Mini-skirt

A cocktail dress decorated with metal discs by Paco Rabanne, 1967

The mini-skirt, or miniskirt, is a skirt well above the knees, close to the buttocks. Usually, a miniskirt reaches mid thighs. Shorter ones are usually called microskirts. If the top and the skirt are all one, the item is usually called minidress. Microskirts are extremely brief, and usually worn only for publicity events.

Mini-skirts were invented by Mary Quant, who also invented, or promoted, hot pants. There is disagreement as to who came up with the idea first; some say André Courrèges or John Bates. The short- and ever-shorter skirt was evolving already among fashion-minded young women: the designers who adapted it just helped spread the style. In Quant's case, she gave it the name. Mary Quant named the mini-skirt after her favorite make of car, the Mini. She loved the car so much, she had one designed especially for her.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the mini-skirt was one of the signs of the sexual revolution that happened at the same time. Women took more librerties as to what clothes they wore. They also started to wear tights, which showed more of their legs, and stopped wearing certain bras.

Gallery

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  Fashion minidress © Glenn Francis
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  Little black minidress © Glenn Francis
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  Adolescent girls in miniskirts
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  Cheerleaders for the Miami Dolphins. They likely wear microskirts