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 Carine Roitfeld, the editor of French Vogue, once said
that contemporary designers have forgotten how to design a perfect pencil skirt:
it's either shorter or longer than its classic counterpart while the perfect
length is at the knee or up to two inches below, but never above. Besides, the
fit is almost never right, and wrong fit for your body looks funny and the
wrong length make your legs look stubby. Meanwhile, once you've found the perfect pencil
skirt, you can forget about problems finding something to wear: in addition to
being a wardrobe staple, a pencil skirt is an indispensable attribute of a lady
that will form the basis for many different, yet elegant outfits.
Like the little black dress, the pencil skirt never
goes out of fashion. It was introduced in the late 1940-s by the French
designer Christian Dior who used the term H-line to describe its shape,
trimming
the skirt into a new silhouette that hugs the hips and follows the curve
of the
leg, stopping just at or above the knee. It quickly became very popular,
particularly
for office wear. This success was due to women's desire for new fashions
in the
wake of the drudgery of the Second World War coupled with the austere
economic
climate, when fabrics were expensive and still rationed, and
full-skirted garments
were seen as wasteful. It again became popular for business women in the
1980s,
as part of the power suit style of dressing, and has remained a popular
mainstream fashion choice ever since.
Pencil Skirt Wearing Tips
This season, the favorite is the pencil skirt, which
evokes a vintage feel when worn with a shrunken jacket or cropped
cardigan and
high heels, pearls or a brooch. This year, designers have added details
to the
skirt. Many skirts have additional straps, reaching from the hip-belt
over the
hips, around the waist or even connecting the bra and belt.
If Christian Louboutin may be rightfully called le Maitre
of the fashionable footwear, in the case of pencil skirt, this title
goes to
the American designer Donna Karan. Owing to Karan, pencil skirt as we
know it
today is one of the women wardrobe staples. Stylish pencil skirt designs
prevail in both autumn-winter and spring-summer Donna Karan collections
which
is only logical as this is a highly wearable and combinable piece of
clothing.
Most women today are used to pencil skirts and know
how to walk in them. They come in such a wide variety of fabrics such as
cotton, cotton jersey, rayon, wool for wintertime, linen and cashmere;
you have
many choices to choose the skirt of your dreams. They make a fabulous
choice
for winter wear as they hold the legs closer together and will make you
warmer.
In winter, the pencil skirt made can be worn with
elegant up collar blouse, with the waist accentuated by a narrow belt, a
warm
jacket or a classic suit jacket. The chaste and simple cut of pencil
skirts in
the winter Donna Karan collection balanced with colorful tops - jackets
in rich
chocolate, bright red and blue hues.
Tweed checks and leopard prints are this fall's top
choices in fabrics and patterns. Geometric prints are very popular this
year,
as abstract shapes always accentuate. It has become a top pattern choice
for
trendy young women who want to stand out on the high street in elegant
knee-length pencil skirts. Short-length boots are a fashionable footwear
addition to complement the outfit.
However, pencil skirt fits perfectly into spring and
summer wear, too, as proven by Donna Karan who offers a combination of
lighter
fabrics skirts of delicate pastel shades with sheer blouses, their
flowing
feminine cut accentuated by the delicate ruches.
Despite its longer hem, however, the pencil skirt
isn't necessarily meant to be modest. It's sexy when it tightly hugs the
body
or is made of sensual fabrics and worn with fishnet stockings. Chiffon
silk and
lycra are no doubt the suitable material to endow the already charming
shape
with more sexy wildness. The hottest trend is the romantic retro style.
The
extremely wearable tight sweater and pencil skirt, combined with some
understated embroidery, is a popular accent on delicate style. Colors
like
lavender, peach, black, pale yellow and pink match go well with soft
fabrics.
Since femininity is still the dominant influence, you can add more
ladylike
clothes to your wardrobe with everything from lace-up boots to cameo
jewelry
and strong colors like red and blue.
Elegant pencil skirt designs were showcased in the
collections of many other designers. For example, Giambattista Valli
showed a
series of tweed skirts, making them part of the classic fall wear. High
waist was
accentuated by a wide leather belt. British designer Giles Deacon
introduced
several pencil skirt styles of bright shiny fabrics in his collection
for
spring-summer 2010, giving techno-chic flair to the classic pencil
skirt, while
Stefano Pilati, creating a spring collection for Yves Saint Laurent,
chose thin
black leather for his pencil skirts, offering the forever hot contrast
of black
bottom and white top. Loewe also used leather as a material for their
pencil
skirt designs. The originality of the leather texture in combination
with a
simple black top made the pencil skirt a highlight of the Loewe
collection.
Several pencil skirt designs can be spotted in Sonia
Rykiel spring-summer collection where it is the basis for a formal suit.
In the
interpretation of Nathalie Rykiel women's formal suit got flirty
details: a
wide belt with big buckle, and tiny pockets.
A pencil skirt is quite versatile and with the right
accessories and coordination, you can easily transform it from a
typical, basic
librarian look into something more chic and sleek!
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