Here’s a summary of my posts on skirt fit and styling in one place for easy access. We’ll cover basic skirt silhouettes, flattering lengths, and how best to match them with tops and footwear. 

Silhouettes

Generally, skirts can either be straight or flared and both shapes are equally great. Here’s the lowdown on the forever classic pencil skirt, which is best worn in a tailored or body con fit. Full skirts evoke a myriad of emotions. To some they convey flirty fabness, whereas to others they are prissy, overly sweet and juvenile. 

Pear and inverted triangle body types wear flared skirts particularly well, but there is a flared skirt style for everyone. Pencil skirts work on all body types, but the fit on the waist and down the side seams might need to be altered. Sometimes we need to taper the hems to create a more flattering visual effect.

Speaking of waist adjustments, here’s how to stop those skirts from shifting around your midsection. And although this is not essential, shapewear can smooth out your skirt silhouette. 

Lengths

Most women find skirt lengths around the knee the most flattering. For some this means above the kneecap, whereas for others it’s on or just below the knee. This length makes sense because the knee marks the midway point on your leg, thereby achieving balanced visual proportions. The midi skirt, although it’s my favourite skirt length, can cause feelings of dumpy frump. Here’s how I address midi skirt apprehension and some more details on how to wear midi skirts with sass. Casual maxi skirts aren’t my favourite skirt length and here are the reasons for my point of view. 

Pairing Skirts with Tops

Here are five basic top styles to wear with skirts. Pencil skirts are easy to pair with tops because wearing body con, tailored and oversized fits with a sleek bottom makes for a flattering combination. Flared skirts, on the other hand, are often orphaned because they tend to be trickier to match with the right top. The short and fitted untucked top is flop proof with a flared skirt, and here are 13 more top pairings for full skirts.

Wearing cropped sweaters with skirts is another great look. And here’s how to wear coats over flared skirts. 

Pencil skirts can look very “bombshell”, which has its pros and cons. If you don’t feel like showcasing all your curves, here’s how to take the bombshell out of a pencil skirt. You can further de-bombshell a pencil skirt by wearing it with a chunky knit pullover.

Pairing Skirts with Footwear 

Wearing skirts with tall boots requires finding the right combination of skirt, skin and boots. Here’s more on achieving a flattering look with skirts and tall boots.

Wearing booties with skirts has revolutionized the boot and skirt business. Here are basic guidelines on how to achieve flattering proportions. But despite these guidelines, many feel that wearing booties with skirts is not for them. We thrashed out those thoughts again three years later, and shooties have become a great footwear alternative to the bootie. But the jury is still out on whether wearing booties and shooties with visible bare legs is flattering.

And don’t ever think that you can’t wear flats with skirts. Of course you can. 

Last but not least, enforce the skirt rule when you purchase a new skirt. No more orphans! 

If you have any questions about skirt fit, skirt lengths or how to wear skirts with tops and footwear, feel free to post them in the comments section and let’s get you sorted.

I love a bit of lace in my wardrobe. I think of it as retro and romantic, rather than frilly, twee or Edwardian. These lace pieces are quite modern, or at least can be paired with modern pieces so as to NOT look prissy and precious.

• Latitude Femme Oxford: This Italian brand of footwear is divine. Soft, comfortable and unique. Here’s a super Summer oxford with cutouts. Quite arty. 
• Pretty Polly Dotty Lace Spot Tights: A softer take on the graphic oversized polka dot. 
• Karen Kane Beaded Lace Scarf Top (Plus): Alluring and breezy, yet covered. Fab dressed up or down, and an ideal way to de-bombshell a pencil skirt. 
• Anyi Lu Tessa Pump: Anyi Lu makes this sandal every year and it’s comfortable – even my own fussy feet did not complain. A beautifully made shoe that is well worth the price. 
• Camo & Lace Circle Scarf: Fun mix of tough and femme. 
• DVF Scotia Lace Skirt: Remember how hard it is to find a decent lace skirt when you’re looking for it? Well, here’s a great option that’s fab for weddings and holiday attire. 
• Tadashi Shoji Matte A-Line Jersey Dress: So pretty, and the skirt’s movement is sublime. Bless that elusive knee-covering length. 
• DVF Avani Mixed Media Top: I saw one of the sales associates wear this darling and it went onto my wish list. Perfect with a leather skirt, shorts or pants. It needs a black camisole and you are done. 
• Milly Lace Coat: Wearing longer length toppers over shorter bottoms is directional, although still a fringe statement. I love the versatility of this chic lace topper, which can be worn in both a classic and fashion forward way. 
• Adrianna Papell Lace & Knit Dress (Plus): Every time one of my clients pops on this frock, I have to catch my breath. It truly is stunning. 
• Hinge Mixed Media Lace Sleeve Shirt: A super mix of strict shirting and retro lace. The result is playful chic. 
• Olivia Moon Lace Sleeve Sweatshirt: The sassy sweatshirt is one of the trends this year. Scrunch the sleeves and you can literally wear it with any bottom 
• Kay Celine V-Neck Embroidered Mesh Sheath Dress: I had to finish off the lace list with Retro Elegance. Tailored and timeless. 

Do you like to wear a little lace? If so, how is lace represented in your wardrobe. Or do you find lace overly sweet and femme no matter what.

The last time we launched a major update to YLF was September 2010. Since then we have added many features and made many incremental improvements to the user experience, but the basic design has been constant. That will soon change when we launch the next major version of YLF. 

Although Angie, Inge and I are the ones working behind the scenes, we’re very conscious that YLF readers and members share the site with us. A lot of you spend significant time here, so it seemed wrong to launch a big change with no warning or advance explanation of what led us to change things. With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of our high-level goals. 

First, we want to simplify and clarify. If you are new to YLF we want you to immediately know what we’re all about: What to wear, and how to wear it. There is a lot on the site, but we want the most important things to stand out. 

Second, whether you are new to YLF or a longtime reader, we want to make it easier and more fun for you to browse and consume the content on YLF. That means nicer presentation of recent YLF features, but also great ways to browse more than 2500 posts in our archives. We put a lot of effort into the visuals on YLF, whether it’s our own photography or collages of products that we use to illustrate Angie’s posts, and we want better ways to showcase them. 

Third, we need to help YLF members deal with the ever increasing scale of the community. There was a time when the front page of the forum could show a few days’ worth of forum threads. These days the time elapsed between the first and last posts on the front page is often measured in minutes. Whether you visit hourly, daily or weekly, we want the forum to be manageable and fun. 

Our plan is to launch the redesign early on Sunday morning, so in a few days you will be able to see how we did. If past YLF launches are anything to go by, we will get some great input from the community. Some of that input will get added to the big list of things we do in the future, but some of it will probably lead to changes that we make in the days following the launch.

Thank you so much for your participation in YLF. We’re super excited to get started on this next part of our journey together. Too excited, in fact, to keep it completely under wraps any longer. So here are some snippets of the new design.

I’m a big fan of mesh sweaters because they are a great way to cover up in a breezy manner. Alluring, but not exposed. They also look fab layered under toppers, and make a pretty good substitute for trendy big tees that often look too big and sloppy. 

They’ve been matched with jeans here, but they work with all sorts of casual and dressier pants. They will also work over pencil skirts and sheath dresses. Here are three super styles that come in a variety of colours. 

1. Trouvé Metallic Mesh Sweater: This one has a subtle sheen and works particularly well semi-tucked. 
2. Gap Mesh Sleeve Sweater: This style has more coverage with mesh sleeves instead of a mesh body. Size down if you prefer a less roomy fit. 
3. Lucky Brand Macey Metallic Sweater: With larger holes, it’s the most breezy of the styles, and also has the most sheen. The high-low hemline adds structure to the silhouette. 

There is something about a mesh sweater that reads “easy elegance”, “relaxed polish” and “casual chic”. I don’t find them bohemian, although this type of open weave is often thought of in that way. Remember to untuck your camisole so that the sweater grins evenly from neck to hem.