The biggest problem I have with the quality is the waist band. The widest part of the band is made of very thin lose lycra that does nothing to support or draw in the belly. The only thing that holds the petticoat on is the thin band of elastic at the top that tends to crawl up my waist. The thin band also does a weird thing with the lose flimsy lycra that makes it look like you have fat rolls even if you don't. It also makes what would be a nice line from waist to poofed-out petticoat kind of awkward. The thin lycra also snags easily, but since I highly recommend covering it up anyway, this isn't much of an issue.

Aside from the crawling around that the waist band does, it's pretty comfortable. It's smooth, silky, and stretches enough that it never felt binding or restrictive. The lacy part was another matter. It's INCREDIBLY scratchy. I can't bear to have it touching my skin. As lingerie, this is a big problem for me. I'm ok with sexy outfits being a little uncomfortable, but it's just too uncomfortable for me.

Luckily, the solution to the waist band problem also fixed my problem with the scratchiness. I wear the petticoat as a middle layer. In this way, I can hide the weird rolling that the waistband does and re-create the long line in my torso that the petticoat should be drawing attention to. So long as you can work with the awkward waist band, the lace pattern itself is very pretty. The black folds of lace create very alluring shadows that are almost-but-not-quite concealing. The fabric is also stiff enough to add a very subtle bounce when I'm dancing. The teardrops at the edges of the petticoat flutter as if their shuddering whenever I move.

I highly recommend hand-washing this petticoat but only as a last resort. The lycra in the band is easily damaged and (while the lace is considerably tougher) it's possible to remove some of the bounce by washing. The fewer times this gets washed, the longer it will last.

While this petticoat fails on most counts as a lingerie (it's uncomfortable and unflattering unless it's at least partially covered up by something else), it is very useful as a part of a multi-layered costume.

Because I love gender bending, I wore this over a pair of tight pin-stripe slacks and a men's button up dress shirt with a red tie. I couldn't feel the scratchiness through the slacks, and the black shirt did an excellent job at continuing the line of my long line of my torso and pointing out the curves of my hips. The slacks also helped hold the petticoat in place so I could walk across the dance floor without having to pull it back down every five steps (something I couldn't do when I wore it under a skirt).