Simple Skirts for Summer
We’ve covered summer dresses and handled the problem of chafing.
Now it’s time for my second favorite summer wardrobe item:
Skirts.
Look, I don’t like to cram my legs into denim if I can help it when it’s hot as hell outside, OK? The next best thing to a one item outfit like a maxi dress is a great skirt. I own tons of skirts. I think every wardrobe should have at least one denim, black and white skirt in it for the greatest versatility.
I prefer an A-line or a full skirt for comfort and camouflage. I’ll wear a pencil skirt if it’s in the right fabric. The one hard and fast rule I have about skirts is that it must be the right length.
Ideally, a skirt should hit right at the knees. No shorter, unless you’ve got Tina Turner legs. I can on occasion where an ankle length skirt, but I have to be careful that it doesn’t make me look frumpy. What I absolutely cannot EVER wear is a skirt that hits at my calves.
As a rule, you don’t want any piece of clothing to stop at the widest parts of your body. For me – and for most women – the widest part of our lower leg is the middle of the calf. A cute skirt that is 2 inches too long makes my legs look short and stubby – which is, to clarify, not hot.
A few inches too long
I love this dress. BUT – it needs to be hemmed. Even in wedges that usually make my legs look fantastic, my legs look a little meatier than they would if this dress was a few inches short. On my body, which is ridiculously short, a skirt with about a 21″ inseam is perfect. I’m 5′2″. Barely.
Of course I can find absolutely no pictorial evidence of this phenomenon now.
Try it out in a dressing room. You’ll see. 
Now – let’s find some cute summer skirts, shall we?
Midnight Mariner Skirt – $39.99
Independent Press Skirt in Navy – $49.99
You Are My Sunshine Skirt – $39.99
Crochet Maxi Skirt – $19.99
Belted Button Front Skirt
Batik inspired tie dye skirt
Button Front Denim Skirt
Curved seam denim skirt
Drop waist sash skirt
Smocked Two Tone Skirt
Posted in In Style and In Fashion - Clothing and Accessories for Women Tagged: dresses, skirts, summer
Can you pick out my clothes for me?
I don’t understand how they work.
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I think you need to come to Indiana and dress me
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Maybe I was just distracted by the fabulous combination of orange and purple and your teeny little waste, but I thin you look fabulous in that dress as-is.
That being said, you’re very right about the importance of skirt lengths. I usually aim for just below the knee, since I am apparently still 5 and like to bash them on hard objects.
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So cute. They just wouldn’t go with my hiking boots*.
*Right there is where Britt DIED.
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I think I have that dress, but in a different pattern! (And a bigger size, obviously, haha!) A Ross find I love!
Anyway, I have veeeery thick calves…like I couldn’t find a boot to fit until I was 30, lol. And it’s mostly muscle, so chances are even with a good weight loss, it’ll still be an issue. To complicate matters, I have that fat knee thing, so above the knee looks dumb too. If I can hit that sweet spot just at the bottom of my knee fat bulge, I’m good. But holy hell is it a PITA, so I usually just wear capris when it’s hot, lol.
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So true. I love the look of right to the top of the kneecap, but I prefer right to the bottom of the kneecap. See, I have this knobby knee problem, and not in a fab supermodelish way.
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I prefer JUST below my own kneecap as:
1) My knees are really ugly and scarred.
2) I have nice calves and showing how they go from thin to muscular to ankle is nice on me.
If it hits AT my kneecap, you get a fabulous view of my left knee scar and, really, that’s not attractive at all. Yuck.
But now I want to go buy new skirts.
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Must. have. the yellow skirt and the two tone skirt.
Awesome!
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I know what you’re saying, but I think you look hot in that dress.
I need a skirt that hits just above my knee; I hate when they hit at the knee. But then again I don’t wear skirts that often. I own exactly one: A white denim pencil skirt. I have trouble finding ones that I like. Those ruffle-type things? So not me.
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You look gorgeous in that dress!
I don’t have a single skirt, or dress in my wardrobe. They scare the crap out of me. I would be willing to try them on, but I have a tendency to think that everything I try on looks horrible. Maybe, just maybe. I will try one one before the end of summer.
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My calves are big adn muscle, and my upper thighs are fatty, but my lover thighs are thin. i think that if my skirts hit around my lower thighs, then it generally makes my leges thinner. am i right, or is it just in my head?
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