noun
- hooped petticoats or framework worn under skirts to extend them outward, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries
Usage: historical; fashion
Examples
- The Renaissance lady’s elaborate dress was supported by farthingales.
- Museum displays show how farthingales created the distinctive silhouette of Elizabethan gowns.
- Court ladies wore increasingly wide farthingales as a symbol of status.
- The actress struggled to move gracefully in her costume’s heavy farthingales.
- Fashion historians study farthingales to understand 16th-century clothing construction.
- Spanish farthingales were cone-shaped, while French ones were more drum-like.