All About Skirts
A skirt is a tube or cone-shaped garment which hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.
At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of material, but most skirts are fitted to the body at the waist and fuller below, with the fullness introduced by means of dart, gores, pleats, or panels. Modern skirts are usually made of light to mid-weight fabrics, such as denim, jersey, worsted, or poplin. Skirts of thin or clingy fabrics are often worn with slips to make the material of the skirt drape better and for modesty.
The hemline of skirts can be as high as the upper thigh or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.
Some medieval upper-class women wore skirts over 3 meters in diameter at the bottom. At the other extreme, the miniskirts of the 1960s were minimal garments that may have barely covered the underwear when seated.
Costume historians typically use the word "petticoat" to describe skirt-like garments of the 18th century or earlier.
Basic Skirt Types
- Straight skirt, a tailored skirt hanging straight from the hips and fitted from the waist to the hips by means of darts or a yoke; may have a kick-pleat for ease of walking
- Full skirt, a skirt with fullness gathered into the waistband
- A-line skirt, a skirt with a slight flare, roughly in the shape of a capital letter A
- Pleated skirt, a skirt with fullness reduced to fit the waist by means of regular pleats ('plaits') or folds, which can be stitched flat to hip-level or free-hanging
- Circle skirt, a skirt cut in sections to make one or more circles with a hole for the waist, so the skirt is very full but hangs smoothly from the waist without darts, pleats, or gathers
- Hobble skirt, long and tight skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride
Fads and fashions
- Ballerina skirt, a full-length formal skirt popular in the 1950s.
- Broomstick skirt, a skirt with many crumpled pleats formed by compressing and twisting the garment while wet (1980s and on)
- Cargo skirt, a plain, utilitarian skirt with belt loops and numerous large pockets, based on the military style of Cargo pants and popularised in the 1990s.
- Dirndl, a skirt made of a straight length of fabric gathered at the waist
- Jean skirt, A trouser skirt made of denim, often designed like 5-pocket jeans, but found in a large variety of styles.
- Leather skirt, A skirt made of leather
- Kilt-skirt, a wrap-around skirt with overlapping aprons in front and pleated around the back. Though traditionally designed as women's wear, it is fashioned to mimic somewhat closely the general appearance of a (man's) kilt, including the usage of a plaid pattern more or less closely resembling those of recognized tartan patterns of Scotland.
- T-skirtMaxiskirt, an ankle length-skirt (1970s, but has made a comeback in the 2000s)
- Midi skirt, mid-calf length. See: 1970s in fashion.
- Miniskirt, a thigh-length skirt, and micromini, an extremely short version (1960s)
- Poodle skirt, a circle or near-circle skirt with an appliqued poodle or other decoration (1950s)
- Prairie skirt, a flared skirt with one or more flounces or tiers (1970s and on)
- Rah-rah skirt, a short, tiered, and often colourful skirt fashionable in the early-mid 1980s.
- Sarong, a square of fabric wrapped around the body and tied on one hip to make a skirt; worn as a skirt or as a cover-up over a bathing suit in tropical climates.
- Tiered skirt, made of several horizontal layers, each wider than the one above, and divided by stitching. Layers may look identical in solid-colored garments, or may differ when made of printed fabrics.
- Trouser skirt, a straight skirt with the part above the hips tailored like men's trousers, with belt loops, pockets, and fly front
- T-skirt, made from a T-shirt, the T-skirt is generally modified to result in a pencil skirt, with invisible zippers, full length 2-way separating side zippers, as well as artful fabric overlays and yokes.