What Length is Your Skirt?
I’m a huge fan of Lucille Sorella and her feminization guides, but had reason to disagree with her in a recent article on choosing your skirt length to make your legs look amazing. Next to showing bra straps, skirt length seems to be one of the more talked about fashion faux pas. Lucille was advocating a mid-thigh length which will show off beautifully tanned legs, and many crossdressers have nice legs, perhaps even great legs; but when it comes to showing off your legs in a skirt, shorter is NOT always better.
Hemlines go up and down with each season, according to the whims of fashion designers, but choosing the right hemline for your body is important no matter what the current style might be. Different body types are suited to different styles of skirt, and even though you may be dying to wear that new ruffled mini or knee length pencil skirt, whether or not it will work on you depends on what you are personally suited for. But that’s the subject for another article. Finding the right skirt length for your age and body type is an important element of looking your best.
Some General Rules:
Dress for your height
Make the most of your frame with the right skirt length. A short skirt will add height to a petite frame, while tall and leggy ladies can pull off flowing, layered skirts. Long skirts should be long enough to touch your anklebones. You should also avoid skirts that are too long. Calf length skirts tend to look dowdy — besides, we want to see those gorgeous gams! Try the finger length test: Stand up straight and put your arms to your side. If your fingertips fall past the hem of your skirt, it’s too short. The most flattering skirt lengths are from mid thigh to just above or just below the knee.
Accentuate your assets
Accentuate your assets. In 1966, designer Mary Quant popularized the mini skirt, which hung 6 to 7 inches above the knee. Show off toned legs in shorter skirts or a firm rear end in a knee-length, pencil skirt. Curvy girls (that’s us apple and pear-shaped gals) will look best with a flared skirt that just covers the knee.
Never let a skirt end at the widest parts of your legs — the calves and upper thighs.
Big belly: Usually if the mid-section is big, then they have thinner limbs. So women wear a short skirt or something to show off their thin legs. But they end up looking like a tomato on toothpicks. I say wear a longer skirt, knee-length to compensate or a full-length trouser. You can also wear a jacket that’s nipped in at the waist. That will give you more of an hourglass figure.
Pay attention to the season or time of year. Shorter skirts look better in the spring and summer months than they do when it’s colder.
Examine the event at which you will wear the skirt. The more business-like the event, the more conservative you need to be. Conservative skirts should hit below the knee or lower when you are standing up.
Make sure it’s appropriate
Make sure your skirt length is appropriate for your age and the occasion. Even if you look great in a micro mini, it’s probably not a good idea to wear one to work or around your grand kids. Regardless of the physical shape you’re in, it is likely that a miniskirt may not look appropriate for you if you are 50, as opposed to when you were 20. Mini anything over a “certain age” is well . . . Consider this. You’re in a room with some 20-something’s in minis. Who’s going to come out on the short end of the stick? Now I know that in certain cultures, minis are even worn into the 70s, but these are petite women by and large (well, not always), but who is fooling who. You can look the fool at any age if you don’t care how you look.
It is true that life does get better with age and time, but there’s also a limit to older females dressing like late teens and early 20s. Older women look better in clothes that reflect their level of maturity. When you see older women dressing in booty shorts, plunging neckline blouses, and shorter length dresses and skirts this tells you that they’re not ready to accept the fact that the days for wearing clothing like that has come and gone and it’s time to dress your age.
Think about your level of modesty. Select the skirt with the length that feels most comfortable to you. Even if you have great legs, you won’t look good in a short skirt if you lack the confidence to wear one. Actually, confidence is the single most important attribute to being an attractive woman. Sophie Loren said, “Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful.”
TIPS:
How to find your hemline:
Stand in front of a full-length mirror while wearing the shoes you typically wear with a skirt.
Hold a piece of long fabric and experiment with different lengths starting with the hemline nearest the feet. Progressively raise the fabric observing which heights are the most flattering to your legs.
Know the style of the skirt you are wearing.
Many styles and cuts should only be worn at certain lengths. Learn about the ideal lengths of various skirts. Watch the current fashion trends. This season’s popular styles often indicate where the hem will fall. Check out Torrid which caters to the teens and 20’s crowd while Catherine’s caters to the over 40 group of ladies. Both stores carry lines with sizes up to 26, or more.
Coordinate with your top. Coordinate the skirt length with the style of top you’ll be wearing. A fitted, V-neck top won’t pair well with a tight, short mini; a longer, flowing skirt creates a better balance. Tunic tops look great with short or narrow skirts.
The length of a skirt can be undermined by the rest of a woman’s outfit. For example, if her blouse is too low-cut or is showing cleavage, she may still look overexposed, regardless of how long her skirt is.
Watch your proportions. Hardly anyone can pull off a very short skirt with a very high heel without looking like a tramp. A personal example here. I’m long-waisted with a short hip to knee ratio and an apple shape. There’s no way a short skirt will look good on me. It needs to fall below the knee and be flowy so as to lengthen my body lines. Frankly, I love a long flowy skirt and the feel of it around my legs. That, and the feeling of wind blowing your skirt, are both very sensuous creating a strong feminine presence.
The experts still all weigh-in with this advice: The most flattering skirt length no matter height or shape, curvy or slim, is right above or at your knees. This is also a very versatile length that is appropriate for most occasions.
If you’re in doubt, take a look at this:
Still in doubt — here are a few more guidelines to what will look best on you.
Short/mini skirts are ideal for:
* Petites (5’4 = 163cm) or shorter
* Short legs
* Full legs as well as for showing off your hosiery and shoes.. and for simply feeling sexy!
But not the best for:
- Women with a full stomach (Apples or anyone who carries a lot of weight around the midriff-midsection area)
- Anyone who wants to look professional and sophisticated
- Women who don’t like showing off their legs
If you feel uncomfortable in short skirts and find it tacky, but you want to gain the slimming benefits from them — stick to the right-above-the-knee-length or add a pair of hosiery that blends with the skirt and a more covered top/sweater to make your outfit look less daring.
Tall women of all ages look great in a short skirt. As you grow out of your college-partying days, you will probably want to veer away from the ultra-short, ultra-tight mini skirt, but there’s nothing wrong with a skirt that ends at your fingertips or mid-thigh. If that seems too edgy, try a skirt that ends equidistant between your knees and your fingertips. A skirt this length will help prevent embarrassing Britteny-esque moments, but will still show off enough leg to make people take notice.
Knee-Length Skirts
Around the knee-length hemlines are versatile and look good on all body shapes, and are appropriate for most occasions, especially office work.
However if you’re short or have short/full legs, I recommend you to show more skin by raising it up to above the knee –which helps you look taller and leaner. Also make sure it fits snugly around your hips and thighs to avoid a boxy look. Adding a pair of heels will also help!
Oh Midis
Midi skirts are a bit tricky — that’s because they tend to fall right on the widest part of your calves. The thing with mid-calf skirt styles is that they draw attention to the thickest part of your legs, and the hemline cuts it up, making them look shorter and well, stumpy!
Of course there are exceptions, because it depends on the length and shape of your legs along with your overall height. And also in how you style it.
Midi skirts work better on:
- Lean calves
- Average to tall height
For petites, wearing a midi requires you to select a style that fits snugly around your hips and thighs, creating a sleek Mermaid silhouette. And you should work on that, adding extra leg length with heels, especially in a color that blends with your skin tone or hosiery.
What About Long Skirts?
It’s about selecting the right style for your body figure and height.
Long skirts can swallow up Petites and thin-boned body figures, making you look smaller and it can also make you look stumpy. The trick is to choose a maxi skirt that fits snugly around your hips and thighs to maintain a sleek line.
Taller women can pull off the long gypsy skirt better than petites because they can handle the extra fabric — it looks more streamlined on their height.
Guidelines to Wearing Long Skirts:
Make sure the length falls long enough to touch your ankle bones (the tiny rounded bone at the sides of your ankles) which are right below the thinnest part of your ankles, or at least long enough to fall right above the thinnest part of your ankles. Showing off the thinnest part of your ankles creates the illusion of slim legs. I also suggest that you show off some skin on top with a lowish V-neck tee to avoid the old-fashioned matronly look. Fitted and shorter tops look best with long skirts. Tall women can look quite stunning in a long, flowing skirt. The trick is finding stores that sell skirts long enough
The following sources were used to write this article:
Category: Style, Transgender Fashion, Transgender How To
About the Author (Author Profile)
Tasi was a transgender, married, lifelong crossdresser. She passed away in late 2018. She’s the founder of the Ladies of the Blue Ridge transgender group in Roanoke VA, a prolific writer, commentator and blogger including fashion articles for Tri-Ess, TG Reporter, Repartee, and Pretty T-Girls magazine. Tasi currently resides in Merida, (Yucatan) Mexico. Her new website, Sister House and her blog, the Fashionable TG Woman are dedicated to fashion and style for the transgendered woman. Tasi’s book, "Top Ten Fashion Mistakes By Crossdressers and How To Fix Them" is available on Amazon or on her site free to subscribers.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
This is a great article that not only discusses the ‘what to wear’ but also the ‘how to wear it’ and best yet it gives the reader the ‘why’ of what looks good and what does not.
My wife and I both think that the 4″ zone right around the knee works best with either of us. It is nice to have our belief confirmed.
Thank you for a fine piece.
Pat
Thanks Sophie Lynne
Hi Emily. I’m surprised on your comment about Catherines. I have found all of their stores that I used to be very TG friendly. Now saying that, I strongly suggest that you go to their facebook page and comment on their service. I can almost guarantee that you’ll get a positive response. They usually have a senior marketing person monitoring those pages and they don’t want negative comments. I had issue with Lane Bryant and used this method. Both stores are owned by the same company.
I did forget to address one very important aspect on wearing your skirt. You need to look at yourself in a full-length mirror, both back and front. There’s a tendency for skirts to ride up and where you see the skirt in front is not necessarily where it will be in the back, particularly on a knee-length skirt. You need to make adjustments accordingly
great article and comments except I have found that Catherines is not cd friendly
Wow! Thanks for such an informative article!
This is what I searched for when I started dressing again. Even though I figured out some of this on my own, it’s good to see I guessed right!
THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks for that astute advice, Linda. What I also found is that you need to normally hike that skirt up to where the ladies natural waist is or it won’t hit your legs where you expect it to and that goes for all lengths. They don’t make the skirts based on a male waist.
I have to disagree on your last point however (plus the fact that I hate muu-muus). I am a plus-size girl and actually look better in separates than a dress. I need to pad my butt to provide some lower balance to my overall proportions and then do well in an a-line at knee length or a boho style to the ankles.
Really good advice there. A few other things you might consider: 1) Before going for a tight mini make an honest assessment of your butt and thighs. If your butt is small and lacks much gluteal muscle tisssue and if your thighs are about as thin or thinner than your knees then go knee length and A-line with your skirts. Scrawny thighs look as bad on CDs as they did on Twiggy.
2) If your waist is wider than your hips avoid wearing your top/ blouse tucked inside your skirt waist.
3) If you don’t have too big a belly wear your skirt waist up where the ladies’ waist is – just under the rib cage; not where a man’s is – just above the hip bones.
4) If you are a large size girl forget the skirts and favor plus size dresses and hawaiian style muu-muus (until you can take that weight off).
Thanks for the great advice Tasi.