Skirt length was a function of fashion, practicality and standards
of modesty of the day. The lengths ranged from just touching the floor
to as short as 4” off the ground, with the most typical length somewhere
in between.
Skirt fullness was purely fashion, which again emphasized the appearance
of a small waist. Based on studio photographs, hooped skirt diameters generally
ranged from 50% to 70% of the wearer’s height. A good rule of thumb would
be, the plainer the dress, the smaller the hoop. Wearing only a hoop 90”
in circumference or less, or not wearing a hoop at all is a very appropriate
(and safe) option if you are doing a work impression, especially for working
around campfires.
Other less obvious construction features served mainly to make the
best use, and potential reuse, of expensive fabric. These features include
skirt openings that are to the left of center. This puts the opening in
a seam allowance instead of cutting into a skirt panel.
Many skirts were left unlined unless they were of very fine, delicate
fabric. Unlined skirts should have a 2” to 4” hem facing made of brown
polished cotton or even left over scraps from other sewing projects. This
facing protects the bottom of the skirt, but it also gives a bit more weight
to the skirt, making it lay smoother. By using different fabric for the
hem facing, less dress fabric is wasted.
Dresses often had sturdy hem braid at the bottom. On very fine dresses
it is attached to the inside of the hem and extending approximately 1/8”
to 1/4” beyond the hem. On more ordinary dresses it can be wrapped around
the hem, front to back, to further protect the edge of the skirt from wear.
It is useful to know that the hems were finished before the waist treatment
was done on the skirts. Dress length is adjusted at the waist, not the
hem as is commonly done today.
The most common method used to control the large volume of skirt
material was directional knife pleats pointing toward the center front
of the dress creating an inverted box pleat at center front. A large volume
of fabric can be very neatly controlled by this method. Each pleat lays
on top of the prior one creating a subtle inverted “V” line as the pleats
open up over the hoop. The pleats generally should change direction at
the sides with another inverted box pleat at the center back, repeating
the inverted “V” effect in the back.
The main variation to this style that appeared during the war was
the use of gored panels, which tapered toward the top, as opposed to rectangular
panels. Goring reduces the volume of fabric at the waist, but it also limits
the reuse of the fabric. For these and very likely other reasons the use
of gores remained a fashionable option only until at least the closing
months of the war if not later.
Gauging (a very controlled form of gathering) as a skirt treatment
was more typical of the years before hoops, and the resulting expanses
of skirt fabric, became so common. This waist treatment very likely fell
out of popularity because it is not as effective as knife pleats in confining
and controlling large amounts of fabric. It still would be appropriate
to use with work dresses as they are not as full as dresses requiring hoops.
Box pleats generally did not appear until near the end of the war,
when fashions were starting to change rapidly. By this time elliptical
hoops were becoming fashionable and the emphasis on the skirts was moving
toward the back, with narrower hips becoming more fashionable. Skirts without
any pleats or gathers in the front of the skirt did not appear until after
the war years.
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Updated 9 March 2002 (a)