Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A pencil skirt is a skirt with a straight, narrow cut that follows the body's contours from waist to hem, usually ending at or just below the knee. It is shaped with darts rather than flare, and almost always has a vent or slit at the back for walking. This page defines the pencil skirt, sets it against its hobble skirt ancestor, and explains its place in the tailored suit tradition.
A pencil skirt is a skirt that fits closely through the waist, hips and thighs and falls straight to about knee length, without flare, gathers or pleats. The name compares its silhouette — long and slim — to a pencil. Darts at the back waist, and often at the front, take in the difference between hip and waist so the fabric follows the body in one smooth line, and a centre-back seam carries the closure, usually a zip.
The defining construction problem of the pencil skirt is walking: a hem no wider than the hips leaves no room for a stride. The standard solution is a vent — an overlapped slit at the centre back, typically 15–25 cm long — or a kick pleat, an inverted pleat let into the back seam. Both open as the leg moves and lie flat when the wearer stands. A woven pencil skirt with neither feature is either cut with some stretch in the fabric or is not meant for walking far.
The pencil skirt descends from the hobble skirt of around 1910, which narrowed toward the ankle and genuinely restricted its wearers. The modern, practical form arrived after the Second World War: Christian Dior's New Look of 1947 matched fitted jackets with slim, below-knee skirts, and the pencil skirt became the standard skirt of the 1950s suit, as the skirt counterpart of the suit itself. It has remained the default tailored skirt since, its exact tightness adjusted by each decade's taste.
Two modern variants loosen the tailored original. Knit pencil skirts in ponte, scuba or heavy jersey rely on elastane rather than darts for their fit, drop the lining and usually the vent, and are worn as casual clothing. Denim pencil skirts are built like jeans — fly front, five pockets, topstitching — in the same fabric as the denim used for jeans; the short denim skirts of the early 1980s were typically pencil-shaped. Both variants keep the definition's essentials: a straight, close line from waist to hem and no flare anywhere. The product side of the style is covered in the Fashion Influence guide to pencil skirts.
A straight, narrow skirt, usually knee-length, that follows the line of the waist, hips and thighs without flare, named for its long slim shape.
The hem is as narrow as the hips, so a vent, slit or kick pleat at the back is needed to allow a normal walking stride.
The hobble skirt narrowed to the ankle and restricted movement; the pencil skirt stops at the knee and adds a back vent, making the close fit practical.