Miniskirt

A woman modeling a miniskirt

A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than 10 cm (4 in) below the buttocks;^[1] and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning. A micro-miniskirt or microskirt is a further abbreviation of the miniskirt and short shorts are the shortened versions of the shorts.

The popularity of miniskirts peaked in the "Swinging London" of the 1960s, but its popularity has waned and resurged since. Before that time, short skirts were only seen in sport clothing, such as skirts worn by female tennis players.

History

Until 1960s

Roman soldiers wearing the traditional tunic

From the ancient Greek tunic until the military tunic of Roman times, the very short tunic was exclusively worn by slaves and fighters. In the Middle Ages they were worn under the armour.

During her theatre performances in the Folies Bergère in Paris in 1926, Joséphine Baker wore a sort of miniskirt made from bananas.

1960s

Wedding minidress, 1968

Red velvet Minidress, c. 1965

Mary Quant ran a popular clothes shop in Kings Road, Chelsea, London, called Bazaar, from which she sold her own designs. In the late 1950s she began experimenting with shorter skirts, culminating in the creation of the miniskirt in 1965—one of the defining fashions of the decade.^[2][3] Quant named the miniskirt after her favourite make of car, the Mini.^[4]

Owing to Quant's position in the heart of fashionable "Swinging London", the miniskirt was able to spread beyond a simple street fashion into a major international trend. The style came into prominence when Jean Shrimpton wore a short white shift dress, made by Colin Rolfe, on 30 October 1965 at Derby Day, first day of the annual Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia, where it caused a sensation. According to Shrimpton, who claimed that the brevity of the skirt was due mainly to Rolfe's having insufficient material, the ensuing controversy was as much as anything to do with her having dispensed with a hat and gloves, seen as the essential accessories in such conservative society.^[5][6] The miniskirt was further popularized by André Courrèges, who developed it separately and incorporated it into his Mod look, for spring/summer 1965. His miniskirts were less body-hugging, and worn with the white "Courrèges boots" that became a trademark. By introducing the miniskirt into the haute couture of the fashion industry, Courrèges gave it a greater degree of respectability than might otherwise have been expected of a street fashion.

Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich was among the first U.S. designers to offer miniskirts.^[7]

Upper garments, such as rugby shirts, were sometimes adapted as mini-dresses. With the rise in hemlines, the wearing of tights or pantyhose, in place of stockings, became more common. Mary Quant cited this development in defence of the miniskirt:

"In European countries where they ban mini-skirts in the streets and say they're an invitation to rape, they don't understand about stocking tights underneath."^[8]

1970s

A stretch miniskirt, c. 1985

During the mid-1970s, the fashion industry largely returned to longer skirts such as the midi and the maxi. Journalist Christopher Booker gave two reasons for this reaction: firstly, that "there was almost nowhere else to go ... the mini-skirts could go no higher"; and secondly, in his view, "dressed up in mini-skirts and shiny PVC macs, given such impersonal names as 'dolly birds', girls had been transformed into throwaway plastic objects".^[9] Certainly this lengthening of hemlines coincided with the growth of the feminist movement. However, in the 1960s the mini had been regarded as a symbol of liberation, and it was worn by some, such as Germaine Greer and, in the following decade, Gloria Steinem^[10], who became known for their promotion of women's issues. Greer herself wrote in 1969 that:

"The women kept on dancing while their long skirts crept up, and their girdles dissolved, and their nipples burst through like hyacinth tips and their clothes withered away to the mere wisps and ghosts of draperies to adorn and glorify ..."^[11]

Indeed, miniskirts never entirely went away and, for example, were often worn by Deborah Harry, of the group Blondie, during the "new wave" of the late 70s. The song (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea (1978), by new wave artist Elvis Costello, contained the line: "There's no place here for the mini-skirt waddle."

1980s and 1990s

In the 1980s, short skirts began to re-emerge, notably in the form of "rah-rahs", which were modeled on those worn by female cheerleaders at sporting and other events. In the mid-1980s the "puffball" skirt enjoyed short term popularity, being worn by, among others, the Princess of Wales and singers Pepsi and Shirlie.^[12] Many women began to incorporate the miniskirt into their business attire, a trend which grew during the remainder of the century. Films and television series made in the mid-1990s (Friends, Sex and the City, Ally McBeal, for example) show how common the mini had become again. In the BBC TV series Keeping Up Appearances (1990-5) the snobbish Hyacinth Bucket was frequently outraged by the brevity of her sister Rose's skirts.

21st century

Around the turn of the 21st century, hipster trousers became highly fashionable for women. The micro mini or microskirt has been reworked as an even less substantial beltskirt, which is more an evocation of the idea of a skirt than something that covers anything substantial. However, these "microskirts" are rarely worn as streetwear, but for theatrical effect. Miniskirts are also seen worn over trousers or jeans, or with leggings that provide coverage of each leg from above the knee. Although "floaty" skirts were most closely associated with the boho look of mid-decade, short skirts also featured in some outfits, and in London, for example, minis were more widespread during the hot summer of 2006 than for several years before, a trend that continued through the mild autumn and winter and into the following summer. Stretch miniskirts and micro-minis are frequently made using Spandex material or PVC which are often worn by the more daring in conjunction with hold-ups and a pair of stiletto heel pumps.

In sport

Severine Bremond wearing a tennis miniskirt at the 2008 US Open

FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009)

For many years, the wearing of white dresses or skirts by female players was a requirement for competitions such as tennis, table tennis and badminton. Over time, tennis dresses got shorter and coloured clothing is now generally permitted.

The French Suzanne Lenglen discarded the usual tennis costume during the 1920 Summer Olympics for a dress produced by Jean Patou.^[13] The dress featured bare arms and a pleated skirt that was above the knee. In the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, in figure skating, the Norwegian Sonja Henie wore for the first time a short skirt.^[14]

At the Wimbledon Championships in 2007, Tatiana Golovin appeared dressed in red shorts under a white minidress. The organisers took a long time in determining that the clothing was within the regulations. In 2008, also at Wimbledon Maria Sharapova wore white shorts in place of the traditional miniskirt. On 16 September 2008, a Holland women's soccer team FC de Rakt broke tradition by playing not in shorts but in a mini skirt,^[15] which team captain Rinske Temming described as more elegant.[2]

Gallery

References

Bibliography

• Quant, Mary (1996). Quant by Quant. London: Cassell. 

External links

• "1960s Fashion Feature, including biographies, interviews, clothing and resources". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/1960s/index.html. 
• Random History article on the history of the miniskirt
• Mini Skirt trend in Japan school girls