The trend your legs will love
EArLY summer, white British legs: it must be maxi skirt time. I realise you could reasonably say that of every summer — but the key difference for 2016 is that long skirts have finally beaten above-the-knee styles to the top of the fashion league.
In fact, I haven’t seen a fashionable short skirt, or even dress, in the shops this summer. The indicator on the fashion hemline-o-meter is definitively pointing South — for the first time this century, come to think of it.
The last time I can recall long skirts being this much of an active fashion choice, rather than a summer holiday perennial, was in the early Nineties. That was the era when bias- cut satin or floralprint maxis worn with Converse trainers were the pinnacle of cool. Add a camisole top and an old denim jacket and you had the look spot on.
Nineties nostalgia is behind the latest revival and I know exactly why. It’s because the requisite 20 years have elapsed since long skirts were last a ‘thing’. This is important in fashion because, after two decades, a look becomes sufficiently retro to appear new to the youth market.
In other words, when you see a girl in her 20s wearing a long skirt, you can guarantee it’s the first time in her life she’s owned one. To her, the long skirt satisfies all the requirements of a fresh fashion look.
It is also worth noting that, ten years ago, every teen in the country was wearing extremely short, tight, bodycon dresses. Those of us who went through this fashion phase with our teenage daughters (secretly praying for hemlines to descend even a smidge for modesty’s sake) cannot help but feel profoundly relieved. BuT
while the maxi may appear new to the young, for anyone my age it will cause a stomach lurch of fear.
Many’s the year I’d have run miles from a maxi. Even just looking at a full, flounced, floral skirt would have made me cringe — an early overdose of Laura Ashley saw to that.
And, please, don’t remind me of the cheap Indian cotton ones we used to buy on those market stalls, where everything was stuffed together and damp.
Yet now, even I am ready to lay aside all those prejudices and welcome the return of the long skirt with open arms.
For one thing, I’m all for concealing my legs by any means possible; for another, there are new tricks to wearing maxi skirts this year that work well for grown-up women. This time around, the trend feels a much crisper, more elegant proposition. The garment that captures this feeling best is the long, sunray-pleated skirt — an innovation that has the virtue of never having been around in the Seventies or the Nineties.
It needs to be worn with a short jacket and a top that stops at the waist, or maybe a tucked-in shirt (though you don’t want to add any bulk to this skirt’s waistline).
The pleat maxi by Asos (£38,
asos.com) is absolutely right for this summer. Meanwhile, Phase Eight’s slightly less structured take on the shape, the Avery Crinkle Pleat Maxi Skirt, is reduced to only £39.50 ( phase-eight.com).
For a floral print, try Karen Millen’s version for £199 ( karen
millen.com and houseoffraser. co.uk).
Whatever maxi skirt you choose, though, it’s the shoes you wear with it that make the crucial distinction between styles of yesteryear and the present day. Something about fashion now is putting a huge focus on ankles.
The thing to aim for, therefore, is not a floor- dragging maxi, but one that hovers just above your upper ankle. That length showcases what you have on your feet, which, in this new arrangement, could be high heels — ideal if you’re looking to elongate the silhouette and avoid looking dumpy.
Personally, I’ll be wearing my sunray pleats with thick-soled flatforms during the day and a pair of high heels in the evening. It’s a look that’s easy, adaptable and chic, which, for my money, are all the fashion boxes you ever need to tick.