Culottes
Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Culottes are also known as a split skirt or divided skirt, and the style has also been called a skort — a portmanteau of skirt and shorts. While some garments sold as culottes resemble short trousers, to truly be culottes they need to look like a skirt: they differ from trousers or shorts by being much fuller at the bottom hem than at the waist. Culottes were developed to provide more freedom to do activities such as gardening, cleaning and bike riding while still looking like the wearer is wearing a skirt. This page explains the divided construction that makes that possible, the lengths culottes are made in, and how they sit between skirt and trouser in a wardrobe.
Culottes are also known as a split skirt or divided skirt. It has also been called a skort (a portmanteau for skirt and shorts). While some garments sold as culottes resemble short trousers, to truly be culottes they need to look like a skirt. Thus they differ from trousers or shorts by being much fuller at the bottom hem than at the waist. Culottes were developed in order to provide more freedom to do activities such as gardening, cleaning, bike riding, etc. and still look like the wearer is wearing a skirt.
Learn more about culottes in our fashion terms section.
You may also want to learn about
skorts in our
fashion influence section.
The following categories of clothing may also be of interest to you.
Evening Dress (White Tie)
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/skirt_and_dress). Modified by Apparel Search 11/2/04 |
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Wearing Culottes
Modern culottes are most often cut wide and cropped anywhere from below the knee to the ankle, in fabrics with enough drape to fall in skirt-like folds — crepe, viscose, linen and soft denim are common — though tailored wool and cotton versions work as office dress where the divided construction passes, at a glance, for a skirt. The width is the point and the challenge: the leg should fall straight from the hip without clinging, so the two legs read as one continuous skirt shape when the wearer stands still, and separate only in movement.
Styling follows the volume. A fitted or tucked-in top balances the wide leg, and footwear is chosen for the hem length — a heel or a clean flat both work, while a heavy shoe can shorten the leg visually under a mid-calf hem. Historically the divided skirt was a reform garment, part of the long argument that women should be able to ride, cycle and work without giving up the accepted silhouette of a skirt; today's culottes keep that practical inheritance in a purely fashionable form.
Common Questions
What are culottes?
Culottes are a divided skirt: a garment with separate legs like trousers, but cut much fuller at the bottom hem than at the waist so that it looks like a skirt when worn. They are also known as a split skirt or divided skirt.
Why were culottes developed?
Culottes were developed to provide more freedom to do activities such as gardening, cleaning and bike riding, while still looking like the wearer is wearing a skirt. The divided leg gives the movement of trousers under the appearance of a skirt.
How do culottes differ from a skort?
The words overlap, and culottes have also been called skorts. In stricter use, a skort is a skirt with a pair of shorts visible or built in beneath it, usually short, while culottes are a single divided garment, fuller and often longer, whose own wide legs create the skirt-like effect.