# How short were women's skirts in 1962 ("X-Men: First Class"-related question) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339 "2011-06-13T18:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/1 "2011-06-13T18:01:04Z")
I saw “X-Men : First Class” over the weekend, and enjoyed it. One thing that I noticed about the movie was the short skirts on the women. I enjoyed the visual, but I was thinking it was a bit anachronistic to portray the skirts that short in a movie set in 1962. Am I wrong in thinking that skirts that short were post-1965? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/2 "2011-06-13T18:09:49Z")
If your name is Jacqueline Bouvier, [knee-length](http://freedomfightersforamerica.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/KNC1967713DEC1962.147234753_std.jpg) or [bottom of the knee](http://www.vanityfair.com/images/style/2009/06/jackie-michelle-0906-ps01.jpg). I really believe that if one tried hard enough one could make a case for Jackie being a leading style-setter of 1962. Hey, it’s my 9,000th post. Woo hoo, go me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/3 "2011-06-13T18:19:42Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > If your name is Jacqueline Bouvier, [knee-length](http://freedomfightersforamerica.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/KNC1967713DEC1962.147234753_std.jpg) or [bottom of the knee](http://www.vanityfair.com/images/style/2009/06/jackie-michelle-0906-ps01.jpg). I really believe that if one tried hard enough one could make a case for Jackie being a leading style-setter of 1962. For women over 35, maybe, but I woudn’t take that as a cite for what 17-25 year olds were wearing. I don’t know if it was mini-skirts, but I don’t think they aspired to dress like the former First Lady. The Wikipedia article on mini-skirts claims they gained popularity in London starting in 1965. So a little late for the Cuban Missle Crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/4 "2011-06-13T18:25:16Z")
Yup. I seem to remember miniskirts coming in later & Wikipedia confirmed that 1965 was the year Mary Quant started shocking the elders. (Although rather mature women adopted the look in later years.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/5 "2011-06-13T18:25:22Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I saw “X-Men : First Class” over the weekend, and enjoyed it. One thing that I noticed about the movie was the short skirts on the women. I enjoyed the visual, but I was thinking it was a bit anachronistic to portray the skirts that short in a movie set in 1962. Am I wrong in thinking that skirts that short were post-1965? No, but trust me - historical accuracy was something that the film-makers were definitely striving _against_. 😉 IMHO, there were all sorts of clues in the movie that showed that this wasn’t _our_ 1962. For example, the nukes in Turkey were in Turkey when the real-world Cuban Missle Crisis (CMC) hit, have been there for 2-3 years, and were not the precipitating event of the CMC (that was likely the Bay of Pigs invasion). However, in the film, putting missles in 1962 Turkey was definitely the _casus belli_ for the CMC. Miniskirts were another. Songs being played prior to our world’s release (though that could have been a soundtrack issue) were a third. Fun movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/6 "2011-06-13T18:31:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Miniskirts were another. Songs being played prior to our world’s release (though that could have been a soundtrack issue) were a third. Considering one of the songs they used was “Run” by Gnarls Barkley (from 2008), I would say it was a conscious choice. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/7 "2011-06-13T18:58:58Z")
Yeah, but I couldn’t remember if it was being played as being “within” the scene (i.e., a character listening to it) or if the song was being played “over” the scene (i.e., a montage). ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/8 "2011-06-13T19:28:19Z")
You are right. Skirts were not that short in the early 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/9 "2011-06-13T19:32:32Z")
Before miniskirts caught on, skirts that showed the knees were eyebrow raisers. Just over the knee was as short as I remember them on teenagers even in 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/10 "2011-06-13T20:18:56Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > For women over 35, maybe, but I woudn’t take that as a cite for what 17-25 year olds were wearing. > > I don’t know if it was mini-skirts, but I don’t think they aspired to dress like the former First Lady. > > The Wikipedia article on mini-skirts claims they gained popularity in London starting in 1965. So a little late for the Cuban Missle Crisis. Sorry, I missed in the OP where the age range was specified. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/11 "2011-06-13T21:07:33Z")
Also thought it was a hoot that they gave [Xavier](http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/X-Men-First-CLass-Professor-Xavier-James-McAvoy-570x379.jpg) and [Banshee](http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/TheFish2/CMS/ImageGallery/Movies/x%20men%20first%20class%20banshee.jpg) those hairstyles when people of that time made a fuss over [this hair](http://www.retrorebirth.com/images/blog-beatles/Beatles-Fab-Four-John-Lennon-Paul-McCartney-George-Harrison-Ringo-Starr-209.jpg) being shockingly long. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/12 "2011-06-13T21:33:19Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Also thought it was a hoot that they gave [Xavier](http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/X-Men-First-CLass-Professor-Xavier-James-McAvoy-570x379.jpg) and [Banshee](http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/TheFish2/CMS/ImageGallery/Movies/x%20men%20first%20class%20banshee.jpg) those hairstyles when people of that time made a fuss over [this hair](http://www.retrorebirth.com/images/blog-beatles/Beatles-Fab-Four-John-Lennon-Paul-McCartney-George-Harrison-Ringo-Starr-209.jpg) being shockingly long. Wow! I’m glad that you pointed that out. The Beatles’ hair really wasn’t long at all in those pics that you posted. And yet, it was shockingly long for their time! Funny! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/13 "2011-06-13T21:49:35Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Also thought it was a hoot that they gave [Xavier](http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/X-Men-First-CLass-Professor-Xavier-James-McAvoy-570x379.jpg) and [Banshee](http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/TheFish2/CMS/ImageGallery/Movies/x%20men%20first%20class%20banshee.jpg) those hairstyles when people of that time made a fuss over [this hair](http://www.retrorebirth.com/images/blog-beatles/Beatles-Fab-Four-John-Lennon-Paul-McCartney-George-Harrison-Ringo-Starr-209.jpg) being shockingly long. Yeah, the hair was another thing that was out of whack… also the lack of hats on men. I know the meme is that JFK killed hats as style-wear for men, but he didn’t do so in just a year and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/14 "2011-06-13T21:53:13Z")
I noticed the skirts, the haircuts, the historical inaccuracy (Turkey) and even the relaxed way the kids spoke seemed a little too modern to me, but I was able to rationalize all that away as this being events in an alternate reality - one with superheroes. What took me out of the movie was the gargantuan radar-scope that they tossed Banshee off. I wondered if there were scopes like that back in '62. Of course, that didn’t bother me as much as the idea that one just happens to be in Westchester County, in clear sight of Xavier’s castle…I mean mansion. Telepaths, shapeshifters, blue-furred feral people, massive historical anachronisms I can accept. But the affluent upper-crust residents of Westchester County allowing an eyesore like that to block their views? No, that is too much to swallow. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/15 "2011-06-13T21:54:56Z")
Exactly! I mean, c’mon! Keep it _real_, people! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/16 "2011-06-13T22:03:42Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Sorry, I missed in the OP where the age range was specified. Well, it wasn’t in the OP, but in the movie these were young people. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/17 "2011-06-13T22:58:17Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > If your name is Jacqueline Bouvier, [knee-length](http://freedomfightersforamerica.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/KNC1967713DEC1962.147234753_std.jpg) or [bottom of the knee](http://www.vanityfair.com/images/style/2009/06/jackie-michelle-0906-ps01.jpg). I really believe that if one tried hard enough one could make a case for Jackie being a leading style-setter of 1962. > > Hey, it’s my 9,000th post. Woo hoo, go me. 🆒 Alas, it wasn’t until Lady Bird Johnson we got to see a First Lady swinging a mini skirt… ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/18 "2011-06-14T03:26:23Z")
Okay, I confess – I was in my early twenties in 1962, and the answer is: no, mini-skirts were not in vogue at that time. What was in vogue? Hippie wear - long skirts; peasant blouses, lots of beaded jewelry; long, disheveled hair for girls and boys, bell bottom jeans (for girls and boys), and weed. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/19 "2011-06-14T03:46:43Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I saw “X-Men : First Class” over the weekend, and enjoyed it. One thing that I noticed about the movie was the short skirts on the women. I enjoyed the visual, but I was thinking it was a bit anachronistic to portray the skirts that short in a movie set in 1962. Am I wrong in thinking that skirts that short were post-1965? You are absolutely correct. In 1962 skirts were a good few/several inches below the knee or at the calf. Kneelength skirts and shorter came after 1965. By the very early 1970s micromini skirts were common on the young. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339/20 "2011-06-14T04:55:24Z")
> [@Sycorax](#): > > Okay, I confess – I was in my early twenties in 1962, and the answer is: no, mini-skirts were not in vogue at that time. Correct. > [@](#): > > What was in vogue? Hippie wear - long skirts; peasant blouses, lots of beaded jewelry; long, disheveled hair for girls and boys, bell bottom jeans (for girls and boys), and weed. In 1962? No way. This was all post-Beatles stuff. 1972 certainly, 1967 maybe, but not 1962. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-short-were-womens-skirts-in-1962-x-men-first-class-related-question/585339.md?page=2)