Perhaps the most recognisable eighteenth-century underskirt construction was the pannier, which took its name from the French for ‘basket’. This could either be a huge full-petticoat contraption which set its wearer out into the world like a galleon in full sail, or shorter ‘side-panniers’ which sat over each hip and were marginally more comfortable but had a woman resemble a pack horse. Often these small baskets were able to collapse up on themselves and so render a woman more manoeuvrable. Whichever was preferred, both dominated the middle part of the eighteenth century and are instantly
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