Marrie L. 
Beth Djalali is a 63-year-old woman living in Athens. She remembers the first miniskirt that she saw. She relates that she was just a little girl when miniskirts first appeared in the 1960s. Djalali, a young mother, recalls that Twiggy’s miniskirts and minidresses were fashionable. Years passed, and Djalali was 40 when the teen trio of Lohan, Hilton, and Spears took 2000s hemlines to a new level. Djalali recently watched the second season of Emily, which was filmed in Paris. She said that the skirts looked very familiar.
The mini skirt was back in 2022. The crotch is getting closer to the hemlines, and the inner thighs are receiving fresh air. It is almost comical to see the Miu Miu micromini this season. It looks almost like a teenage girl used an office paper cutter for her Catholic school uniform. This skirt has been featured on at least half a dozen magazine covers and was worn by Hailey Baldwin, Naomi Campbell, Hunter Schafer, and Zendaya, and the New York Times declared that mini skirts are making a comeback. Nylon wrote that the Micro-Mini Skirt was Fall 2022’s Most Popular Trend at NYFW.
The question isn’t whether your genitals are in direct contact with these elements but when. The second question is: Can people of all ages participate? Today’s generation that wore the first miniskirts is in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. They should not be denied the fashion they created.
Arlinda McIntosh (65), a proud designer who loves miniskirts, says, “I have legs, and I like them. Period.” A short skirt that has a sense of whimsy and a good twist is what she likes. She says that short skirts make people happy. They’re perfect for older women. She says they “lend themselves to the menopausal ages” smilingly. You get “free air conditioning” when you wear a skirt. Many women have reached out and cheered her on. Other people have told her, “Don’t you think you might be a little old for that?” She responds with the same response: “Don’t you feel too old not? You can do whatever you want at any age, whether 50, 60, or 70. What time are you going to do it? For real, we’re on the clock! This is your chance to wear whatever you like.
“Whatever”–including truly daring, revealing looks? The 2022 Vanity Fair Hollywood cover featured Nicole Kidman in the aforementioned nearly invisible-to-the-naked-eye Miu Miu micro mini. According to Instagram commenters, Kidman, 54, looks like a skimpy schoolgirl, a teen on Euphoria, a Maxim, and a 13-year-old. What non-famous woman over 50 can wear a tiny mini without being criticized?
Mary Quant used to say, “A woman’s age is her knees.” Quant is often credited for inventing the miniskirt – her design that Twiggy wore, attracting teenagers like Djalali. Her bold hem lengths signaled a style split between the younger and older generations. The very young wore minis. “They celebrated youth, life, and great opportunity,” Quant told Vogue 1995. They had a ‘Look at Me’ quality. They said, “Life is great.”
Karian Nicholas, 54, is a Canadian woman who believes life is great because she is older than her peers. Nicholas, a former nurse, runs 50s Fine, a fashion blog with Dianne, 58. She said she wouldn’t wear a sleeveless top but now wears two-piece bathing suits. Quant was her ideal customer, and she is more comfortable with her body than ever. She says, “I believe I accept the changes within my body, and I don’t have a microscope looking at them like I used to.”
Djalali, who manages the page StyleAtACertainAge, says, “I get a lot of grief from women of my age, saying I need to retire skirts below the knee.” There are still rules that govern fashion for boomers. One of these is that women of certain ages shouldn’t wear short skirts any longer because their knees aren’t looking very good. It’s attractive to her that she gets far less criticism for wearing a swimsuit than for showing more leg in a shorter skirt. The fast skirt trend, associated with youth currency, is seen as more offensive than the skin. Djalali retorts, “Clothes are sizes and not ages.” These notions about knee modesty are just as obsolete as the idea of not wearing white after Labor Day. McIntosh says that there are no rules for style. She says, “Your face is out!” It’s all skin!
Fashion influencers older than 50 years old demand that miniskirts be worn without criticism. It needs to be clarified if they will exercise this right. Nicholas is comfortable in bikinis, tube tops, and cutout dresses. She also wears little shorts. She doesn’t wear miniskirts. She admits that she does wear short skirts. She says they are usually three to four inches higher than my knee. Djalali, too likes short skirts, but nothing Paris Hilton would wear in 2000. Both women agreed that it was not a matter of insecurity. “I want to be stylish, but I also want comfort–being able to bend over and sit down gracefully. She says she wouldn’t like to tug at it. Nicholas, a miniskirts expert, says mature ladies can wear them. In reality, however? She says, “You don’t need to be so careful about your leg positioning if you’re sitting.” These women have spent too many years trying to be cute while not showing their underwear. They prefer shorts.
Djalali said refuting the idea that you should “dress your age” is becoming more accessible. Djalali receives fewer negative comments than when she first started blogging about fashion. She says that there is a perception that you are invisible once you reach a certain age, and then you disappear into the background. “I think that more women are accepting that we’re not invincible, that we’re still here and that fashion still plays a vital role in our lives, and that we still can access specific trends and dress appropriately in style.
McIntosh, a designer, says her short skirts are more popular with older customers since she began modeling them. McIntosh says that seeing a woman with gray hair wearing little dresses helped customers see themselves in this trend. Her new collection is inspired by the miniskirts from the 1970s when her customers were getting older.
Miniskirts don’t belong in any age or generation if they represent, as Mary Quant stated, sex freedom, movement, and sex. McIntosh asks McIntosh: “If you don’t plan to wear it at 50-60, 70, or 70,” “when will you wear it?”
Marrie L.