Petticoats

Just a brief post to highlight a little-discussed detail of Mexican women's dress in the early-19th century. The petticoat, or enagua, was usually made of woolen fabric with a lighter weight fabric attached to the top. Both the top and bottom panels of the petticoat were made of a single length of fabric, unlike European and American petticoats which were made of several pieces of fabric sewn together along their selvedges. The lighter weight fabric at the tops of Mexican petticoats made it easier to gather it into a waistband. 

 Here is is a detail from the print "Trajes Mexicanos." This print was published as part of the album México y Sus Alrededores. Coleccion De Vistas Trajes y Monumentos, published 1855-1857. An online, high resolution copy of this print is available from the New York Public Library: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/.../mxico-y-sus... We have to assume that the drawings for these prints were made before 1855, of course.

 As we can see from this print, the lighter weight fabric (usually cotton, but also linen or silk) at the top of this woman's petticoat is split from top to bottom. There was a matching split on the opposite side. Notice how this side opening has little laces on either edge, perhaps of green ribbon, that are tied together to close it. It is likely that this same use of side openings in the petticoat was used in the 1700s as well.