A Hemline Worth Talking About: Below-The-Knee Skirts

Hemlines: at this point in my life, they’re a personal thing. I mean personal as in subjective, not as in something that I would find offensive to discuss in polite company. By a certain age, every woman knows her own best skirt length. And I’m perfectly happy discussing mine: It’s mid-knee.

But hardly anyone discusses hemlines any more, and that’s because the general feeling among designers and fashion arbiters in general is that decades are no longer dominated by a single skirt silhouette or length. Give me ten minutes and I could point to essentially the same blue denim skirt from micro mini to maxi length. And that’s OK. We like choice. We also know that hemlines don’t predict the economy, but I found it very interesting to read that they do reflect past economic growth or contraction with about a three year lag.

below the knee skirts

And yet…the below-the-knee hemline is looking very fresh to me right now. It’s calling to me, and wants me to try it.

 

  1. ASOS midi pencil dress – This is one of Zara’s tiniest models, but this doesn’t look hugely clingy or tightly tailored.
  2. Boden modern midi skirt – This one is potentially problematic, in that it’s a bit too long, and a bit too straight. This could work with boots, but could otherwise squash you like it’s cousin, Capri pants.
  3. J. Crew long No. 2 pencil skirt – This comes in a bunch of colors, and I wanted to prove I can find something other than black.
  4. Trouve rib panel pencil skirt – Two magic words: elastic waist.
  5. Zara tone-on-tone black skirt – Proving that below-the-knee doesn’t have to be straight or of the “wiggle” variety.