Miniskirts -- definition

Cafe Society
1

I think that this is the right forum–it seems to me that a thread about clothing would go here.

I got curious about the definition of a miniskirt, because usages seem to be all over the map.

Even different sources have different definitions. Some are based on the overall length; some are based on the height above the knees; etc. One of the more common ones I’ve come across is “at least 4 inches above the knee.” So perhaps the “perceived definition”; i.e., what people think, might be the most useful.

For instance, this:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1200/0724/products/bottoms-plus-size-ponte-mini-skirt-charcoal-1_400x.jpg?v=1484963645

and this:

are both advertised as miniskirts. I think that they’re both too long to be considered miniskirts.

I lean toward the definition that I quoted.
To me, this is a miniskirt; perhaps slightly shorter than average, but well within the normal range.
https://slimages.macysassets.com/is/image/MCY/products/5/optimized/9303745_fpx.tif??op_sharpen=1&fit=fit,1&filterxlrg&wid=1200&hei=1467

Here is another.

So what are the Doper’s opinions? How short does a skirt have to be, to qualify as “mini”?

2

I don’t know the definition, but I know one when I see one.

3

It’s not a miniskirt if you aren’t at least a little self-conscious when you sit down.

4

Mid-thigh or shorter.

5

My high school girlfriend’s mom was a buyer for a large chain and forbid miniskirts. She use to check by folding a dollar bill in half the long direction. If the bottom of the skirt wasn’t at least that far from the buttocks she wasn’t allowed to leave the house.

No sure how official that is but it stuck in my head.

6

Speaking as someone who’s never worn one*, I generally see the definition as “short enough that some thigh is showing.”

  • I’m a guy, but I have worn dressed twice, at costume parties. Both were longer skirts, however. :smiley:
7

This made me curious so I checked the newspaper database for how short Mary Quant’s original miniskirts were.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times for 13 Jun 1965 had an article saying her new collection of dresses were all four inches above the knee. But later that year she predicted that “within the next few years skirts will go up to six inches above the knee.”

It’s that later length that stuck in peoples’ minds. Even though a stuffy British designer, Cyril Kern, said in 1964 that “skirts will be a good inch above the knee within the year, But I feel they will definitely come down again after that.” Not surprisingly, his name stops coming up in articles on skirts immediately thereafter, although he stayed in the fashion industry.

8

Bah. “dresses,” not “dressed.”

9

We were checked in highschool by the dollar bill. But not from the butt. From the knee to the hem could only be the length of a dollar. I had really long legs so I was checked everytime I wore a skirt. Never had to go home and change, though. My shorter sister did. Because her legs were short she only looked like she had on a mini- if it was really a micro-mini. Oh the good ol’ days!

10

Anything from just at the knee —> up.

At least that is what I have always called it. Anything. SUPER short is “micro-mini”.

11

Yeah, that’s me, more-or-less. I’m not great with fashion concepts, though. I still get skirt and dress mixed up unless I stop and think about it. I mean, I know which is which, but my mind blends them into one concept.

Anyhow, four inches above the knee or shorter would definitely be a mini-skirt to me, and anything that’s like, I dunno, halfway (actually, a bit shorter than that–maybe two thirds the way up) between the knee and waist or shorter is a micro-mini to me.

12

The pictures with the slightly longer skirts are still miniskirts, IMHO. They’ve just trended upward depending on fashion cycles.

13

I have the one true correct answer. Here it is:

A miniskirt is shorter than a regular skirt.

How long is a regular skirt? Longer than a miniskirt.

14

Check this photo from 1973. That’s a POW returning to his wife and kids. The older daughter is wearing a miniskirt. The wife’s skirt, while several inches above the knee, is definitely not a miniskirt.

Here’s a different shot with the wife and daughter next to each other. You can see the difference more clearly.

15

As a wearer (As a teen) it was subjective. It was all how it looked on you. I sewed some of my own and made denim minis out of jeans and I knew exactly where I wanted them hit, on me. My Daddy was not so sure!:slight_smile:

16

A miniskirt, like a committee meeting, should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting.

17

To me a miniskirt is a weird 1960’s thing. I’m not sure I’d call any of the skirts linked in the OP minis. I’d probably just call them short skirts, maybe with a reference to shape.

18

Haha! :smiley:

19

Next: pedal pushers, clam diggers, capris. What’s what?

20

See, you present this as fact, but I totally disagree. To me, they are BOTH wearing miniskirts, just one is shorter than the other.