At the New York fall fashion shows last week the answers were clear: the length is way below the knees and the colors are ecologically correct earth tones. Designers tried to pretend that they were merely offering new choices (not issuing orders) by throwing in a few short skirts and some bright reds and iridescent blues. But the style everyone was talking about was a slim, curvy, long silhouette in black or neutral colors like gray, brown and buff.
A few designers tried to suggest that anything goes. Bill Blass and Kors each showed two or three different-length skirts cut from the same fabric. Marc Jacobs, for Perry Ellis, liked nothing but sexy, fitted long skirts for after 5. Calvin Klein’s models were the image of updated 1940s sophistication in long, lean, boldly slit skirts worn with matching jackets and plush cashmere sweater sets. Ralph Lauren favored pinstriped mid-calf-length skirts worn with oxford shirts and men’s ties.
These styles have retailers worried. They are careful to reassure potential buyers that, whatever travels down the runway, there are still plenty of short skirts on the racks. “The new length won’t be a trend,” said Gene Pressman, executive vice president of Barneys. “It’s just another alternative.” But the designers are putting the stores in an awkward position by introducing a fashion that may take two or three years to become a trend. If it catches on sooner, stores need to be prepared with cheaper knockoffs. If it takes longer, and they’ve ordered the stock, they’re stuck with it. It’s easier to suggest that women can do whatever they want.
Well, can they? They haven’t in recent memory. When miniskirts took over the runway about three years ago, many women bristled with indignation. Yet, little by little, the eye became accustomed to them. Once the short skirt caught on, it was inevitable that designers would reintroduce long ones. So, again, women are complaining, and fashion writers are reassuring them that skirt lengths don’t matter–while everyone knows that within three years, short skirts will seem retro and frumpy, and long ones will seem lively and sexy. Until then, many women will skirt the issue altogether by wearing pants.
