and again there was a danger of women fainting, becoming dehydrated, and catching on fire.
Then, with the advent of assembly-line technology and production lines came the steel or iron-hoop hoop-skirt (though one would usually wear a petticoat over the hoop-skirt to soften the shape of the hoops). These were able to be mass-produced at a much cheaper price than before, and so became available to lower class women. Not being as familiar with the noble class when it came to large skirts, poorer women were often ridiculed for having the hoops be visible through the skirt material and indeed, some comics even were made making fun of lower class women in this way.
As hoop skirts became more and more common, so did larger hoop skirts; some men complained that women's skirts were getting so huge that they couldn't even kiss her hand anymore. Some comics from this era have waiters at parties with long-handled serving trays to reach the women through their sea of skirts.
As with any fashion worn predominantly by women comes ridicule by men, and the hoop-skirt fashions were not immune from this. Below I've included some comics from the time period around the advent of the hoop-skirt; these comics poke fun at the size of the hoop-skirt and its tendency to be blown around in the wind.
"An unexpected flight."
"The safest way of taking a lady down to dinner."
"A sketch during the recent gale."
In the 1920s, as dresses narrowed and clothes became more form-fitting, the petticoat and similar panniers were replaced with thin slips. With photographs and the movies' influence, styles in Hollywood became more influential, and as you can see in the photograph below, this mermaid style dress has very little room for petticoats. It was also around this time that corsets were slowly being replaced by brassieres, as necklines plunged lower and therefore, corsets would have been too bulky and visible.
The petticoat did not see another revival until the 1940s/50s, with the popular knee-length skirts that required crinolines (a shorter form of petticoat) to fill them. These petticoats, however, were made of nylon instead of heavier fabrics, and were much lighter and easier to maneuver in.
In the 1970s again we see clothes in the popular culture that do not support (or don't need the support of) petticoats; however, around this time, the beginnings of lolita fashion started in Harajuku, Japan. The fashion utilizes petticoats to imitate Rococo and Victorian skirt shapes.
As of today, petticoats still exist, and are made with a wide variety of fabrics made available with new technology. Rockabilly and lolita fashions both use the petticoat today, preserving this historical garment and improving on it (hopefully we won't have any more fire-catching incidents!) Petticoats are also even used under modern wedding dresses to achieve a princess, ball-gown like shape.
The petticoat has a long history, and it looks like it won't stop being used any time soon!
