hoop skirt

noun

1. a woman's skirt made to stand out and drape in a stiff bell-like shape from the waist by an undergarment framework of flexible hoops connected by tapes.
2. the framework for such a skirt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoop skirt¹

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

Example Sentences

Bloomers freed women from perilous hemlines and hefty hoop skirts.

From The Daily Beast

On the Royal Parks website, I found a virtual tour of the Crystal Palace as it was in 1851, poignantly soundtracked with a genteel hubbub, and populated by the phantasmal figures of waistcoated stallholders and women in hoop skirts.

From Washington Post

The French designer presented a hoop-skirt gown that was turned up to reveal four little girls crouching underneath.

From The Daily Beast

Her hoop skirt was ever in need of repair, with tapes that had broken from their moorings or strings that had come loose.

From Project Gutenberg

I next entered the room previously occupied by the late runaway maid, and found three old dresses and a hoop skirt left by her.

From Project Gutenberg

This load she had carried suspended from her waist and concealed under the large hoop-skirt then worn by ladies.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the days of the hoop-skirt and she just about filled the door, so that nobody might see past her.

From Project Gutenberg

You don't expect her to fetch you a new bonnet and a hoop skirt seven feet wide.

From Project Gutenberg