Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
The miniskirt is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees, generally 20 cm or more above knee level. Its existence is generally credited to the fashion designer Mary Quant, who made it the centre of her London boutique fashion in the mid-1960s, though the designer Andre Courreges showed short skirts in Paris in the same period. This page explains how the miniskirt appeared, why it caused such argument, and how a hemline became the symbol of a decade.
Recently, Marit Allen, a Vogue "Young Ideas" editor at the time, has stated that "John Bates, in particular, has always been completely unappreciated for his contribution to the innovation and creativity he brought to the London design scene." He bared the midriff, used transparent vinyl and, Marit Allen asserts, was responsible for "the raising of the hemline. It was John Bates, rather than Mary Quant or Courrèges , who was responsible for the miniskirt." Bates' costumes and accessories for Diana Rigg in The Avengers define "Mod style."
Mary Quant ran a popular
clothes shop on Chelsea,
London's Kings Road called Bazaar, from which she
sold her own designs. In the late 1950s she began experimenting
with shorter skirts, which resulted in the miniskirt in
1965
one of the defining
fashions of the decade.
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 miniskirt was further popularised by André Courrèges, who developed it separately and incorporated it into his Mod look, for spring/summer 1965. His miniskirts were less body-hugging, worn with the white "Courreges boots" that became a trademark. By introducing the miniskirt into the haute couture of the fashion industry, Courreges gave it a greater degree of respectability than might otherwise have been expected of a street fashion.
The miniskirt was followed up in the mid-1960s by the even shorter micro skirt, which covers not much more than the intimate parts with the underpants. It has often been derogatorily referred to as a belt. Subsequently, the fashion industry largely returned to longer skirts such as the midi and the maxi. However, miniskirts remain popular.
The 1980s saw the miniskirt's introduction to the office. Many women began to incorporate the miniskirt into their business attire. Today, it is common to see a woman wearing a miniskirt in the office.
Around the turn of the 21st century, the micro 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. It may perhaps also provide rhythm for the hipline. Due to its revealing nature, the "beltskirt" is rarely worn in public. Miniskirts are also seen worn over trousers or jeans, or with strap-on trouser "leggings" that provide coverage of each leg from above the knee.
Learn more about short skirts.
Mini skirts are much different than maxi skirts. Learn the difference in our fashion product influence section.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/miniskirt). 2/7/06 |
A miniskirt is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees, generally 20 centimetres or more above knee level. It is worn with tights, stockings or bare legs depending on period and season.
Its existence is generally credited to Mary Quant, who sold miniskirts from her King's Road boutique Bazaar and named the style after the Mini car. Andre Courreges presented short skirts in Paris collections in the same years, so the credit is shared and disputed.
Hemlines had stopped at or below the knee for decades of adult fashion. The miniskirt, worn by young women as everyday dress, marked the arrival of youth as fashion's driving market and became the emblem of 1960s London.