AN ODE TO THE MINISKIRT
O wondrous shape! Fair attitude!
Halloween, but things are too terrifying. Glad to see the back of October 2023.
I am thinking a lot about how to put my feelings about the last three weeks into words that aren’t useless. Perhaps I will manage to, perhaps not.
In the meantime, et me propose some respite in fashion here, if possible.
There’s only one little thing making me wish this autumn would put the brakes on after all: bare legs and my renewed romance with the miniskirt. Ok that’s two.
Actually, I’ve realised a miniskirt really doesn’t have to be a summer vibe. In fact, I think I almost prefer it in Autumn/Winter on account of all the elegant leather/wool blend/cashmere skirt ideas on the market and endless hosiery options to boot.
In fact, they’re pretty much all I’ve been wearing in the past two months, without tights when weather permits (often, in this case, with socks and loafers) or with tights, which I also enjoy thoroughly, and will continue with all winter, probably with high, equestrian-style boots when it gets colder.
Go on Marie Antoinette, the world is falling apart, sell us the frivolous miniskirt.
But wait! The miniskirt is more than a lil’ piece of fabric covering your behind. Is it not, after all, an important symbol of emancipation? A political entity in itself. Women have fought for the right to wear it. To make the statement, in all glory; in all that it represents. Some have had this right, then had it taken away.
Of course, Muccia Prada, the great purveyor of all good taste with deeper feminist resonance knows this. (I would, by the way, credit Mrs. Prada via both her Miu Miu and Prada collections in recent years for the resurgence of the mini and micro-mini but also just kinda the skirt in general?) Styled with a knit of course. Yum.
People who remember the 1960s know the miniskirt is political too. Mary Quant knew it in London as did Andre Courreges in Paris.
But then, at that time, maybe those who had seen Josephine Baker perform back at the Folies Bergeres in the late-20s would say her iconic banana skirt was the first mini to hit Paris. (And anyway, miniskirts were apparently all the rage for women and men during the First Imperial Dynasty in China.)
Iranian women knew the power of a miniskirt before the Revolution in 1979. Imagine, for a second, having right to express yourself —in all kinds of ways— then having it snatched away. And today risking brutal murder by your government for showing a glimpse of the hair growing out of your own brain. The photos below of women in 1970s Tehran make me want to cry then punch a wall.
Taking all this into account, I was caught off-guard when a well-meaning listener to my podcast Fanfare wrote in asking up until what age my cohost Emma and I felt miniskirts were appropriate.
I guess my answer is that for a person privileged enough to feel comfortable wearing a miniskirt without legal recourse, harassment, or physical danger to their person, then whatever your age, shape, or job, my categorical answer is GO FOR IT!!!
Please. Feel the breeze and live your damn freedom to its fullest. Go for it.
Here are my favourites lately, starting, of course, with the duvet-cloud wonderwear that is Prada. Links in captions.
Your case for mini skirts sold me 100%!! The Vanessa Bruno look is 🤌
I’ve recently been feeling the need for a mini skirt and reading this has just confirmed that need even more!