Evolution of Miniskirts

A miniskirt is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees generally no longer than 10 cm (4 in) below the buttocks. . A micro-miniskirt or micro skirt is a further abbreviation of the miniskirt. Miniskirts have always attracted a great amount of attention. The charm of miniskirts is evergreen and undying.

Sports have played a major role in popularizing miniskirts. For many years, the wearing of white dresses or skirts by female players was a requirement for competitions such as tennis, table tennis and badminton. In the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, in figure skating, the Norwegian Sonja Henie wore for the first time a short skirt. The mini skirts are still being used widely as an unofficial uniform for many sports. Famous sports stars like Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova are seen as fashion icons both on and off the field. They know how to carry off the mini skirt well.

In modern times, the mini skirt is considered to be the symbol of the bold modern and defiant woman. It is taken for granted that a girl draped in miniskirts would be having a very forward and outgoing outlook in life. Not only modernity and forwardness, mini skirts are more than often taken to be an item of explicit and provocative clothing too.

Miniskirts have evolved in a revolutionary way since earlier times. In the pre historic era; the very short tunic was exclusively worn by slaves and fighters in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the middle Ages they were worn under the armour. During her theatre performances in the Folies Bergre in Paris in 1926, Josphine Baker wore a sort of miniskirt made from bananas.

1960s was a strategic decade in the evolution of minis. Mary Quant played a strategic role in reviving the popularity of miniskirts in the 1960s. She ran a popular clothes shop in Kings Road, Chelsea, London, called Bazaar, from which she sold her own designs. In the late 1950s she began experimenting with shorter skirts, culminating in the creation of the miniskirt in 1965one of the defining fashions of the decade. Owing to Quant's position in the heart of fashionable "Swinging London", the miniskirt was able to spread beyond a simple street fashion into a major international trend. Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich was among the first U.S. designers to offer miniskirts.

During the mid 1970s the fashion industry largely returned to longer skirts such as the midi and the maxi. In the 1980s, Short skirts began to re-emerge, notably in the form of "rah-rahs", which were modeled on those worn by female cheerleaders at sporting and other events. In the mid-1980s the "puffball" skirt enjoyed short term popularity, being worn by, among others, the Princess of Wales and singers Pepsi and Shirlie. Films and television series made in the mid-1990s (Friends, Sex and the City, Ally McBeal, for example) show how common the mini had become again. In the BBC TV series Keeping Up Appearances (1990-5) the snobbish Hyacinth Bucket was frequently outraged by the brevity of her sister Rose's skirts. Around the turn of the 21st century, the micro mini or micro skirt has been reworked as an even less substantial

A line skirts Pencil skirts Tube skirts Mini skirts Pleated skirts Asymmetric hem skirts Straight skirts Fit and flare skirts Flared skirts

It is safe to call the miniskirt a classic. Its versatility never lets it charm fade away. Time may vary, styles may vary, but the miniskirt stays, in some form or the other. It is available in various styles, such as pencil, tube, straight fit, asymmetric hemline and many more. No trend is complete without the mini skirt, be it Goth, punk, minimalist, hippie or grunge. However, the miniskirt invites a lot of criticism from various sections of the society. Many people find it explicit and provocative. But this does not undermine the popularity of the