Malco Modes is America’s oldest and largest maker of quality petticoats, pettipants and crinolines, having been in business for over 50 years with each piece hand-sewn in their eastern Tennessee facility. Their Jennifer petticoat was my first ever good quality petticoat as a pinup, and a year and a half later it’s still in perfect condition despite regular use. It’s the softest, fluffiest petticoat I’ve ever touched, and I do make a habit of touch testing as many petticoats as I can to compare–you know, not to sound creepy or anything.

The Jennifer is a great everyday petticoat because it’s got medium volume and isn’t too long or too short, meaning it works well for the average pinup. I, though, am a queen of puff. A master of fluff. I love my skirts big and bold and a little bit obnoxious, even. I’ve yearned to try the Malco Modes Michelle petticoat since I first got my Jennifer, recognising it as the superlative among petticoats in circumference, but I’ve been told by the helpful lovelies at Malco Modes that the Michelle is so full it will only fit under skirts with a minimum of 140 inches hem circumference, which excludes a lot of your average repro pieces. Being sensible, I perused the Malco Modes range of fuller pieces and decided the Madeline seemed like an excellent comprise between hem-busting volume and daily pinup practicality. Continue reading →