1. a hooped petticoat or framework worn under a skirt to extend it outward, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries
Usage: historical

Examples

• The Elizabethan lady’s farthingale made her skirt extend several feet in all directions.
• Museum displays show how a farthingale was constructed with whalebone or wire hoops.
• The actress struggled to move gracefully in her period costume’s heavy farthingale.
• Renaissance portraits often depict noblewomen wearing elaborate farthingales.
• The doorway was too narrow for her wide farthingale to pass through easily.
• Fashion historians study the evolution of the farthingale across different European courts.