A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment A feature of all modern human societies is the wearing of clothing, a category encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin that hangs from the waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso and covers all or part of the legs As an anatomical animal structure it is used for locomotion. The distal end is often modified to distribute force . Most animals have an even number of legs.

In European culture Thee foundation of European culture was laid by the Greeks, strengthened by the Romans, stabilized by Christianity, reformed and modernised by the Fifteenth Century Renaissance and Reformation and globalized by the European Empires of the nineteenth and twentieth century, including predominantly Muslim Ottoman Turks. Thus the European Culture, skirts are usually considered women's A woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Women's rights" clothing. However, there are exceptions. The kilt The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly. It is most often made of woollen cloth in a tartan is a traditional men's The term man is used for an adult human male (the term boy is the usual term for a human male child or adolescent). However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole. Sometimes it is also used to identify a male human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Men's rights" garment in Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland, and some fashion designers, such as Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean-Paul Gaultier is a French haute couture fashion designer and previous host of television series Eurotrash, have shown men's skirts.

At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment A draped garment is a garment that is made of unstitched cloth that is held to the body by means of pins, fibulae, or clasps, sashes or belts, tying, or friction and gravity alone. Many draped garments are one-piece garments made out of a single piece of material (such as pareos The pāreu or pareo is the Cook Islands and Tahitian word for a wraparound skirt. Originally it was used only to refer to women's skirts, as men wore a loincloth, called a maro. Nowadays the term is applied to any piece of cloth worn wrapped around the body, worn by males or females. It is related to the Malay sarong, Sāmoan lavalava, Tongan), but most skirts are fitted to the body at the waist and fuller below, with the fullness introduced by means of dart, gores, pleats A pleat is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference, or panels. Modern skirts are usually made of light to mid-weight fabrics A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or pressing fibres together, such as denim Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late eighteenth century. The word comes from the name of a sturdy fabric, jersey, worsted, or poplin. Skirts of thin or clingy fabrics are often worn with slips A slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool. Slips are also worn for warmth, and to protect fine fabrics from perspiration to make the material of the skirt drape better and for modesty.

The hemline The hemline is the line formed by the lower edge of a garment, such as a skirt, dress or coat of skirts can be as high as the upper thigh In humans the thigh is the area between the pelvis and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion Fashion, a general term for the style and custom prevalent at a given time, in its most common usage refers to costume or clothing style. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special and the modesty Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged.[citation needed] or personal taste of the wearer.

Some medieval upper-class women wore skirts over three metres in diameter at the bottom. At the other extreme, the miniskirts A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than 10 cm below the buttocks; 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 of the 1960s were minimal garments that may have barely covered the underwear when seated.

Costume historians typically use the word "petticoat A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing for women; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist" to describe skirt-like garments of the 18th century or earlier.

History

Skirts have been worn by men and women from many cultures, such as the lungi The lungi, also known as a sarong or dhoti , is a garment worn around the waist in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar , Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula . It is particularly popular in regions where the heat and humidity create an unpleasant climate for trousers, kanga The kanga is a colourful garment similar to kitenge, worn by women and occasionally by men throughout Eastern Africa. It is a piece of printed cotton fabric, about 1.5m by 1m, often with a border along all four sides (called pindo in Swahili), and a central part (mji) which differs in design from the borders. Khangas are usually very colorful and sarong A sarong or sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist and worn as a kilt by men and as a skirt by women throughout much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric most often has woven plaid or checkered patterns, or may be brightly colored by worn in South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as the Indian subcontinent south of the and Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity, and the kilt The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly. It is most often made of woollen cloth in a tartan worn in Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland.

The earliest known culture to have females wear clothing resembling miniskirts A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than 10 cm below the buttocks; 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 were the Duan Qun Miao The Miao (Chinese: 苗; pinyin: Miáo; Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Thai: แม้ว or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: mun lu-myo) are a linguistically and culturally related group of people recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-, which literally meant "short skirt Miao" in Chinese Chinese or the Sinitic language (汉语／漢語 Hànyǔ; 华语／華語 Huáyǔ; 中文 Zhōngwén) is a language family consisting of languages which are mostly mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages. This was in reference to the short miniskirts "that barely cover the buttocks" worn by women of the tribe, and which were "probably shocking" to observers in medieval The Middle Ages is a period of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The period followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and preceded the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a three-period division of history: Classical, Medieval, and Modern. The term "Middle Ages" (medium aevum) was coined in and early modern In history, the early modern era of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Historians refer to the period beginning in AD 1453 and lasting to AD 1789. The events include the first European colonies, the rise of strong centralized governments, and the beginnings of recognizable nation states that are the direct antecedents of today's states times.^[1]

Skirts in the 19th century

During the nineteenth century the cut of women's dresses in western culture varied more widely than in any other century. Waistlines The waistline is the line of demarcation between the upper and lower portions of a garment, which notionally corresponds to the natural waist but may vary with fashion from just below the bust to below the hips. The waistline of a garment is often used to accentuate different features. The waistline is also important as a boundary at which shaping started just below the bust (the Empire silhouette An Empire silhouette is created by a woman wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress helps to lengthen the body's appearance. Here the word &) and gradually sank to the natural waist. Skirts started fairly narrow and increased dramatically to the hoopskirt A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape and crinoline Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman’s dress into the required shape. In form and function it is-supported styles of the 1860s; then fullness was draped and drawn to the back by means of bustles A bustle is a type of framework used to expand the fullness or support the drapery of the back of a woman's dress, occurring predominantly in the mid- to late 1800s. Bustles were worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. Thus, a.

See also History of Western fashion The history of Western fashion is the story of the changing fashions in clothing for men and women in Western Europe and other countries under its influence from the 12th century to the present: 1795-1820 Fashion in the period 1795–1820 in European and European-influenced countries saw the final triumph of undress or informal styles over the brocades, lace, periwig, and powder of the earlier eighteenth century. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, no one in France wanted to appear to be an aristocrat, while in Britain, Beau Brummell, 1820s During the 1820s in European and European-influenced countries, fashionable women's clothing styles transitioned away from the classically-influenced "Empire"/"Regency" styles of ca. 1795–1820 and re-adopted elements that had been characteristic of most of the 18th century (and were to be characteristic of the remainder of, 1830s 1830s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by an emphasis on breadth, initially at the shoulder and later in the hips, in contrast to the narrower silhouettes that had predominated between 1800 and the 1820s, 1840s 1840s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a narrow, natural shoulder line following the exaggerated puffed sleeves of the later 1820s and 1830s. The narrower shoulder was accompanied by a lower waistline for both men and women, 1850s 1850s fashion in Western and Western-influenced clothing is characterized by an increase in the width of women's skirts supported by crinolines or hoops, and the beginnings of dress reform, 1860s 1860s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by extremely full-skirted women's fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of "alternative fashions" under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement, 1870s 1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s, 1880s Fashion in the 1880s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by the return of the bustle. The long, lean line of the 1870s was replaced by a full, curvy silhouette with gradually widening shoulders. Fashionable waists were low and tiny below a full, low bust supported by a corset. The Rational Dress Society was founded in 188, 1890s Fashionable women's clothing styles shed some of the extravagances of previous decades , but corseting continued unmitigated, or even slightly increased in severity. Early 1890s dresses consisted of a tight bodice with the skirt gathered at the waist and falling more naturally over the hips and undergarments than in previous years

Victorian fashion Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and grew in province throughout the Victorian era and the reign of Victoria, a period which would last from June 1837 to January 1901. Covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the 63 year reign would see numerous changes in fashion. These changes, Artistic Dress movement The Artistic Dress movement and its successor, Aesthetic Dress, were fashion trends in nineteenth century clothing that rejected the highly structured and heavily trimmed Paris fashion of the day in favour of beautiful materials and simplicity of design, Victorian dress reform.

Skirts in the 20th and 21st centuries

Beginning around 1915, hemlines for daytime dresses left the floor for good. For the next fifty years fashionable skirts became short (1920s). then long (1930s), then shorter (the War Years with their restrictions on fabric), then long (the New Look), then shortest of all during the 1960s, when skirts became as short as possible while avoiding exposure of underwear, which was considered taboo.

Since the 1970s and the rise of pants for women as an option for all but the most formal of occasions, no one skirt length has dominated fashion for long, with short and ankle-length styles often appearing side-by-side in fashion magazines and catalogs.

Basic types

• Straight skirt or Pencil skirt, a tailored skirt hanging straight from the hips and fitted from the waist to the hips by means of darts or a yoke; may have a kick-pleat for ease of walking
• Full skirt, a skirt with fullness gathered into the waistband
• Short skirt, a skirt with hemline above the knee.
• Bell-shaped skirt, eponymous to its namesake
• A-line skirt, a skirt with a slight flare, roughly in the shape of a capital letter A
• Pleated skirt, a skirt with fullness reduced to fit the waist by means of regular pleats ('plaits') or folds, which can be stitched flat to hip-level or free-hanging
• Circle skirt, a skirt cut in sections to make one or more circles with a hole for the waist, so the skirt is very full but hangs smoothly from the waist without darts, pleats, or gathers
• Hobble skirt, long and tight skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride

Fads and fashions

• Ballerina skirt, a full-length formal skirt popular in the 1950s.
• Broomstick skirt, a light-weight ankle length skirt with many crumpled pleats formed by compressing and twisting the garment while wet, such as around a broomstick. (1980s and on)
• Bubble dress/skirt, a voluminous skirt whose hem is tucked back under to create a “bubble effect” at the bottom. Popular in the 1950s, 1980s and from the mid 2000s to currently.
• Cargo skirt, a plain utilitarian skirt with belt loops and numerous large pockets, based on the military style of Cargo pants and popularised in the 1990s.
• Dirndl, a skirt made of a straight length of fabric gathered at the waist
• Jean skirt, a trouser skirt made of denim, often designed like 5-pocket jeans, but found in a large variety of styles.
• Leather skirt, a skirt made of leather
• Kilt-skirt, a wrap-around skirt with overlapping aprons in front and pleated around the back. Though traditionally designed as women's wear, it is fashioned to mimic somewhat closely the general appearance of a (man's) kilt, including the usage of a plaid pattern more or less closely resembling those of recognized tartan patterns of Scotland.

• Maxiskirt, an ankle length-skirt (1970s, but has made a comeback in the 2000s)
• Midi skirt, mid-calf length. See: 1970s in fashion.
• Miniskirt, a thigh-length skirt, and micromini, an extremely short version (1960s)
• Poodle skirt, a circle or near-circle skirt with an appliqued poodle or other decoration (1950s)
• Prairie skirt, a flared skirt with one or more flounces or tiers (1970s and on)
• Rah-rah skirt, a short, tiered, and often colourful skirt fashionable in the early-mid 1980s.
• Sarong, a square of fabric wrapped around the body and tied on one hip to make a skirt; worn as a skirt or as a cover-up over a bathing suit in tropical climates.
• Tiered skirt, made of several horizontal layers, each wider than the one above, and divided by stitching. Layers may look identical in solid-colored garments, or may differ when made of printed fabrics.
• Trouser skirt, a straight skirt with the part above the hips tailored like men's trousers, with belt loops, pockets, and fly front
• T-skirt, made from a T-shirt, the T-skirt is generally modified to result in a pencil skirt, with invisible zippers, full length 2-way separating side zippers, as well as artful fabric overlays and yokes.
• Legwear and footwear with skirts. Popular legwear trends now include: skirts with striped tube socks popular with the Rocker style of dressing, skirts with leggings sometimes with lace trim and opaque footless tights, and opaque tights especially in black and also in gray and other colors, and skirts with fun knee socks in styles such as argyle in many colors and solid bright colors. Uggs, classic sneakers like Converse, Chuck Taylor All-Stars and Keds, flats, and Sperry Top-Siders are popular footwear now with skirts.

Lehenga

Lehenga is a traditional dress of women of North India, and Pakistan worn below waistline and extends to the toe, upper part of the body is covered with a choli or Kameez. The lehenga is particularly popular form of dress for women in Punjab.

In Punjabi, it's known as a "lehnga". In South India, it is known as a langa (in Telugu), a pavada (in Malayalam) or a pavadai (in Tamil).

Male wear

There are a number of male garments which fall under the category of "skirt" or "dress." These go by a variety of names and form part of the traditional dress for men from various cultures. Usage varies - the dhoti is part of everyday dress on the Indian subcontinent while the kilt is more usually restricted to occasional wear and the foustanella is used almost exclusively as costume. Robes, which are a type of dress for men, have existed in many cultures, including the Japanese kimono, the Chinese cheongsam, the Arabic thobe, and the African Senegalese kaftan. Robes are also used in some religious orders, such as the cassock in Christianity and various robes and cloaks that may be used in pagan rituals. Examples of men's skirts and skirt like garments from various cultures include:

• The kilt is a skirt of Gaelic and Celtic history, part of the Scottish national dress in particular, and is worn formally and to a lesser extent informally. Irish and Welsh kilts also exist but are not so much a part of national identity.
• The foustanella is worn by men in Greece and other parts of the Balkans. By the mid-20th Century, it was relegated to ceremonial use and as period or traditional costume.
• The gho is a knee-length robe worn by men in Bhutan. They are required to wear it every day as part of national dress.^{[citation needed]}
• The sarong is a piece of cloth that may be wrapped around the waist to form a skirt-like garment. Sarongs exist in various cultures under various names, including the pareo and lavalava of the Hawaiian islands and Polynesia (Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and Fiji), the Indian dhoti and lungi, and the South Indian mundu.

In the Western world skirts, dresses and similar garments are considered primarily women's clothing today although historically that was not the case.^[2] The wearing of skirts by men in these areas was generally seen as cross-dressing although some fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier have produced skirts for men and kilts are widely accepted in some situations.

Gallery of skirt styles

See also

• 1970s in fashion
• Blouse
• Clothing terminology
• Dress
• Women wearing pants
• Men's skirts

References

1. ^ Harrell, Stevan (1995), Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers, University of Washington Press, pp. 98 & 103, ISBN 0295975288
2. ^ A closer look at men in skirts, CNN, November 3, 2003. Retrieved March 17, 2008.

• Oxford English Dictionary
• Brockmamn, Helen L.: The Theory of Fashion Design, Wiley, 1965.
• Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0-308-10052-2)
• Tozer, Jane, and Sarah Levitt: Fabric of Society: A Century of People and Their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Ltd., 1983; ISBN 0-9508913-0-4

External links

• Stylopedia -- an online dictionary of fashion details
• ApparelSeach glossary of textile and apparel terms
• An international dress size converter

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