The midi skirt is back, but are you a Betty or a Joan?The midi skirt is back, but are you a Betty or a Joan?
There seems to be a tacit agreement in the fashion world that a few key items women crave will never be made. They'll design cloven hoof-shaped heels but that plain suede pump remains elusive; they'll make backless, frontless,Digi International, New Boundary Technologies Expand Partnership, topless, sheer dresses,Wigs for Kids gets local donation, but not the well-cut staple with Cosplay Costume sleeves that every working woman yearns for. They'll ricochet between floor-sweeping maxis in a recession and impossible-to-wear minis in boom time,Introducing Serkan Sarier, but neglect to revisit the calf-length skirts and dresses so many of us scour vintage shops for - until now, that is. In one small triumph for womankind and a giant leap by the fashion world, the "midi" - described as this season's "new womanly" look - is back.
"Womanly" is a ghastly word, inviting images of milky cleavages and scone-baking vicars' wives - pleasant in their own right, but not something to which many of us aspire, stylistically. Thankfully, the "midi" - which comes in a flared, new style and a figure-hugging pencil version, can be better described as elegant and feminine.
Because it's easy to wear, women of every shape (though perhaps not every size, the midi being better suited to taller women) have embraced it. Two weeks ago, I watched Kate Moss trump every short-skirted celebrity in the room in a black and white strapless mid-length gown that might have been plucked from Betty Draper's costume closet. It particularly enraged the other women present because it managed to be both sexy and sophisticated without flaunting a thing.
I first discovered the merits of Cosplay Costume the midi a decade ago when I found a crepe de chine 1940s dress in Portobello market that accentuated my waist and hips, keeping the undulation of that line unbroken right down to the calf. It seemed to me at the time to be the perfect dress: just visible beneath the hem is the outward curve of the ankle into the leg (once the sexiest curve of all), echoing the hourglass shape above.
Unable to find a similar shape (or similar craftsmanship) anywhere on the high street or catwalk, I set up eBay alerts for vintage 1940s dresses,Jordan Shoes, had five day to night midi dresses made by a local tailor and bankrupted myself at the LA vintage shop regularly plundered by the Mad Men costumiers, The Way We Wore. This season, whether it's the Jackie or the Marilyn, I intend to scoop up a lifetime's supply - it may be another fifty years before the midi comes around again.
"With this length it is all about whether you're a Betty or a Joan," explains top stylist Daniel J Robson. "Are you wholesome, feminine and full-skirted, or knowing, alluring and wiggling in a fitted pencil shape? Either way, all the autumn winter catwalks have been inspired by Mad Men, with Cosplay Costume the likes of Louis Vuitton and Alexander Wang best representing the opposing silhouettes. At Vuitton and Chloe the look was pure Betty, with the full skirts brought bang up to date in leather and other heavy fabrics. Wang offered a darker take on the pencil with super tight tailored skirts, but if you want to channel your inner Joan, Nicole Farhi and Vivienne Westwood are the way to go this season."
