When Joëlle messaged me with an offer of collaborating on her big ultimate petticoat project, I didn’t have to think twice about saying yes. We all agree that the petticoat is the one must-have item for every lolita, that without it our outfits are no longer lolita. Yet living in times of too many options and choices can make it harder to find the truly best option. Experiences are subjective, so could there really be an ultimate petticoat? Joëlle and I were determined to find that out!
About the Collab and the Method
This post is accompanying Joëlle’s video comparing 15 different petticoats that are commonly recommended or easily available (or both) to and for lolitas. She has obtained 13 of those, while I supplemented another two that were the most recommended when I was looking for petticoats myself. Each petticoat was meticulously measured, compared against the advertised measurements, and tested and measured on three dresses of varying weights (light, medium and heavy), to ensure that we reach our conclusions as objectively as possible. Moreover, although we have discussed comfort and plus-size availability, we’ve also worked hard to ensure that those criteria were measurable and as objectively quantifiable as possible. We turned the search for an ultimate petticoat into science!
Here I encourage you all to check out Joëlle’s video first. It contains all of the basic information about each petticoat, as well as the explanation of the process, what was measured and how, what were the exact criteria for our ratings, and our personal comments. The video is covering pretty much all of the data that we have collected together, whereas this post will zoom in on a couple of areas of our data and offer you quick insights into a few specifics.
Top 3 Petticoats on a Budget
If you’ve watched the video, then now you’ll know what we think the best petticoat overall is. However, sometimes people have specific needs. Considering how often we see new lolitas ask where to shop the fashion on a budget, we’re not expecting them to spend top coin on their petticoat either. Whether through actual need or attitude, people who are looking for lolita to be inexpensive are also more likely to be looking for petticoats inexpensively. Is there really an option for them that won’t be cheap tulle that’ll deflate as soon as it gets worn?
To find out our top 3 petticoats for people on a budget, I looked at our data with the following criteria and filters:
- the petticoat costs $25 or less (excluding shipping and taxes);
- and the petticoat will be as poofy as possible.
No other criteria was taken into consideration. In true “high quality, low price and done quickly - pick two” style, we expect sacrifices to be made. So when your priority is to spend as little as possible and get as much volume out of the petticoat as possible, our potential sacrifices are durability and comfort, as well as potentially size inclusivity.
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As luck would have it, should you have $25 to spend on the petticoat itself, then you are getting the best one we have to offer. The Aurora and Ariel Ultimate Violent / A / Catwalk petticoat gives fantastic, even volume, even on the heaviest of dresses, and it’s comfortable, as well as plus-size friendly (available in custom size and with maximum waist stretch measured at 106cm). Whilst the organza fabric in itself is prone to deflating over time, this petticoat has a lot of it, which will prevent this happening too quickly.
However, $25 is the top end of our budget and this is based on price as purchased directly from Taobao. If you want something with decent volume for less, the crinoline from AliExpress is the second most voluminous, as well as the cheapest of these three (and all of the petticoats we tested). At $10 and bought directly from AliExpress, whilst you’ll still be liable for shipping and taxes, you are buying directly and having it posted to you directly. Having said this, this crinoline is very distinctly A-line, plus it would require an extra layer, such as a deflated petticoat, on top to prevent the dresses from sinking into the gaps, though by virtue of being a hoop skirt, you are free of worrying about deflation.
Unless you are wearing exclusively A-line dresses, the third option might be better, if you can’t commit to Aurora and Ariel. Diamond Honey’s Violent petticoat, similarly to Aurora and Ariel, is made out of 22 metres of organza, yet costs $10 less at $15 (based on price directly on Taobao). It is the least voluminous of these three, but only by a couple of centimetres on average. If you need a bell-shaped petticoat, it will be a much better option than the AliExpress that should still last you a significant amount of time. The downside to this one is that, once again, it is not plus-size friendly, as there is no custom size option and the maximum waistband stretch is the same as for the AliExpress hoop, which is only 98cm. Moreover, we’ve found it to be a bit scratchy against the skin, while the fabric is somehow not distributed very evenly, meaning that there are dips and peaks in the dress when worn depending on where the petticoat sits. As such, if you do have to prioritise price, prepare to fiddle about with it to get the poof to be distributed evenly. Otherwise it may be best to save the extra $10 and buy the Aurora and Ariel one.
Top 3 Poofiest Petticoats
Lolita fashion is an investment. If you’re going to save up for the nicest dresses, it makes no sense to skimp on petticoats or keep stacking the old deflated ones like a cheapskate. This section is for those prepared to save up in order to be the envy of everyone at the tea party. Here I’ve considered the following:
- the petticoat will be as poofy as possible;
- and the petticoat will be as durable as possible;
to find the ultimate poof monsters.
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Once again, Aurora and Ariel emerged victorious, although not by much. Technically, we had two Aurora and Ariel petticoats, the Ultimate Violent one and the Rainbow Violent. However, as the differences between them are predominantly cosmetic (the rainbow one costs an extra $10), I’ve excluded it from the roundup. But if you want poofy and colourful, by it will work just as well as the standard white or black ones.
The Wunderwelt Original and the Romantico Balletto adjustable hoop from Fan plus Friend, as well as Aurora and Ariel’s Rainbow petticoat, have actually tied in our average poof measurement. Whilst the Ultimate Violent petticoat pictured above had an average 42cm poof, the other three had an average of 41cm. When considering the prices, $25 for Aurora and Ariel, $50 for Wunderwelt and $79 for Fan plus Friend, it goes to show that the biggest poof doesn’t always mean the most expensive petticoat. Moreover, all of these except for Wunderwelt’s are plus-size friendly.
The most significant difference is comfort, where Aurora and Ariel scored 5/5, Wunderwelt 4/5 (due to waistband), and Fan plus Friend only scored 3/5 (fiddly waistband and the decorative parts of the petticoat being prone to drooping and showing up from under your skirt). However, the hoop is adjustable, meaning that in theory you could only buy this one and use it for everything you own, from the most casual dresses to tea party extravaganza. Whether this feature is worth the difference in price for you, considering how the max volume is on par with the other two, is up to you to decide.
The second most significant difference will be durability. Romantico Balletto tops the other two by being a hoop skirt, meaning that it will never deflate. Over the years of personal use I can confirm that it held really well. The other two are both petticoats made out of organza, however, whereas Aurora and Ariel uses 22 metres of it to achieve the full volume, Wunderwelt only uses 15 metres of fabric. Whilst this is still a significant amount that should withstand fairly regular wear, especially if you take care of your petticoat, chances are that Aurora and Ariel would stay poofy for longer.
For quick comparison, here are all three of these petticoats in the same order as worn under the heaviest dresses used: a velvet Bodyline skirt (weighing 700 grams and measuring 1.9 metres at the hem) and Metamorphose’s Shirring Tiered Ribbon JSK (weighing 827 grams and measuring 6.22 metres at the hem). If these petticoats can still give this amount of poof when weighed so heavily, then you know that they are made for serious volume.
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Top 3 Daily Petticoats
Some of us wear lolita daily or almost daily. Navigating everyday life doesn’t require the biggest volume, in fact too much poof can be a hindrance when dealing with daily life as the world is not designed for poofy dresses. Those looking for a daily petticoat will value comfort and durability over volume. As such, my criteria for finding the best daily petticoats were:
- the petticoat will score at least 4 points in our comfort rating
- the petticoat will be as durable as possible
- and the petticoat poof will be 37cm or less.*
* Whilst a petticoat deflating is almost always a risk, the assumption here is that those looking for a daily petticoat are searching for something that they can accommodate straight away. The number was chosen as this was the average poof volume of all of the petticoats we compared.
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The victor in this category was the Tulu Tulu Lolita adjustable petticoat, which is actually more of a hoop skirt built into a petticoat, meaning that it will never deflate. It’s also the only one besides the Aurora and Ariel that scored a perfect 5/5 in terms of comfort. The adjustability goes both for poof size and for shape, cupcake or A-line, and the petticoat is plus-size friendly. The poof averaged to be 35cm, which is still voluminous (for reference, the most voluminous petticoat we tested had poof of 42cm) and gives lovely shape, without being too much. This should be perfectly manageable in day-to-day life situations for most people and at $35 it’s a reasonable investment to make.
The second scorer, Malco Modes’ Jennifer, measures the same in poof, 35cm, and also will never deflate as it’s made out of 19 metres of soft chiffon. This one is also plus-size friendly, available in sizes S to XL, and has a neat feature of buttoned elastic, so as the elastic wears out and stretches over time, you can keep moving the button further down to keep the petticoat fitting you well. This will ensure that the petticoat serves you for a very long time and won’t keep sliding down. The downsides are that it is A-line, so it may not be the most suitable for cupcake-shaped dresses. Moreover, it only scored 4/5 in terms of comfort as the softness of the chiffon, whilst pleasantly cloud-like against your skin, makes the fabric slippery and it will take practice to quickly gather it when using the bathroom. Over the years that I’ve owned it I managed to learn how to do it, but it’s definitely a skill that will require learning. It is also the most expensive of these three, costing $60 directly from Malco Modes. Although this brand is popular amongst vintage fashionistas and dancers, meaning that you can likely find it in your local shops specialising in those, the only saving you will make will be on postage and taxes by making a domestic purchase, as the reseller will likely add a markup to account for the costs they incurred and to add a profit margin for themselves. This is something to consider if you need to get something quicker or if import taxes/shipping costs are too much for an individual.
Lastly we have the once champion of all petticoats, Classical Puppets’ bell-shaped one. This one is made out of organza, so it will deflate a little bit with time, although the 15 metres of fabric that it’s made out of will prevent it from going completely flat. And while on our ranking it has been marked as 4/5 in comfort, this is due to the one we tested being the longer length rather than the shorter one and the petticoat peeking out. At 34cm poof it holds up well in comparison to the other two and by virtue of being bell-shaped, it will work with a wider range of dress cuts. I have placed it at number 3 precisely because the fabric will most likely deflate over time, however, as with all organza petticoats, with proper care and depending on your needs, this may not be so bad, particularly considering the $48 price tag.
Since these are daily petticoats that we’re considering here, I’ve used the medium weight dress to give you a worn comparison, since those are the dresses you’re most likely to wear regularly. The Angelic Pretty one measures 2.3 metres at the hem and weighs 400 grams, whereas the Bodyline one is 3.43 metres in hem circumference and weighs 573 grams.
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Cupcake vs A-line Petticoats
Besides which one is the poofiest, the next most common question about petticoats is probably which one to get. Which dresses will need a cupcake petticoat, which ones will need an A-line, and which are the best cupcake and A-line petticoats?
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Our data showed some truly interesting findings here. We had petticoats labelled as A-line that gave fantastic cupcake shapes, petticoats that are cupcake-shaped that still worked under A-line dresses without terrible issues, as well as true hybrids. This was fascinating, not at all what we expected - so much so that this topic deserves being tackled separately. So expect another video-and-post coming in the future where we will go more in-depth into what we found in terms of cupcake petticoats vs A-line petticoats. For now, if you are keen to find a specific petticoat shape, I suggest referring back to Joëlle’s video, where you will see each of them in action under various dresses, then make your decision based on which one you like the shape of the most. And if there is another factor you need to consider, such as price, poof or comfort, then the comparisons above in this post should help you with that.
Conclusion
A petticoat is an indisputable necessity for lolita fashion. We have come a long way since the early days of this fashion’s presence in the West, when the most easily available petticoats were made with other looks and purposes in mind. Whether you are on a budget, looking for the ultimate poof, concerned about comfort or concerned with size inclusivity, you are now spoilt for choice - and good choice at that. In this collaboration, based on the data that we have collected, Joëlle and I agree that the Aurora and Ariel Ultimate Violent petticoat is the best one available right now, scoring top marks in pretty much every category and being fantastic value for money. Does that mean that I will rush to replace my own petticoats (Malco Modes, Fan plus Friend and Classical Puppets)? No, the ones I own have served me well and I anticipate them to continue doing so for years to come. But should anyone ask “what is the best petticoat that I can get”, I would not hesitate to recommend them this.
This post aims to cover what I thought were the most common needs that lolitas may have when searching for petticoats. If there is a category that I haven’t covered and that you’d like to see discussed, let me know in the comment and I will see whether that is the kind of information that can be extracted from our findings. Moreover, as new petticoats seem to not stop appearing, chances are that with enough support to Joëlle through Patreon and her YouTube Channel Membership she may continue doing these large-scale, in-depth comparisons. Her Patrons and channel members will also gain access to the raw data that we’ve used in the video and the blog post, if there is anything that you are curious about that neither of us has covered, so make sure to support her there.
Are you looking for a new petticoat? Was this one of your resolutions for 2021? Has this video and/or post helped you make your mind up? Let us both know and stay tuned for the Ultimate Petticoat: Cupcake vs A-Line content!
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