My feelings are that women are no longer aware of, or no longer care about, fashion that is "pretty".  Stylish, yes. Elegant, yes. Many women wearing pants, including jeans, do look very good; they do it in a stylish way. But, "pretty" has been forgotten by many older women, and is simply unknown to most younger women.

My wife is an exception. She grew up in the fifties and sixties, has always been a feminist, and is a very successful business woman in an industry that is definitely a man's world. She does wear pants to work, maybe once a week, but all other times is in a dress or business suit with a skirt (usually long and pleated). On weekends she often wears jeans and looks great in them. She is just as likely to wear a skirt or jumper or sundress. 

The pretty factor comes in with her lingerie. I know her collection well, as I do the laundry and care for her lingerie. She has two cotton panty and bra sets to wear when she is doing yard work or heavy house work. That is the only time I see them on her. All
her other bras and panties are satin and lace, lots of lace. The front panel of every panty is all lace, her bra cups are all topped with lace. She wears them all the time. 

In seventeen years of marriage I've never seen her wear a skirt without a half slip, even if she is going bare-legged. Never an exception. Her plainest half slip has two inches of lace trim with ribbon running through it. She has single layer petticoats that she wears under a couple of long & very full circle skirts, not the full bouffant look, but they give her skirts a noticable lilt. She wears the petticoats for one reason: the skirts look pretty with them. She is just as likely to wear them to go grocery shopping as she is likely to wear jeans.

I look at my wife, think about her fashion habits, and can only conclude that other women don't dress that way mainly because they have not been exposed to it.  They are clueless, through no fault of their own. One excuse I do hear, however, even on this forum, is that
skirts and petticoats just aren't practical anymore.  My wife dresses the way she does because she wants to, she feels good about and loves the look, as do I. She knows that she can do anything in a skirt and petticoat that she can do in a pair of jeans. It all
comes down to attitude. I don't see how practicality can really be an issue, I think women who raise that as an issue may have other underlying reasons. I'd be interested in hearing some responses to my conclusions, especially from women.

I graduated from high school in 1959 and grew up in the era of petticoats. I still feel that the fashions of that time have never been surpassed. The turbulent sixties did that era in because of the rise of the women's movement and the hatred that separated the generations because of the Vietnam War. Except for a brief period in the eighties, petticoats have not made a comeback. I've observed that when a woman wears something especially feminine like a wedding gown they spin and twirl and say how beautiful they feel but it is also true that they almost never wear that type of fashion in any other situation. Personally I think it is because fashion designers and the woman's movement equate it with being somehow degrading to the spirit of the "New Woman."  I feel the exact opposite. To show femininity is a sign of confidence in one's self. A woman, like Pettilady, who shows her femininity because she is confident in who she is, and not afraid to show it, demonstrates a strength of character far surpassing most other woman in today's world. Anyone who has looked at Pettilady's pictures knows what a
stunningly beautiful woman she is, a beauty that is enhanced by her fashion sense.

One of the more obvious reasons women don't wear petticoats anymore is that many women never or only rarely wear a skirt or dress. Pants, even tight, faded blue jeans, are acceptable for women in almost any social situation, including weddings and funerals. I wouldn't be surprised if in the not-too-distant future it will be common for women to get married in a pair of slacks. Skirts and dresses are (or will be) considered "impractical." The only people wearing a dress or skirt will be women who belong to some superconservative church or male-to-female crossdressers. (Even now, though, some MTFs wear slacks or jeans when crossdressed.)

Petticoats are already considered impractical for almost anything but a wedding or "First Communion." A woman walking down the street in a dress with a full petticoat underneath would draw strange looks (unless there was some obvious occasion, such as Halloween, precipitating her being in an unusual costume).

There are no real "opposites" as far as clothing is concerned. There is "women's" clothing, and there is "men's or women's" clothing. Dresses, skirts, culottes, petticoats, slips, bras, pantyhose, high heels, etc., are all women's clothing; pants, shirts, socks, athletic shoes and the like are all considered "men's or women's" clothing. Most women (probably 90-95% where I live) wear primarily or exclusively "men's or women's" clothing.

In summary, I don't see much of a chance of getting women back into wearing petticoats very much any time soon.:-(

There are still a number of Rock -n- Roll clubs dotted around the U.K. Fairly hard to find today of course, but you can still see the girls and their "Teds" walking the street to and from the venues. They still attract quite a lot of attention from the members of the general public. From time to time, films like Grease and Peggy Sue Got Married cause a short term revival of the wonderful 50's era fashions.

My personal view is that all the money that was wasted building the Millennium Dom in London should have been fairly distributed throughout the UK for the sole purpose of petticoat purchase. I'm sure we would all have got more pleasure from that than an upturned wok.

Woman today have been misled to believe that nude is sexy. If they only knew. Most have no clue as to allure of clothing, and that clothing is what makes for eroticism. No clue whatsoever. I suppose much of that is the fault of most (savage) men. Shame.

Of course, if petticoats and crinolines ever DID make a comeback, restaurant owners would lose a lost of space between tables! <g>