Hobble Skirt

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A hobble skirt is a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride, thus earning its name. Though restrictive skirts first appeared in Western fashion in the 1880s, the term is typically used in reference to a short-lived trend of narrow ankle-length skirts in the early 1910s, made popular by designer Paul Poiret. Poiret was inspired by Katherine Wright, sister of the Wright brothers, who used a piece of rope to tie her skirts around her legs when flying with her brother Wilbur, to keep them from flapping in flight. This page explains the trend, why it faded, and how long tight skirts returned through the century.

A hobble skirt is a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride, thus earning its name. Though restrictive skirts first appeared in Western fashion in the 1880s, the term is typically used in reference to a short-lived trend of narrow ankle-length skirts in the early 1910s, made popular by designer Paul Poiret. Poiret was inspired by Katherine Wright, sister of the Wright Brothers, who used a piece of rope to tie her skirts around her legs when flying with her brother Wilbur, in order to keep them from flapping while in flight. The original trend faded quickly due to the advent of cars - hobble skirts made it difficult to get into one, as well as the general impracticality. Hobble skirts did however catch enough attention to become one of the identifying features of the time period - for example, the shape of the classic Coca-Cola bottle is named after them.

Long tight skirts would reappear through the century in various forms among women's fashions, particularly among evening gowns, and inspire the pencil skirt, a shorter version of a hobble skirt that became popular in the 1950s (though the latter would typically feature a slit to increase the wearer's mobility).

Since at least the mid-century, hobble skirts became a mainstay in bondage-oriented fetish fashion, often made out of leather, PVC, or latex. For example, they were a regular topic in the 1950's John Willie fetish magazine, Bizarre.

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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hobble_skirt).  1/14/06
 

Photos

Hobble skirt picture
Hobble skirt picture

Why the Trend Faded, and What Followed It

The hobble skirt's impracticality was built into its definition: a hem that impedes the stride makes stairs, streetcars and boarding any vehicle difficult. The original trend faded quickly due to the advent of cars — hobble skirts made it difficult to get into one — as well as general impracticality. Yet the silhouette did not disappear. Long tight skirts would reappear through the century in various forms among women's fashions, particularly among evening gowns, where a narrow skirt is worn for a short distance indoors rather than for a day of walking.

The hobble skirt's direct successor solved the mobility problem. The pencil skirt, a shorter version of a hobble skirt that became popular in the 1950s, typically features a slit to increase the wearer's mobility — the single construction change that separates a wearable narrow skirt from a hobbling one. The earlier history matters too: restrictive skirts had first appeared in Western fashion in the 1880s, so the 1910s trend was a revival of an idea fashion returns to whenever a smooth, narrow line is wanted, each time retreating when everyday movement reasserts itself. That cycle — narrow hem, fame, impracticality, a slit or a shorter length as the compromise — is the hobble skirt's whole story in fashion.

Common Questions

What is a hobble skirt?

A hobble skirt is a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride. The term typically refers to narrow ankle-length skirts of the early 1910s, made popular by designer Paul Poiret.

How did Katherine Wright inspire the hobble skirt?

Poiret was inspired by Katherine Wright, sister of the Wright brothers, who used a piece of rope to tie her skirts around her legs when flying with her brother Wilbur, in order to keep them from flapping while in flight.

What famous shape is named after the hobble skirt?

Hobble skirts caught enough attention to become one of the identifying features of the time period: the shape of the classic Coca-Cola bottle is named after them.

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