I get asked a lot about the petticoats I wear, so over the next few weeks I will be putting together Miss Hero Holliday’s Petticoat Programme to help you out on all things petticoats!

My plan is this:

Part 1: Where To Buy (A guided tour through where to find a range of petticoats at different price points)

Part 2: The Review (A compare and contrast of the different petticoats I own, complete with fluffiness, quality and comfort ratings)

Part 3: Storage and Maintenance (Can I put them in the machine? Do I need to hang them up? All questions that I can think of will be answered!)

I do have other blog posts in mind for the coming weeks as well so these might not be one after the other, but I can promise that now that I’ve written all this down, IT WILL HAPPEN. This will be an adventure for all of us because I actually have very few ideas about storage and maintenance yet (my petticoats are currently in a pile next to my bed, which I do not recommend!), so there’s some goal-setting happening right here!

And now, onto today’s topic: where to buy petticoats?

1. Vivien of Holloway

Vivien of Holloway make a range of luxurious, soft petticoats that are perfect for adding a large amount of fluff to your dresses and skirts! These are the ‘high end’ petticoats and at £59 you are definitely getting what you pay for in terms of quality. Vivien of Holloway dresses are generally on the longer side and at 26″ these petticoats are perfect for sitting well under them, and many other similar styles of dresses. Being one size fits all they have an adjustable elastic waistband that can also be moved to make the petticoat longer or shorter, and are available in 12 different colours.

2. Malco Modes

 Malco Modes have been making petticoats for a long time, so you can trust that they know what they’re doing. They probably have the biggest range of petticoats and crinolines in the business, but their most popular styles would be the Jennifer and the Samantha; the former sits at 19.5-23″ (depending on your size) and comes in a whopping 25 different colours, while the latter sits at 26″ and comes in 12 colours. Personally I am also eyeing up the Michelle style, which looks very similar to the vintage crinolines and should be REALLY fluffy, as opposed to the Jennifer and Samantha which are a more medium fullness. All Malco Modes styles are high quality, soft and comfortable, and the styles I’ve talked about here have a reasonable price point of $59.99 – $74.99USD. I have found as an international buyer though that the shipping is quite high, but noted that Pinup Girl Clothing (who have flat rate international shipping and 10% off for returning customers) have a large range of Jennifers in their petticoat section.

3. Banned Apparel

I have noticed Banned Apparel as a more recent addition to the petticoat market. Banned are a wholesale brand and so can only be purchased through sites like Ebay and Amazon, or retailers who stock them (for example, searching for ‘Banned Apparel Petticoat on Ebay brings up a whole lot of results). They seem to come in a range of different colours which vary between retailers, and from the picture look to be as swishy and soft as the Vivien of Holloway and Malco Modes styles, but at a lower price point of around $45-$50USD. They also come in three different lengths – 20″, 23″, and 26″ – which are perfect for a range of their dresses. I have just ordered myself one of these in navy (New Zealand gals you can get yours at Rockabilly Lane) so I will be including that in my review for Part 2 of this series!

4. Hell Bunny

Like Banned, Hell Bunny is a wholesaler and so their petticoats can be found on Ebay (here’s an example of a search), Amazon, and through retailers. These petticoats are not quite as full as those I’ve already mentioned, but for everyday wear at a reasonable price point (again, around $45-$50USD) they are a pretty good buy. They also come in a large range of colours and three different lengths. I have found that they sit best under Hell Bunny clothing (as I’m sure they are meant to), but I’ll delve deeper into that one in Part 2.

5. Vintage & Handmade

You can find a range of vintage and handmade petticoats, often at really good prices, through Ebay and Etsy. The problem with Ebay is that there’s A LOT of retailers selling cheap knock-offs (and from the pictures they look way too good to be true), even when you add terms like ‘vintage’ and ‘handmade’ into your search. My tip is to filter your search for ‘used’ or ‘not specified’ in the condition section as this leaves all the good stuff. I search for things on Ebay and Etsy like ‘vintage 50s petticoat’, but also things like ‘vintage crinoline petticoat’ and ‘vintage square dance petticoat’ (substituting ‘handmade’ for ‘vintage’, or combinations of these) as they bring up a lot of good results too. For the vintage styles I find that, like the purple petticoat pictured above, they tend to be slightly stiffer (but still soft) styles that have a really decent amount of volume to them, and most have quite low price points. The main snag I find is that the shipping (at least to New Zealand) is fairly pricy – I’m not sure why other than I know that shipping rates did go up recently, but I find there’s no harm in asking for cheaper shipping options as often the seller will put a flat rate which can be higher than the actual rate. And of course vintage stores and op-shops are great places to find some beautiful petticoats!

Thank you for joining me for Part 1 of my Petticoat Programme! Look out for Part 2: The Review coming soon!

Miss Hero Holliday

xo