LISTEN up ladies I have some very important news on the fashion front. It is now acceptable, should you wish, to wear a miniskirt right up to your – gasp – fortieth birthday.
A shopping study has revealed that no longer are we ditching the short skirts around the age of 33 which apparently used to be the old wear-by date.
Analysis by Debenhams of the buying trends of skirts of 14 inches or shorter (ie officially a mini) reveals that we are happy to wear our hemlines higher for longer.
Debenhams, who have been looking at skirt sales for the past six months (given the current climate, you’d have thought they would just be glad to have some), have also discovered that we start buying mini skirts at the age of 16 although we first want one when we are just 14.
When it comes to flashing a bit of leg, we are at our bravest at the age of 23. This is when the pelmet length comes into play with women daring to bear in skirts as short as 12.5 inches.
I should declare an interest here. I love miniskirts. Having not been blessed with much up front but with a fairly decent set of pins – or so I am told –they are the key weapon in my style arsenal.
In fact two thirds of my wardrobe stops somewhere mid-thigh (or higher).
So you would think I would be jumping up and down at the news that it is now acceptable for me to get my legs out for another nine years.
Except I’m not. Nothing against Debenhams here, I am sure they meant well, or just wanted to sell more miniskirts. But I just get a bit fed up with women being told what is and isn’t acceptable to wear and when.
There seems to be an upper age limit on everything from boob tubes to bikinis.
Just a couple of weeks ago there was a flurry of articles asking the question, “should any woman ever show her knees after the age of 40?”
Good grief when did knees become so offensive?
As with most things this sort of scrutiny applies only to women. How many articles have you come across asking if it is ever acceptable for men over the age of 40 to wear tight jeans? Or leather jackets? Or sandals with socks (never appropriate at any age).
It just doesn’t happen does it? There is no male equivalent for the “mutton” insult.
Debenhams’ spokesman Ed Watson says their research “shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly.
"If this trend continues, there's no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid-40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential part of their everyday wardrobe."
As long as you have the legs for it ladies, the thigh’s the limit.
