HandBound: April 2013

Panniers and Petticoats!

Just a quick image list of all the pannier's I've found whilst doing research online. I want to be able to update this post as I slowly discover where these images come from and which museum etc, but for now it's just a 'here they are!' kind of post.

If anyone knows anymore details about each of these, I'd love your imput. Thanks.

Also, I've changed all the words from 'pannier' to 'petticoat'. It's funny how you stick to what you first learnt but Pannier was the French word and 'hooped petticoat' the English. I might as well get used to using the correct term now, it's only a few extra letters.

Full Length Hooped Petticoat.

Details: English 1750-80. LACMA describe it as 'pannier made of linen plain weave cloth and cane hoops'

Also interesting features are:

* Two arched canes at top.

* Four complete round canes.

* Hem is caned.

* Finished Length is about low to mid calf.

* Plain unbleached colour.

* Large and Triangle shaped pockets - similar to Norah Waugh's pannier pattern.

* Sounds silly to say - but a flat cane is used as the ridges to each channel are not bumped.

* And again, this may sound odd, but when I zoom in closer to the image, the stitching for the top two cane arches disappears before it reaches the first complete circle cane. I mention this because construction is an important point and Norah Waugh mentions in her 'Corsets and Crinolines' that 'The top pieces vary in depth according to the size of the waist' p.46. Could this be a retractable option?
* I have emailed LACMA and have asked for some more details about this item.

Mid-Length Hooped Petticoat and Cage Frame Petticoat:

All the website said about these two was: Panniers c.1760.

Blue Pair:

* Two arched canes at top.

* The bottom of these two arched canes does seem to join the first circular cane rather more fiercely than the top. Similar to the zoom in on the above image. Again, could this just be the stitching come undone or a way to reduce the length of cane?

* Three Complete Circular Canes deep.

* Hem is caned.

* Larger looking pocket openings.

* Blue; I'd presume Linen.

* Probably finishes around knee level.
* Length of hip is similar to torso so about 14"- 16"

Cage Frame:

* Two Arched Canes at top.
* 4 round main canes.
* Probably mid calf in length.
* Looks like 16 connecting straps coming from Waistband.
* Wonder what the materials are - what the boning is?
* Length of hip is longer than torse so I'm guessing about 18"?

Cage Frame Side Hips:

Can't seem to find the museum this particular pannier cage is from. The web site I got it from was: wilhelminamarquart.blogspot.com.
* Not made up using a single circular cane/boning but has what is similar to 3 arched canes that join to a cf single cane or boning.
* 4 straps at front and two over the arched sections.

* It would be interesting to find out what the cane/boning actually is, it could be whalebone as it is relatively dark and doesn't look covered. I need to find out where it is so I can find out more about it.

Short Hooped Petticoat:

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
They label this pair of panniers as: Panniers ca. 1750. British. Tan Linen and Baleen.'

Interesting Features:

* We know then, that it's definitely baleen that's been used for the boning.

* One Arched Bone.

* Two round circular bones.

* Hem's been boned also.

* Unable, from this view to see if it has pocket openings.

* I'd also like to be able to feel this fabric and see how stiff the linen was. I'm sure it's in one of Iris Brookes books that she uses the word 'canvas' to describe the weight of fabric used for the panniers, but I can't at present find the quote so we'll hold on that one til I can find where I've read it.

** UPDATE: I have found the quote and it was in Iris Brooke's books after all. The comment comes while writing about the references later on in the century to 'hoop' and how they probably were more likely to be referring to a 'hip-hoop' rather than, and I quote: "the whole whalebone and canvas petticoat".

Short Hooped Petticoat:

This garment is from the V&A's collection and is described as: British made for the retailer A Schrabner in 1778. Made of Linen, cane or whalebone.

Interesting Features are:

* One single arched Cane/Bone.

* One complete Circular Cane/Bone.

* Using a 'Zoom', it's quite hard to see the stitching round the circular cane/bone. The reason I mention this is that it could be the fabric is made to drape over a cage frame - although they would've probably mentioned this in their notes. Scrap that - I've just found a closer image, and it looks more like they've made what I call a 'French Seam Channel' i.e, they've sewn a casing out of the actual garment - this is suggested by the way - if you look at the second image - the top of the arched cane is strictly gathered (which suggests stitching) while look at the way the fabric flops down over the cane, all bunched up and ruffled and not controlled by any stitching. The cane would then be pushed through this channel but only the ridge where the stitching makes the casing is it seen. Does that make sense?

* Pockets - as seen in second photo.

* The Top panel is made up of segments and with just a fold over channel for the ties.

* There is the smallest of glimpses into the inside of the pannier and although we can definitely say it's not a cage pannier with cloth draped over - it's really hard to see anything beyond that.

* Hem is NOT caned/boned.

* The linen fabric itself doesn't look too heavy - the weave is fairly textured and obvious and certainly there is a strong look about it, but I wouldn'e describe it as 'canvas looking' - I'm really going to have find that quote.

* On the second image there is also a piece of extra fabric sewn on - possibly an attempt to mend it - as I cannot see this on the front or anywhere else - for a minute I thought it could've been a boning channel starting.

* Length of hips seem to be about 15" going with the curve of the top. I say this because it seems to be about equal to the torso of the body and my mannequin measures 15" from waist to shoulder.

* Also, last thing - there are ties at the front - is it right to assume they are for shaping the petticoat? Part of the essential process in pannier making as I make one now, is to have the ties in at each level. These then get tied to their partner on the opposite side of the pannier and tightened to depending how narrow you want the panniers to be (i.e to the waist size of the customer). Is it that the cane has now so long been set that the ties aren't needed to hold the shape? Or is it that they were never needed to hold the shape, but just to pull the oval cane in when needed to adapt to the waist size? There is another pannier (or hooped petticoat) that I haven't as yet put up on this blog, having run out of time where there are many, many, many ties. Surely they can only be for the same use which we use them now? If anyone has any thoughts, or more knowledge on this matter please message me.

Short Panniers:

Panniers from the Kyoto Costume Institute.
But I can't seem to pin an image of this particular pannier down to my blog page - I will yet continue to try but for now - check out the following site: www.kci.or.jp/archives/digital_archives/detail_8_e.html .

This should take you to a page which has a mannequin wearing a beautiful 18th Cent shift, a brown corset and a pair of short panniers: Have a good zoom in.

- In fact - I've just found it on someone else's blog - so here's the image but I've left the above information up as it is still better to go to the website and have a close up look.
What's interesting about this is the details they give with the photo.

* One full circular round Cane - they depict as Rattan Cane.

* Looks like two side arched canes going into the waistline rather than arching round like the others.

* Website says fabric is 'Cotton Chintz' which is quite interesting.

* Website also uses the words 'oval hoops'; as in plural but I can only see one and that's probably accidental and referring to all the canes used, oval or not.

* The panniers literally sit at hip level.

* From the image it's not possible to see if there are pockets and perhaps with the side canes going into the waist it might limit the amount of pocket space.

Hoop Petticoat 1755-86 - Cora Ginsburg

Details:

- Now this is an interesting example of a hooped petticoat and the following details are mostly based on complete guess work as I have at the moment, only this image to go from.

- Obvious detail is that the cane is only joined to the seen-skirt at the CF in three places: not including the top cane/bone. Now, the only three reasons I can come up for for this go as follows:

1) Only this small CF detail has been caned and for some reason it gets caned with a smaller piece of cane/bone for each level.

2) The cane/bone is ONLY joined to the fabric at these centre points but carries round un-covered and presumably held in place by connecting ties and straps as seen in other panniers.(see above).

3) That the canes.bones are ONLY joined to the fabric at these centre points but that another skirt layer is underneath; allowing an extra covering over the cane/bone so that it is less likely to come through to the top-side of the skirt.

In my mind the least likely and least logical is the first option.

- Top complete cane holding out the top of the skirt.

- No top arched canes.

- Gathered in top section with side pockets or easy access - I can't figure it out which is the correct reason for these gaps.

- Quite long in length - say lower mid-calf.

- Hem not caned or boned.

There is an example of a top layer of fabric covering the boning is Iris Brooke's Book 'Dress and Undress'. Here's an image below. Her notes on the page say 'All these are to be found in various collections in England'.

(It's the one in the bottom left hand corner if you hadn't figured it out!)

Also, having just brought the book 'Costumes Close Up' by Linda Baumgarten and John Watson, they cover this particular item. I've scanned it in to my laptop so you should be able to see it below....