Rediscovering the Fashion of Cliched Crinoline

Fashion heavily draws inspiration from the bygone eras and for the students of Whistling Woods- NeetaLulla School of Fashion, historic fashion holds high significance.

Fashion students, Amrita Banarjee, Yashmita Bane, and Nivedidha Koliyot have taken a chapter from the Victorian era to create something marvelous. They chose to create a modern adaptation of the Crinoline skirt dating back to the Victorian times. This choice stemmed out of the intriguing history of the skirt.

    

Crinoline originated in the early 1800s and was originally a stiff fabric made from the weft of horse-hair and warp of cotton or linen thread. But by 1850s it became to be the stiffened petticoat or the rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the shape of the skirt of a woman’s dress. As the silhouettes of the skirts grew wider and heavier, the styles of the petticoat kept changing to support the skirt.

Initially called the hoop skirt, open cage or frame style, Crinolines were bulky and uncomfortable. But later, they were made light and it reduced the amount of petticoat to one or two. These petticoats prevented the steel bands from showing like ridges in the skirt. It also provided freedom from massive amount of petticoats and the cost of maintaining so many. 

Fashion publications popularized this new fashion of the time and Crinoline was an overnight success it was widely accepted by the middle class Victorian society and slowly adopted by the affluent.

Within a decade, the Crinoline skirt underwent a change when the dome-shape skirt gave way to a flattened front and side, leaving volume only at the back. And then as time passed, the style of the crinoline kept varying till there was no need anymore.

Now the Crinoline skirts exist to be an important element of fashion. The students of Whistling Woods- Neeta Lulla School of Fashion explored Boho Chic, Bohemian, Gothic, and eight other looks using the crinolines. While one created a modern chic, summery look by layering it with a floral printed skirt and one shoulder top, another student, Nivedidha, created a gothic chic look, with a bandana, a skirt with quirky prints and a black top! In all, it was a great experience exploring the bygone Victorian fashion element and incorporating the same in contemporary looks!