# Whatever happened to skorts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894 "2001-05-29T14:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/1 "2001-05-29T14:40:22Z")
Seems like a few years ago I saw women in skorts all the time (and for the record, I always felt cheated when I realized that’s what a woman was wearing, and not a skirt). But it recently occurred to me I haven’t seen any in quite some time. Where’d they go? Obviously they went out of style, but why? Not every fashion does; some things, like miniskirts for example, become perennials. Were skorts uncomfortable? Too expensive? Too neither-fish-nor-fowl? What happened? ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/2 "2001-05-29T14:41:51Z")
I wore them in the 7th grade! They were called culottes then. And were barely allowed in school. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/3 "2001-05-29T14:53:44Z")
Maybe they disappeared because people hated saying the word. “Skort”. Eyugh. Sounds like something burbling through your digestive system. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/4 "2001-05-29T14:57:35Z")
I just bought my daughter a pair a couple of weeks ago. I agree that I hate the name, though. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/5 "2001-05-29T15:24:00Z")
I seem to recall the term “scooter skirt” as well. How does that relate? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/6 "2001-05-30T01:05:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*I wore them in the 7th grade! > They were called culottes then. > And were barely allowed in school. \*\* Yeah, I remember the culottes. I remember the "pedal pushers " before that,as well, which are currently popular and called Capri pants I think. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/7 "2001-05-30T01:21:36Z")
I know nothing about women’s clothes, but aren’t culottes and skorts very different thing? Culottes are just pants made of thin material and are so baggy they look like a skirt. A skort looks like a tight miniskirt, is usually denim, but is really a pair of short shorts with a miniskirt sewn on to them. Am I right or have I totally lost my mind? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/8 "2001-05-30T01:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > **I always felt cheated when I realized that’s what a woman was wearing, and not a skirt.** As long as they’re really, really short, what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/9 "2001-05-30T02:06:13Z")
Capri pants are back in a big way, at least in Akron, OH. MY 8 year old daughter HAS to have them. I work in retail, and around here I see a skort a day. But that means they aren’t in fashion, as I may see 20-50 women per day who are of the age to wear them. Probably just left overs. (Unless they are just now coming back in. I’ll ask my daughter.) ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/10 "2001-05-30T02:12:33Z")
I think they are pretty big with kids. You can have your 8 year old daughter look like she’s all prim and proper by appearing to wear a skirt, but also not have to worry about everyone seeing her underwear because she’s not mature enough to know how to play in a real skirt without showing everyone. This could be a reason why women don’t wear them. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/11 "2001-05-30T05:14:13Z")
I just bought a skort the other day from Target, for the exact reasons that **Lance** stated _blushing_. It is stretch denim and I assure you all it is very sexy. I never got a handle on wearing short skirts without exposeing myself. I also never got used to not having pockets in my clothing (skirts rarely have back pockets for wallets and the like). My wonderful skort looks a lot classier than wearing grudgey shorts all the time, but provides a solution to all the problems I have with skirts. ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/12 "2001-05-30T05:59:41Z")
My 6 yearold loves her skorts. She loves to get dressed up for school, but needs to play rough, so the skort keeps her underware from showing to the world. It seems like all the girls her age wear them. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/13 "2001-05-30T13:41:42Z")
I’ve been wearing capris all along! Culottes; they were shorts, but had a flap of fabric over the front, making it look almost like a skirt. Remember the pants with stirrups? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/14 "2001-05-30T21:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by even sven \* > **I never got a handle on wearing short skirts without exposing myself.** Well, why do you think that Fiver says he > [@](#): > > **always felt cheated when I realized that’s what a woman was wearing, and not a skirt** , huh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/15 "2001-05-31T02:24:58Z")
Thanks for saving me the effort, **SCSimmons**. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Wind\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Autumn\_Wind\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Wind_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-skorts/66894/16 "2001-05-31T10:35:29Z")
I think part of the problem was that skorts required a lot of extra fabric, resulting in a bulkier look. Also, as another poster pointed out, men prefer regular miniskirts, because they might get to see something they’re not supposed to. Also, miniskirts restrict a woman’s movements - a sort of bondage lite. So skorts don’t look as good, and don’t please men as much. My hubby makes me wear very short skirts all the time, and I’m sure he’d never let me wear a skort. Autumn