![]() Aged 51, at a pub with my then boyfriend, who was 13 years younger, I remember wearing a little Agnes B number, faded denim with jean buttons down the front. In my 50s? Never! Or, rather, just the once. Into my 40s, when I’d put on weight, but my pins were still good, I went for slightly more demure minis, floaty and romantic. In my 20s and 30s - the 1980s and 90s - I had a whole rack of skintight minis you wore under long, shoulder-padded Dynasty-style jackets. At 16, Mum banned me from leaving the house in a knitted black version that barely covered my buttocks, so I put on a pair of jeans and stuffed it in my handbag to change into later. ![]() I wouldn’t wear a mini-mini now and if I do dare to wear a slightly shorter shirt, it’s not far above the knee at all and with opaque tights to conceal the thread veins.Ī quick scan through my own mini history brought back memories. what was I thinking?Įven a woman as gorgeous as you has to face the fact that when the clock dials up half a century, it’s time to dress your age. More than that, mini skirts are practical. Self-approval is hard-earned for most women and you should ruddy well get to enjoy it until you totter into your bath chair. Having gone through massive body insecurities when young, nothing’s going to stand between me and a little late-life flaunting of the parts I do like. My grandmother was wearing fishnets when she was 80. The key thing all mini wearers know is that a good pair of legs won’t let you down.īreasts and bottoms droop, stomachs recline into soft folds, arms get bingo wings, but pins keep their shape (true for men, too: just think of Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage). Biker, army, cowboy or riding boots are all chic options and practical, too. But generally it’s best to go for trainers or flattish boots. You might get away (and I like to think I do) with a boot with Cuban heels for party purposes. Ditto any form of high-heeled pump, stiletto or strappy sandal. We 50-something mere mortals can’t style them in the way Hollywood goddesses, punk designers and young women can.īare legs are usually unwise. Where I would advise some caution is in styling. ![]() Rowan (pictured) said mini skirts are practical and having gone through body insecurities when young, nothing is going to stop her from a little late-life flaunting of the parts she likes I looked at my own pins anew and saw them as assets, suddenly my wonky Pelling knees were borderline fashionable.įrom 1991, when I started my first job in London, I wore mini skirts with near-religious zeal - and have done ever since. Her words haunted me until my early 20s, when along came Kate Moss with her bandy legs and slight knock-knees. When I was 13, my mother told me I had ‘funny knees’ like her and probably shouldn’t wear short skirts. The fashion police haven’t arrested me so far.īy author and broadcaster Rowan Pelling, 53 Of course, what we felt comfortable wearing then may not be quite so easy to pull off now.įive UK-based writers debate if the mini-mini skirts trend is appropriate to wear after the age of 50 - including Rowan Pelling (pictured)Įven Charlotte Gainsbourg, the insanely youthful actress and daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg - whose skirt length of choice is ‘the shorter the better’ - is starting to question their appropriateness at the age of 50.Īfter donning a scalloped, mid-thigh showstopper on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival, she admitted this week: ‘I’m slowly moving into that age of thinking, “Is it still appropriate?” Or, “Am I looking like an old lady with a short skirt?” I know that one day I’ll have to stop.’īut will she? And do you really need to? Here five writers debate whether to raise their hems this autumn. Thanks to Mary Quant, they were almost mandatory in the Swinging Sixties and they spiked again in the 1990s. Whether or not the economics stack up, there’s no doubt the return of the mini skirt heralds a desire for post-pandemic fun. In 1926, economist George Taylor floated the idea of the hemline index - that skirts rise and fall according to the stock market. It’s easier said than done but maybe we should put those fears to one side and embrace this tiny trend. Love them or loathe them, you won’t escape them. Now they’ve taken over the High Street, too. There were fur-trimmed minis at Saint Laurent, metallic skater styles at Valentino, office appropriate designs (yes, there is such a thing) at Versace - the list goes on. They were the hemline length of choice on the autumn/winter catwalks. The trend this winter is something that stops suddenly mid-thigh, a mini-mini. The five words guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of any midlife woman are surely ‘the mini skirt is back!’īut it is - and not the sedate, conservative version that ends just above the knee.
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