2008 Woodie Awards
Rock the Skirts Campaign
Student Vote Confirms, It's All About the Minis, Baby!
Kristen Carlson
Issue date: 10/7/04 Section: Feature
If you haven't seen it yet, you've been quite sheltered. The pleated mini skirt is the hottest fashion trend that began last spring and continues to remain prominent on store shelves. American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hot Topic, and many other stores have featured this important closet necessity, but haven't you ever wondered how it got so popular?
The pleated skirt first came out in the 1950s. It joined the poodle skirt and the pencil skirt as the three fashion must-haves for all women at that time. Keep in mind that women during the 50's never wore pants except for the most casual of activities, so they needed a little more variation in the types of skirts they wore.
However, the pleated skirt from the 50's was much, much longer than the variation worn today. Hemlines were right at the knee, or below it.
The less modest version of the skirt brings us to the miniskirt style of the 1960s. Surprisingly, the miniskirt was not widely known until the very late 60's, and yet it is one of the most well-known fashion icons of the decade. The pleated miniskirt is a new-century fashion spin on the best styles of those two decades, and one that is befuddling men everywhere.
The first time this adorable skirt made a more recent debut was on the sidelines as a critical part to cheerleading outfits.
In cheerleading, the pleats in the skirt allowed for more movement and, let's face it, just look better than straight skirts between back flips, and being tossed in the air by teammates.
The skirt style is so popular now that it comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, as well as in different textures and fabrics.
A lacy, hot pink or bright green version may be found at Nordstrom or Contempo Casual, while the ever-so-classy dark denim pleated skirt can be found at Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle.
"I love the pleated mini skirts!" says general humanities senior Sabrenay Brandon. "I have one and the last time I wore it, I went to Wal-Mart." Since it comes in so many different fabrics, from 100 percent cotton to denim to tweed, the skirt can take you from morning class to the hottest club at night, or even to, that's right, Wal-Mart.
The pleated skirt first came out in the 1950s. It joined the poodle skirt and the pencil skirt as the three fashion must-haves for all women at that time. Keep in mind that women during the 50's never wore pants except for the most casual of activities, so they needed a little more variation in the types of skirts they wore.
However, the pleated skirt from the 50's was much, much longer than the variation worn today. Hemlines were right at the knee, or below it.
The less modest version of the skirt brings us to the miniskirt style of the 1960s. Surprisingly, the miniskirt was not widely known until the very late 60's, and yet it is one of the most well-known fashion icons of the decade. The pleated miniskirt is a new-century fashion spin on the best styles of those two decades, and one that is befuddling men everywhere.
The first time this adorable skirt made a more recent debut was on the sidelines as a critical part to cheerleading outfits.
In cheerleading, the pleats in the skirt allowed for more movement and, let's face it, just look better than straight skirts between back flips, and being tossed in the air by teammates.
The skirt style is so popular now that it comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, as well as in different textures and fabrics.
A lacy, hot pink or bright green version may be found at Nordstrom or Contempo Casual, while the ever-so-classy dark denim pleated skirt can be found at Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle.
"I love the pleated mini skirts!" says general humanities senior Sabrenay Brandon. "I have one and the last time I wore it, I went to Wal-Mart." Since it comes in so many different fabrics, from 100 percent cotton to denim to tweed, the skirt can take you from morning class to the hottest club at night, or even to, that's right, Wal-Mart.