BLESSUMEVictorian Dress Double Pannier Petticoat

I honestly wasn't expecting much from a cheap Chinese costume product, but I was very surprised with the quality of these panniers and their service. I expected something flimsy, barely serviceable, but these panniers are actually much better make then many of the hand-made panniers I've seen on re-enactors. The cotton fabric is suitably heavy. The boning is a sturdy spring steel, good quality stuff.. It should be able to support any reasonable ensemble. I wear it with three layers of petticoats, plus substantially embellished overskirts and I've not encountered any problems. The craftsmanship is neat and sturdy. Everything is accurate to the description.The shipping was incredible. These are coming from China, after all, so a month or two would have been a reasonable wait, but I received my panniers in less than two weeks. The delivery guy decided he was going to dump my steel-boned panniers in my driveway on a rainy day, but thanks to Blessume's watertight packaging, the panniers survived in pristine condition.Overall, very satisfactory.----If you're into 17th century costume then I assume you've come prepared to make at least minor alterations to your costumes, so I'm not knocking off any stars for these potential fitting concerns. I just think you might want to know:-- The most secure way to tie on panniers is to tie each pannier separately around the waist, as shown in the picture. Because the ties are a bit short, this will not be possible if you have a waist measurement over 28-30 inches. Bigger folks could still wear them by tying the waists to each other, up to about about a 45 inch waist measurement, but they might prefer to attach longer waist ties instead.-- The slits for the pockets are a bit small. Most women should be able to fit their hands inside without too much of a struggle, but getting them in or out while holding a wallet or phone will be a different story.-- Panniers can be worn low or high depending on preference. The lower the pannier hangs, the more rounded the curve of your hip will be. These panniers hang very low, exactly like you see in the picture, which is NOT the way most historical panniers were worn (most ladies had their panniers jutting nearly perpendicular to their body) but I think it's a good thing that Blessume makes their panniers this way--it's much easier to take up panniers that hang too low than it is to let down panniers that sit too high. If you find that your panniers are too low, but can't sew well enough to take them up, you can simply roll the waistband down a few times.-- Chinese clothing is notoriously teeny-tiny, but these panniers are VERY generous in size. They are long enough for even the tallest of ladies (I stuck mine on a 6'2" drag queen) and wide enough that they should accommodate people who are slim, average, or moderately overweight. If anything, people who are very petite should be prepared to make some simple alterations to bring the panniers down to size.

I was surprised when they arrived and were so flat—-hoop wire sewn into fabric. But they worked great and are nice to store with the dress, not taking up a lot of space. Highly recommend!

Smaller than I thought but works well.

Very nice and put together my costume giving the look I was looking for

This did not get the job done. Based off of the pictures of the dresses it was under I thought the look would be the same. Nope. Just oddly shaped hips. The dress material was too heavy to be supported by this

Unfortunately they kept collapsing, which meant it was like wearing nothing under my costume at all. They are quite flimsy, so I had to order a sturdier set from elsewhere. If you have anything heavier than tissue, plan to order something different.

Did exactly what I needed it to do. Provided shape under a 1700s costume. Easy to put on and take off and also comfortable. Make sure to tie it around your waist, not hips.

No complaints on this. It do serve its purpose.