# Marcia Brady - Shorts or a Skirt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612 "2019-09-21T14:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/21 "2019-09-21T22:25:28Z")
I had never seen that video before and I have no desire to see it again. Another vote for skort; but not the type in the Wikipedia description. [Here’s one](https://communitythriftandvintage.com/products/vintage-1940s-1950s-cotton-blue-pleated-skort-free-shipping) which matches my recollection, which I thought was from the 60’s, but may be from the 50’s: shorts, but with the legs flared and shaped so as to look as much like a skirt as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/22 "2019-09-21T22:40:23Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Definitely culottes: a short skirt that has two separate legs. That sort of style was popular in the time the show was on the air. > > Nowadays, culottes tend to have long legs, but back in the early 70s, they were the length of a short skirt. They were banned in my high school as being against the dress code. I only had to see about 1 second of the video. Those are absolutely culottes. The girls in my high school once talked the nuns into allowing culottes at a school dance, without specifying how long the legs had to be. The nuns were thinking of the full style[like our cheerleaders wore.](https://pattern-walk.com/product/mccalls-8893-girls-cheerleader-majorette-costumes-size-ch-7-8-10-used-sewing-pattern/) The nuns were. . . surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/23 "2019-09-22T00:54:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The nuns were. . . surprised. In my experience, surprised nuns are… not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/24 "2019-09-22T01:07:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Definitely culottes: a short skirt that has two separate legs. That sort of style was popular in the time the show was on the air. > > Nowadays, culottes tend to have long legs, but back in the early 70s, they were the length of a short skirt. They were banned in my high school as being against the dress code. Yeah, definitely culottes or a skort. If you have to google these terms, you don’t know. I wore skorts and super short culottes like this. And, yes, we called them culottes. Longer culottes were what we called palazzo pants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/25 "2019-09-22T05:27:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Oddly, when I Googled culottes I see a bunch of stuff that is calf-length. Nope, those aren’t culottes folks. > [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, definitely culottes or a skort. If you have to google these terms, you don’t know. I wore skorts and super short culottes like this. And, yes, we called them culottes. Longer culottes were what we called palazzo pants. 🙂 Culottes, pedal pushers, clam diggers, and capris are simply different words for the same thing – pants where the hem hits mid-calf. I don’t know why the fashion world decided it was necessary to have four different words for the same thing, but I suppose it’s in their interest to confuse people. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/26 "2019-09-22T06:18:24Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Culottes, pedal pushers, clam diggers, and capris are simply different words for the same thing – pants where the hem hits mid-calf. > > I don’t know why the fashion world decided it was necessary to have four different words for the same thing, but I suppose it’s in their interest to confuse people. They’re not the same. You might not care about the differences, but they exist. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/27 "2019-09-22T13:17:48Z")
I don’t know. Unfortunately I only got a brief glance and then they started “dancing,” compelling me to pluck out my eyes so that I would suffer it no more. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/28 "2019-09-22T14:32:32Z")
Thanks for the replies, I thought Maureen had a pretty good voice. Too bad we can’t ask her personally 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/29 "2019-09-22T15:45:14Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > Try not to think about the fact that you are unabashedly staring at Marsha Brady’s crotch. I wasn’t staring at her crotch, just her legs. Looks like skort to me, what little attention I paid to the outfit. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/30 "2019-09-22T22:02:49Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > They’re not the same. You might not care about the differences, but they exist. Yeah, they’re absolutely different. Small differences, but anyone who knows what any of those terms mean would know what you were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/31 "2019-09-23T00:39:55Z")
A skort had a sort of a wraparound panel in front that made it look more like a skirt, while a culotte had a plain front that looked more like shorts. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/32 "2019-09-23T03:23:45Z")
It absolutely is a faux skort.😃 I had many skorts in my day. A skort looks like a very “short” skirt from the front, and shorts from the back. They are short. Culottes are wide leg pants that range from above the knee to above the ankle, much longer, and they become palazzo pants. Capris and pedal pushers are the same. Fitted pants that fall from below the knee to above the ankle. Clam diggers are short pants, that are usually slouchy, not fitted, and maybe have a gathered, or drawstring waist. Marsha is wearing flared leg, pleated shorts. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/33 "2019-09-23T15:50:15Z")
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/34 "2019-09-23T15:54:14Z")
From the title, I thought this was going to be a “which do you prefer?” thread. (For the record: Skirt.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/35 "2019-09-23T17:10:08Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Thanks for the replies, I thought Maureen had a pretty good voice. Too bad we can’t ask her personally 🙂 I hate to disillusion you, but all the Brady kids’ voices were covered by professional singers. Susan Day and Danny Bonaduce didn’t play their own instruments on the Partridge Family, either. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/36 "2019-09-23T22:06:35Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, definitely culottes or a skort. If you have to google these terms, you don’t know. I wore skorts and super short culottes like this. And, yes, we called them culottes. Longer culottes were what we called palazzo pants. 🙂 I think we called the mid calf length ones gaucho pants. I haven’t heard that term in years, no idea if it’s used anymore (gaucho pants, I mean). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612/37 "2019-09-24T12:36:40Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Thanks for the replies, I thought Maureen had a pretty good voice. Too bad we can’t ask her personally 🙂 Why not? She’s still alive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcia-brady-shorts-or-a-skirt/840612.md?page=1)