The evolution of fashion and especially women’s clothing has had a significant boom in recent decades; however, at other times the changes were not so remarkable due to the degree of secretiveness and how conservative societies were. However, in the last century, around the 1920s, young women were characterized by being more sexually free than previous generations, so they were allowed to go out with their boyfriends without parental accompaniment, even kissing several men before getting married, and they could also choose their future husband.
But in spite of these advances, they continued with the taboo imposed on them by the risk of getting pregnant without having married, which was considered a social flaw, for which they were often pointed out, and for which they had to fight to change this way of thinking in different cultures, especially in Latin America, which until recently it was considered a serious offense that filled the family with shame.
But, beyond these social and cultural customs, in the 20s there were already winds of change, originating a resemblance to a youth culture that began to express their thoughts and ideas, their tastes and preferences, for example, in the way of dressing, and then the first short skirts appeared but that were not miniskirts yet as we usually know them.
These famous miniskirts emerged in the prodigious decade of 1960, when in addition to the world famous “Beatles” and the arrival of man to the moon, the miniskirt came to stay to this day, quickly becoming one of the icons with greater global impact of that time.
Thus, the miniskirt represented an extraordinary social phenomenon, causing a great impact through the ways of expression of young people, who began to impose their own lifestyle and of course, of dressing. They wanted to look free, carefree, cheerful and fresh, and they found in the attire like the miniskirt that opportunity to express themselves, starting the movement of sexual liberation which in turn brought with it the invention of the contraceptive pill.
But, you wonder who created this famous garment. Well, the author of this social phenomenon was British fashion designer Mary Quant, who in her own words was inspired by the Mini car of 1965, making it be first seen as a provocation, to become a global trend later.
It all started when Mary Quant fixed herself the dresses that her cousins gave her, but when she was about 20 years old, she received an inheritance, which allowed her to set up her own boutique and she dedicated herself to buy diverse fabrics, design and sew her garments, having a resounding success with her increasingly shorter models, which inspired many girls of that time.
This first boutique, which Mary Quant called “Bazaar”, was located on Kong’s Road in London, and through it she could create and market this garment, but she also managed to promote an archetype of young and thin woman, creating patterned stockings designs, elephant leg pants, coloured tights, ribbed and tight sweaters, as well as high boots above the knees, often expressing “A woman is as young as her knee”, which demonstrated with the creation of this garment that it cannot be missing in the closet of any modern woman since it is a symbol of youth and sensuality.
Notably, the miniskirt was originally about 35 centimetres long, being a source of controversy and debate at the beginning, to the point that a group of conservatives wanted to prohibit it for considering it provocative and immoral; however, those attempts obviously failed, the fervour of youth and the desire for freedom of a woman who has fought over time for their rights was stronger.
However, it is convenient to mention what Mary Quant expressed about the creation of the miniskirt, since according to her own words “The girls on the street were the ones who invented the miniskirt”. Those girls who were her clients in the London neighbourhood “Chelsea”, and who little by little asked her to shorten her clothes more.
In 1963, while “The Beatles” launched their second single titled “Please, Please Me” in the music market, Vogue Magazine published some of the short dresses by Mary Quant. A short time later, specifically on July 10, 1964, the designer Mary Quant launched her spring-summer collection where the main protagonist was that famous piece called “miniskirt”, which kept the audience expectant and anxious to see the catwalk that would revolutionize the world of fashion.
This is how the miniskirt became present in everyday life and after appearing for the first time on television on the beautiful body of a British presenter, Cathy Mc Gowan, who was a little over 20 years old and was conducting a music show for adolescents, whom she captivated with her miniskirts that quickly began to be imitated by most of the girls of that time.
In this way, the miniskirt came to revolutionize the world of fashion and went much further by establishing a guideline in the social changes of the time because it represented the need for change, provocation, freedom, and the form of expressing the woman against the submissive and obedient role that society had assigned her up to that moment.
The career of Mary Quant made her the winner of the fashion award in the United States, although she had strong detractors such as Coco Chanel, who argued that the knees should not be shown, but that was useless; there was a social phenomenon that crossed borders, and already by the mid-sixties, the number of famous women who wore it was increasing, which accelerated the rise of miniskirts that were sold worldwide.
Almost immediately, this small garment began to be seen at movies, where for the first time the image of a woman wearing a miniskirt was shown in the projection of “Forbidden Planet” by director Fred M. Wilcox, who became famous thanks to the mini skirt worn by the main actress, who was the first actress who put on this garment on the big screen and therefore, it was censored in several countries for being considered immoral. In this way, the liberation of women in dressing began, marking an era that changed women forever.
However, the boom of the miniskirt spread quickly when the super model Twiggy, the exuberant Bridgitte Bardot and Nancy Sinatra, wife of the famous singer Frank Sinatra, joined the trend of this garment.
Also, Jacqueline Kennedy in 1966, being the first lady of the United States of the time, dared to wear it in discrete lengths and integrated in the form of dresses and formal suits, which makes that it began to be seen as a beautiful and appropriate garment to attend certain social events and that the conception that the most conservative had at the beginning decrease.
Nowadays, the mini skirt is, without a doubt, an indispensable element in the closet of any woman of any age; whether longer or shorter, in bright or neutral colors, of leather or cotton, they remain as an icon of freedom which lots of women fought for so that today we can express ourselves freely.
According to a recent study conducted by the British department store Debenhams, women like to wear miniskirts until they are 40 years old, while in 1980 women stopped wearing them when they were 33 years old, so the significant change in the lifestyles of modern women is observed, who even older can look splendid with a miniskirt; also remembering that fashion is a matter of attitude, and proof of this is represented by some beautiful and famous women who despite being over 40 look wonderful with their sexy outfits that highlight their curves.
For example, we have Colombian Sofía Vergara, who has one of the best bodies in the world of entertainment and made it clear a couple of days ago, when she posted an image on her Instagram account with a black miniskirt, getting more than 200 thousand “Like” by his followers. Likewise, singer Jennifer Lopez showed off her fabulous body and beautiful legs wearing a miniskirt, which she posted on Instagram exceeding 800 thousand “Like”.
But, not everything is rosy, and you could think that the detractors of the miniskirt disappeared completely; however, we can mention several cases of censorship of this famous garment in the current era, which seems to take us to past ages. For example, in 2009, a student of tourism called Geysi Villa Nova Arruda was expelled from a university in Sao Paulo for wearing very short miniskirts because, according to her detractors, were very provocative and inappropriate to attend college.
In 2010, Castellammare di Stabia, mayor of an Italian seaside resort, ordered the police to fine anyone who wore a “too short” miniskirt, while in February of that same year, more than 200 women protested in the streets of the capital of Uganda against the new anti-pornography legislation, which was titled by the local media as the “Miniskirt Law”, which banned women from showing their thighs, breasts, buttocks and dressing indecently to provoke sexually, according to the creators of such law.
Thus, between defenders and detractors, the famous miniskirt is already over 50 years old, and although it continues to cause some controversy, it is more present than ever in modern women’s lifestyle, and most of them have at least one of them in their wardrobe.
ALFA