Skirt lengths - YouLookFab Forum

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Dressing

Skirt lengths

Gigi

Veteran

Sally at Already Pretty has a post about skirt lengths. She says that skirts that fall at her midthigh are unflattering on her—the skirts need to be either shorter or longer. So I am wondering:

-Do any of you notice this? I haven't noticed it on myself, but I am wondering if my eye isn't trained enough to see it.

-Sally says that the midthigh length breaks her body into unflattering proportions. I know what the golden ratio is, but I can't see how the midthigh skirt length is ruining the proportions. Can anyone help me out?

-If you agree that there is a midthigh no-man's land, do you think that the type of skirt that a person wears would make a difference? For instance, would a flared skirt like Sally has on make the problem more noticeable than, say, a form-fitting pencil skirt?

Many thanks!

Dressing

42 replies

Latest reply was from Von

rabbit

Veteran

Looking at her post the main thing I'm noticing is the height of her heels with the over knee skirt. I think this length of skirt can work fine (I think actually I wear it quite a lot since all my mini's are longer) but with flat shoes and boots. I also like the look of strong/muscular thighs, so that might just be an aesthetic/preference difference.

I've also noticed that I tend to do waist surrendering when I'm wearing that length, so I'm emphasizing the legs a bit, even with flat shoes, but not trying for a fit and flare that often. Hmm... something to think about. Maybe it's not the best length on me either...but I'm not yet sure.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I haven't looked at the post yet, but I think flattering lengths depend on a lot of factors -- leg shape, height, leg length, body proportions, etc. I was just thinking about this yesterday during the YLF shopping day in Boston. I tried on a dress in Reiss that was otherwise really nice on me, but the length was maybe two inches above the knee. Now, I am not blessed with pretty knees and upper legs, but even so, lengths higher than the knee are always problematic on me. I'm not sure if it's because my legs are quite long in relation to my torso or what. It's weird, and frustrating because there is very little out there in the skirt and dress world that is a nice midi length that isn't work wear or frumpy.

In my experience though, hems that stop at the narrowest spots on the leg are usually the most flattering.

MsMary

Veteran

Honestly? I think midthigh is just plain too short for anybody over age 25 or so, other than for clubwear. How are you supposed to move around when you are in constant danger of flashing your bits to the world?

rabbit

Veteran

Here's an Angie post about full skirts that shows some of those lengths: http://youlookfab.com/2013/02/.....-are-back/

Per MaryK's point, I always wear leggings or darker opaque hose.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

For me, at least, I agree with MaryK. Even wearing tights I feel uncomfortable with skirts that short. Maybe it's because I'm uncoordinated and I don't want to show anyone my underwear when bending or sitting, or maybe it's because I have a long torso and so the proportions look off. I'm 5'9" and I find that the minimum skirt length I need to be comfortable and look decent is 22". That's a few inches above the knee for me, longer than Sally's example in her blog post.

I do have a couple of those summer skorts (shorts under a skirt) that tend to be shorter, in the 20" range, and I find that I need to wear my tops tucked in, or ruched up, with them, to make them look decent. And then you're 'stuck' with a whole lot of naked leg showing, especially if you're wearing sandals, which is a) a very casual look, IMO, not appropriate for most workplaces and b) a little out of balance proportionally.

It'd be interesting to compare the proportions of this issue with th same issue in shorts, so modesty issues are less in play. I think it was Janet who posted a k/r recently with mid thigh shorts and wondered whether they needed to be either shorter or longer to be flattering.

MsMaven

Veteran

I agree with Mary--on most adult women full short skirts look juvenile or costumey. They are girlish, and there are occasions when it is all right to be girlish. It also depends on the woman and her body type, and the length--the closer to the top of the knee the better. Also, the straighter the skirt falls, as with pleats, the shorter it can be.

But then, perhaps my eye just hasn't adjusted to the different silhouette yet.

rabbit

Veteran

Actually I agree with MsMaven about skirts with folds that fall straighter or are tulip or pencil shaped sometimes working better after playing with skater and circle skirts (which I find incredibly comfortable, so they will end up as over legging lounge wear for me if I decide to retire them from going outside). I usually end up scootching the skirt down as low as I can (with longer loose tops), but a full skater skirt just reads as 'playful' no matter how you style it.

ETA: I'm going to try something which might be a big fail, but I wonder if I could wear a black skater skirt I have with a black top and kind of create a peplum look over a longer black pencil skirt? Hmm... peplum tops are always too short-waisted and short 'skirted' for me, but this might be a way...

carter

Veteran

Well, at 50, my entire thigh is no-man's land! Top, middle, bottom of the knee and I'm in, but it is so very hard to find knee-length dresses right now. I tend to only wear dresses in warmer weather, so tights are out of the question for me, but I could see going a couple inches above the knee with tights in a milder climate.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I wonder if it depends on what size you are, carter? Unless I head into the juniors department, most of the skirts and dresses I try on these days are long enough, or close to it. But I'm a 12/14 and I know that bigger sizes often are longer as well.

carter

Veteran

Good point, Laura. I'm usually a 6, sometimes a 4, and I'm 5'5". Why do they assume we're shorter/taller based on the size we wear? If I were my size and 5'2", the lengths would be great.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Yes, the dresses usually get longer as you go higher in size, Laura. Although not always.

I think ideal skirt length depends on all the factors already mentioned. Age, height, leg length, proportions, type of skirt, and where/ how you want to wear it (casual, with tights, what kind of shoes, etc.)

So, no simple rules, but for myself personally, while I find the floppy skater skirts super cute on a younger person, I feel as if they are too juvenile on me, whatever their length.

ETA: in Sally's case, she's also broken up the line with high contrast colours and black boots....imagine the same dress with tights and footwear the same colour/ tone as the dress. Or the same outfit all in a neutral - e.g. ink or black or grey. It would lack her trademark retro sass and probably wouldn't make her happy, but it might be more flattering to her proportions.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Our legs come in different shapes. Maybe a mid-thigh skirt is a bad length on Sally, but I don't think it's a bad length on me. But I've got a totally different shape. I'm shorter than her, and thinner, and my legs are more athletic-looking. On me, any skirt length will work unless it's lower than a couple of inches below my knee. Mid-calf skirts are frumpy stumpy city on me.

A floor-length gown works, though. But the only time I ever wore one of those was on my wedding day!

MsMary

Veteran

I think Sally generally wears her dresses way, way, WAY too short. Perhaps she is emboldened by the fact that she wears tights for much of the year. But I must admit to having a poison eye for a grown woman in a "dress" that barely clears her crotch.

rabbit

Veteran

See MaryK I'm reading that as a tunic, not a dress. I wouldn't necessarily do heels for myself, but I see tunics with leggings or narrow pants (usually black and gray, usually with flat boots or booties) around me all the time on women of all ages including with gray in their hair and handsomely lined faces. To me it's an arty/casual staple?

MsMary

Veteran

But... where are her pants? LOL

rabbit

Veteran

Ok, the fashion police might come for me, but honestly I think sometimes the difference between a thicker or fleece-lined legging/jegging/pleather/ponte pant is semantics, and some unsightly seams or zippers that show through your top layer.

In my book, if your backside is fully covered with fabric thicker than tights, everything is opaque, and no panty seams can show through no matter what happens (gravity suddenly reverses for a moment), it doesn't even visually register as 'short' to me. It might be a living in hipsterville thing, and the fact that it's almost always black and charcoal gray but this look is omnipresent in the neighborhoods and cafes around me and doesn't appear to have any negative connotations.

This is one point of fashion contention where I tend to side with my 'tribe' though, so I understand in different contexts and places it might just read completely differently. I'm also not talking about office wear, but casual street clothes.

ETA: Gwen Stefani is 44. I realize popstars follow different rules, but still, this outfit is gorgeous to me. Actually I'd wear what her husband is wearing too http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix.....34x837.jpg

Here's a more neutral example: http://handbagsoutletstores.co.....Womens.jpg

Interesting! this sent me down a rabbit hole of recent Gwen Stefani streetwear looks and I basically realized she's my style icon right now, I would repeat the majority of them if I could.

MsMary

Veteran

Huh. That's not generally a look you see here in So Cal so I will take your word for it that it's an actual Look and not just a micro-mini with tights. About which I am vastly relieved, if I may say so.

Diana

Veteran

So yesterday when Janet was trying on the flared dress at Reiss, Angie said something that rang SO true for me. She said that FLARED short skirts look quite young and childish because that's what little girls wear - wide short skirts are easy to move and play in. Whereas a shorter pencil or straight skirt looks adult because children don't wear pencil skirts.

I personally like my skirts to be at least 20", preferably 22". I think 22-24" is around knee length on me, depending on how high the waist hits. 20" is still longer than mid thigh. I do have very long thighs though.

To build on Angie's point, I'm willing to go a little shorter for a straight or tulip skirt, not only because it's not childish but also because there's less chance of underwear flashing and errant gusts of wind when the skirt is not flared. On the other hand, I think a really fitted short pencil is just too exposed and body con for me.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, I see no problem with that length, but then I'm known to not obey the age-skirt-length-police.

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deb

Veteran

Mid thigh is now tunic length for me. I am too old to go without pants

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think it's true that a flared short skirt has youthful connotations that are tough to shake, which affect how we see it on a grown woman.

Tunics are a different matter, but personally, I prefer those worn with flat boots or footwear (or almost flat) as in rabbit's neutral example. I agree with her, though, that this is not at all a bad look for those who aren't working in offices. Like Mo. Of course, Mo also has great legs so that makes it more flattering for her. And note that her skirts are not flared little-girl style skirts.

MsMary

Veteran

And note that her leggings are clearly leggings and the skirt worn with bare legs is long in back!

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, I wear short skirts.

rabbit

Veteran

Yeah, I'm thinking that from my perspective there are a couple of different idea threads here:

a) proportions/aesthetics: IMO nothing wrong with a shorter skirt depending on the build/body/other items of clothing worn with it - for example Mo's pics, proportionally where the highest hem hits? Great to my eye. Case by case and person by person it can work or not work.

b) cultural connotations: the flared reading as girly question. Worth considering, maybe subverting or maybe avoiding, but basically comes down to informed individual choice.

c) modesty - subjective, culturally constructed, very audience and setting specific.

Women over 25 in short skirts? I think perhaps Giovanna Battaglia may be able to pull them off indefinitely : http://www.thesartorialist.com.....battaglia/

always trying

Veteran

IMO from just above knee to just below knee are the most flattering and practical lengths for women in general. AND where in that spectrum can depend on age, body proportions, type of skirt, from business dressing to a sun dress, tights, panty hose, bare legs,sandals, heels, boots etc. to individually find what suits you best. also if it just covers your but it is a tunic not a dress!!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

But Anna, as you often say -- it's all in the styling. You wear your short flared skirts in a very different way than Sal and the skirts themselves are different, too.

Basically, I'm with rabbit. This is person and context specific.

Kat

Rabbit, I have to agree with you. I see that look a fair bit where I live -- the tunic with leggings or something legging-esque -- and it doesn't read as juvenile to me. I recently started wearing that silhouette myself, though I work in a super-casual environment. As in, a little oppressively casual: if I felt like dressing up in heels and a pencil skirt, I'd look very out of place and kind of precious. Which is too bad, because sometimes I crave dressing up! I just do it with a casual stretchy pencil skirt and more funky shoes, and it works much better.

I will say that the buck stopped for me personally at a pair of skirted leggings. Oh, how I loved those skirted leggings. I wanted to dance around the room in them. But the skirt was supposed to mimic the mid-thigh length of a tunic... and it just looked like a mini skirt. Gorgeous, but a mini skirt, and I've never been a mini skirt person. It didn't feel comfortable to me, which I suppose is a bit odd, because the mid-thigh tunic and leggings and boots would have felt fine. Go figure. I sadly returned them. But otherwise, I think it's a questions of taste, proportions, and the context of the entire outfit. Some women look great in short skirts, regardless of age, and likely could have pulled off my skirted leggings!

Gigi

Veteran

Wow, I had to do a post-and-run...I had no idea this thread would turn into such a hot topic! I am reminded of the old Crockpot tagline: "Cooks all day while the cook's away."

I see we got first-hand experience of MaryK's lack of filter. :^) (Just kidding, MaryK!)

I was really more interested in just the question about proportions and whether everyone has the "no man's land" on their thigh. I like to use proportions a lot in my dressing and was hoping to learn if I was missing something in Sally's post, because although the outfit is very broken up with different colors, I didn't see that the skirt length itself was a problem. In fact, the skirt length, without taking anything else into account, seemed to divide her body up in a flattering way. (Now that I have looked at her outfit again, I am wondering if she is reacting to not the skirt length but the fact that it's flared, which seems to make her look short-waisted.)

But...I do have a veiled interest in asking about skirt length. I wear skirts that are midthigh occasionally. (I wear skirts of all lengths, from mini to maxi.) Some of them are pencil, while some of them are skater skirts and are "girly." I am 40 (sorry, MaryK!). But I am like Mo in that I don't dress for my age. But I am a gamine type in Kibbe—very short (5'2"), very slender, and very girlish facial features. I think that people who have childlike features and a very small frame to begin with can wear shorter skirts, including skater skirts, years past a typical "age cutoff." I think that a person could even wear one to work, if it is of the longer variety and is paired with a blazer or something serious. (I know a woman in the medical profession who wears full, above-knee skirts regularly, but she always pairs them with a silky button-down, a conservative blazer, opaque tights, and boots or booties.) The skirt adds a fun touch, but that's all it is—a "touch." As for my skater skirts, I wear them out and about on errands and not to a workplace setting.

Maybe rabbit has a good idea about starting some spinoff threads. I agree that it seems like we've got a few topics bubbling over on this one. If anyone feels so inclined to start a separate thread, feel free! :^)

If anyone else wants to chime in on the proportions/no-man's-land question, and whether having a flared skirt would make suboptimal proportions more visible, I'm all ears!

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I think Sally wears her dresses too short too. I'm not her age, but I'd be mortified to wear that dress length that MaryK pointed out...

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