crinolette

1. (historical) A whalebone, cane, or steel framework that was worn between petticoat and dress, attached at the waist and projecting backwards but not as far to the sides as in the case of a full hoop skirt.Examples: "The Princess of Wales has won two millinery victories this year -- both on the side of common sense. She has banished the crinolette, in spite of Paris. She has retained the small bonnet in fashion, still in spite of Paris."; "The jupon or steel petticoat, which in the crinoline period was bell-shaped, in 1869 became flat in front and at the back sloped groundwards from the waist, where the tournure or "crinolette" projected over the jupon in a sweeping curve."; "About 1873, the crinolette was abandoned and the bustle was forced to drop down the back of the skirt because of the long line of the popular cuirass bodice; it was later discarded when the fashionable silhouette narrowed still further with the 'princess line' dresses of the later 1870s."