BLACK PETTICOAT- HEATHERBLOOM 1907-1910

Last weekend I was in a Halloween fashion show and the dress I was wearing, although not all black, was a dark green and black, so I decided to wear my black “mourning” petticoat under it so a white one wouldn’t show.

The next day while I was getting ready to put my costume pieces away, I noticed a label inside the petticoat and thought, “hmm, I wonder if I could find out anything about it?”.  A search on the internet immediately brought up ads and articles about the brand, “Heatherbloom”. They were dated from 1907-1910. Its likely a mourning petticoat but could be part of a fashionable black outfit as well.

 

This was one article I found about them. 1908 Heatherbloom 

   

  

 

I bought mine about 15-20 years ago in an antique shop in La Mesa, CA. I only paid $20 which was about all I could afford at the time. And then today this one popped up on ebay for $237, and I realized my $20 investment was a treasure.  **My friend said more likely its value is around $80, but still a fun buy.   ebay $237

I apparently bought a 2^nd black petticoat at one time, but it doesn’t have a label and appears to be earlier than this one. But more on that in a bit.

Mine is in excellent condition, although to be able to wear it, I took out the waist ties and let out the waist, then turned down the top fold since it was tearing and created a new channel for the ties. It’s made of silk taffeta and has that lovely crinkly sound when you move it. It has a lower panel sewn to the top portion with four 3” rows of broderie anglaise ruffles. All the seams are finished with French seams.

The original waist when let out is 40” wide. Its current length is 36”, after taking up 1 inch for a new tie channel. This is the right size for a petticoat of the early 1900s skirt widths.

I think this petticoat needs a new everyday or mourning dress to wear it more often now.

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 On to my next black petticoat, which I found I had in my armoire with the other one. I didn’t realize I had two. I have quite a few white cotton petticoats I’ve collected over the years, and do wear them depending on their condition. This one is made of a sheer black cotton voile. I probably paid the same amount for it but don’t remember where I bought it. I soaked it in cold water when I bought it, and the water turned  brown from it. The underside of the ruffles shows the embroidery stitch threads lost their black color.This one also has multiple rows of 6” broderie anglaise ruffles along the bottom. It also has French seam finishes. There was a small patched hole on it (circled in blue). The original length was 38” which I shortened to 36” to fit my height. The waist on this one when fully opened was 56”, and the skirt is really wide. This leads me to believe it from an earlier date of much fuller skirts. I can probably use it for 1870s or later 1880s.           

 

 

Since I love black dresses, especially mourning, both of these will have new lives someday in my wardrobe.