PSA: Lamp Shade Prevention

by Frankie Lopez. Published November 3, 2017 as a Facebook note.

This little article will cover three of the most common mistakes for Victorian skirts, and some quick fixes. Before you get discouraged … I have done all of these. Every. Single. One. You are in good company. With that… let’s fix that skirt problem!

Lamp Shade Effect:

The Lamp Shade Effect, when you see every hoop under your skirt.

If you’re like me, you are so excited to make a new costume, you can barely wait, but then life happens you now have 3 days to make it… and who cares about petticoats any ways! You take the path of least resistance, and order an inexpensive hoop skirt off of Amazon Prime.

You put on you new ensemble, you twirl and realize that you look like a lamp shade as your skirt hangs limply over the skeletal cage of your hoops.

First Fix: If time really is of the essence, try and get a hoop skirt that already has ruffles attached (link here). Not my favorite, because they’re synthetic and often times have Velcro. But hey! I have one in my emergency stash for this exact reason.

Second Fix: Attached ruffles yourself! This works best for hoops skirts that don’t come “preassembled”. Hem 6-9” wide strips of light natural fabrics, such as muslin or organdy, gather and attach them to your boneless hoop skirt an inch above each of the ribs should go.

A good rule of thumb for gathering is:

Base x 1.5= Ruffle Length

So if your hoop skirt is 120” in diameter it would be 120” x 1.5= 180”

Third Fix: Make a petticoat. I love petticoats. I’m a pretty, petty, fool for pretty little petties. Again, use a light weight fabric such as muslin or organdy and depending on your time or inclination you can make a 3 tier skirt with longer flounces… or go full Sea Anemone, the choice is yours.

Another reason to consider making your own petticoat: frequently the hoops on Amazon Prime are A-line, which is more Renaissance, You really want that bell shape for Victorian. Making your own petticoat is an easy way to adjust the silhouette.

I like to use 2.5-3 yards as my base, so my flounces are approximately 4.5 yards long and gathered in.

The Umbrella

The Umbrella, when you have a lot of hoop and not enough skirt.

The Umbrella, oh the Umbrella. I did this my first Gaskell. I had a 108” skirt and a 110” hoop.

Size does matter, ladies! It’s important to measure how much hoop to skirt you’ll need. In pre-Bustle Victorian fashion, those big, romantic skirts should be full looking, but not stuffed.

First Fix: Assuming you’re dead-set on wearing your hoops, try and “shrink” them. Most hoop skirts leave a slot open so you can take them out. Push them in further to give your skirt more swishy room.

Second Fix: PETTICOAT! Depending on the character you are trying to portray, maybe you don’t need a hoop skirt at all. Instead, try the petticoat tutorial in the above section. “But Frankie!” you say, “I want to be extra puffy! I want my dress to eat small children! That petticoat isn’t going to be enough, is it?”

Fear not, my friends! I too, want my dress to absorb small humans, and if you’re really worried about the puff factor: Cording. Take 4 mm cotton yard such as Sugar n Cream, and add 1-3 rows of cording to the edge of every flounce. As an added puffy bonus. Submerge your petticoats in a 2:1 water-starch ratio and hang dry. Iron them out to get that serious pop. All your puffy dreams will come true.

Don’t Trip

Don’t Trip, when your hoops are longer than your skirt…or you.

I’m 5’2” everything is too long for me. So I really do feel your pain here. First of all: DO NOT WEAR HEELS. I don’t care for period reasons. I care because ankle injuries suck, and your feet will hate you. I learned this the hard way, so you don’t have to.

First Fix: Hem! And by hem, I mean put on your hoop and skirt, measure how much you need to trim off the hoop and cut it off, and by cut I mean tear. Then promise yourself that you will hem it properly when you have time. Then forget. Then at the next event get ready with your costumer friends and yell, “Don’t judge me!”.

Second Fix: Suspenders. Is it that your hoops aren’t actually too long, they just keep slipping? Get some suspenders and keep those hoops where they belong.

I hope this helps for some of your emergency costume needs for both newbie and veteran alike. If you liked this, please feel free to share it! When I first started doing fair I had all these costume questions and I didn’t know where to go.