Hemlines have seen their ups and downs. Have you noticed?
“This may seem superficial given the state of the world right now, but I am going to be very glad when asymmetrical hemlines are a thing of the past,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus tweeted. As shallow as this statement sounds, the actress, whose onscreen avatar Selina Meyer in HBO’s television series Veep is known for her high fashion wardrobe, may be on to something. According to fashion legends, the hemline index goes back to the 1920s when American economist George Taylor stated that there was a direct link between the Dow Jones Index and hemlines. He believed when the market was strong, hemlines went up, and when markets were unstable, hemlines went down. And since skirts went shorter in both the ’60s and the ’80s, decades known for their relative prosperity, his theory does seem to have some merit.
A hem is the finish provided by turning raw edges of a garment up and making a turn to conceal the unfinished edges. The hemline usual refers to the end of a skirt or dress. It is that last detail. At fivefeet one-inch in my socks (there, I’ve confessed), I’ve always had an interesting relationship with hemlines. I find that longer lengths can dwarf me, but wearing something short no longer feels age appropriate. (I am heading towards my mid 40s). Nearly anything I buy has to be shortened. I am thankful that when it comes to jeans there are now so many crop styles around, as those work out to be normal length on me. But when it comes to dresses and skirts, they normally need adjusting.
And sometimes it’s not as simple as just taking something up, as adjusting the length can change the whole proportion of a garment. It may need to be narrowed too, so as to maintain the ratio of the width to the height.
I have to say when the whole high-low hemline came into fashion, it was instant love for me. These have been around for five years now. Also known as the mullet (named after the hairstyle), typically, the front hem is knee-length or above and the back hem is calf-length or longer. It was all over the catwalks in 2013 — from Christian Dior to Alexander McQueen. And Amal Clooney made her first appearance as a married woman in a white floral embroidered lace high-low Giambattista Valli dress from its Fall/Winter 2014 collection. It just breathed modern femininity.
My reason for enjoying the ‘asymmetrical’ hemline, as Ms Dreyfus calls it, is that it allows me to wear something shorter at the front — so it gives me the illusion of height— and since it’s longer at the back, it has an elegant and graceful feel. It is in some ways the best of both worlds.
Two years ago, when I attended an English wedding in Somerset, I was told by the groom that I should wear a tea length dress (which means the dress hem should fall at your mid-calf) and I opted for a high-low dress, a blue Sachin and Babi. The front of the dress ended just below the knee and the back was tea length. It met the dress code and worked for my body type.
From the responses to the tweet though, it seems Twitter agrees with the actress. The high-low can be done wrong (remember Geena Davis at the 1992 Oscars in a ruffled corset dress with a very ‘high’ and extra ‘low’, complete with train hemline and one of the first red carpet examples of an asymmetrical hemline). It can look, to put it bluntly, tacky. But then so can many fashion trends — be it the off shoulder or the ruffle. The high-low styles of this season are not as exaggerated as they were five years ago. The difference in the two lengths is now more subtle.
But I can’t help but wonder what George Taylor would have to say about this asymmetrical hemline. How does it fit into his theory? There is no question that world economics is more complicated now than it was in the 1920s. And fashion has obviously echoed this. Of course fashion trends still matter, but there is no longer that one all-encompassing look that is a diktat. So while fashion pundits may prefer one hemline for the season, there will still be plenty others to choose from, something that suits you. There is no longer one ruling style.
My advice? If you don’t like the asymmetrical hemline, don’t wear it. Those who enjoy it can embrace the style.
The economist George Taylor linked the Dow Jones Index to hemlines. He believed when the market was strong, hemlines went up, and when markets were unstable, hemlines went down