Petticoats Featured in the Arts

Modern art, ranging from literature to film, has featured the petticoat as an expression of women’s fashion. Dating back to 18th century operas, petticoats were a symbol of the shifting modes in style. Carrying a Victorian sensibility, the garment has evolved into various shapes and forms over time.

One of the most prominent representations of this evolution is within Gone with the Wind, which showed the strong influence of classical European styles on the American South. Infused with notions of classicism, along with the onset of modernity, the petticoat’s shift from full bodied garment to a svelte accessory over the century showed a larger trend in fashion history.

Representing a larger liberation of fashion as an expressive movement, the 1950s musical scene demonstrated the use of petticoats in musicals such as West Side Story and Grease. Women in these musicals were vibrant and fully expressive, and today petticoats remain a retro symbol of the evolution of fashion over the past few centuries.